Lady Blue Devils Drop Close Battle Louisville

LOUISVILLE, K.Y. – After leading nearly the entire game, the Duke Blue Devils women’s basketball team dropped a tight battle with seventh-ranked Louisville, 60-55, on the road at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky. Duke dropped its fourth straight contest and fell to 7-7 overall, 1-2 in the ACC. 

Graduate Haley Gorecki led the Blue Devils with her fifth game with 20 or more points as she notched 20 points to go along with five rebounds, five assists, one block and one steal in 37 minutes. 

After Louisville (14-1, 3-0 ACC) scored the first points of the contest, the Blue Devils went on a 12-0 run and led by as many as 13 in the first quarter.  Louisville was forced to call a timeout at the 4:41 mark of the quarter as Duke led 16-5 and had hit 7-of-9 field goals.  The Blue Devils hit 64.3 percent from the field in the first and led, 22-12, at the break led by Gorecki’s eight points. 

Junior Jade Williams collected six first-quarter points and freshman Azana Baines, who made her second collegiate start, added four in the first 10 minutes.

Louisville opened the second quarter on a 7-2 run and Duke went through a rough stretch with five turnovers over a span of five minutes.  The Blue Devils got into foul trouble late in the second as Leaonna Odom, who returned to action after missing two straight games, and Gorecki picked up their second foul. 

Duke dished 10 assists, after having only nine and seven in each of the last two contests.  The Blue Devils also hit 52.0 percent from the field, while holding the Cardinals to only 37.9 percent. 

Louisville was able to go on an 8-0 run in the third quarter and took its first lead, 41-39, since the opening basket of the game.  The Blue Devils came back with back-to-back baskets from Baines and Odom to regain the lead and a jumper in the paint as time expired in the third by graduate Kyra Lambert gave Duke a 45-43 advantage heading into the final period.

The Cardinals opened a 53-49 lead in the fourth by going on a 10-4 run and held the Blue Devils without a field goal for over four minutes.  Baines, a product of Blackwood, N.J., broke the drought with an offensive board and put back with 4:12 remaining.

Baines added another offensive rebound and jumper to cut the Cardinal lead to, 55-53, with 1:53 on the clock and then Lambert sank a pull-up jumper with 1:06 left to even the score, 55-55. 

Louisville responded with a three-pointer by Dana Evans late in the shot clock to go ahead, 58-55.

Duke called timeout and had the ball with 28.1 seconds remaining, but the Blue Devils missed a three-pointer that was have tied the score and was able to hold on for the win.

Baines matched a career-high with 15 points while grabbing seven rebounds for the Blue Devils.  In her return, Odom had eight points, three steals and one rebound in 27 minutes.

After dishing 10 assists in the first half, Duke was limited to only one in the second stanza, while hitting 25.0 percent from the field in the fourth quarter.  The Blue Devils were 0-of-7 from downtown in the final 20 minutes. 

Jazmine Jones led Louisville with 26 points and 10 rebounds.

Duke will next travel to Charlottesville, Va., to take on Virginia Thursday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m.