Goodchild Leads Blue Devils to Win at Miami

MIAMI, Fla. — Senior Miela Goodchild poured in 17 points and grabbed seven boards to lead the 21st ranked Duke women’s basketball team to a hard-fought road win Tuesday afternoon as the Blue Devils defeated Miami 58-49 at the Watsco Center.

Rookie Shayeann Day-Wilson also finished in double-figures with 11 points and a career-high seven assists.

Duke’s defense blocked five shots, forced 13 turnovers, and held Miami to 31 percent shooting for the game, including a 25.0 percent in the second half.

The Blue Devils (12-4, 3-3 ACC) held a 16-13 lead after the opening 10 minutes of play. Goodchild got off to a quick start with eight points, while Williams scored Duke’s final four points of the quarter. Duke led by as many as six in the period and held Miami without a field goal for a stretch lasting over four minutes.

Sophomore Vanessa de Jesus tallied the first four points of the second, senior Elizabeth Balogun converted a short jumper and graduate student Amaya Finklea-Guity finished inside on de Jesus’ feed, after slipping the pick-and-roll. Balogun scored her 1,000th career point on her basket, while the 6-0 run extended the Blue Devils’ lead to 24-17 and forced the Hurricanes to call timeout. Miami clawed back to level the score at 26-26, but Day-Wilson’s triple with 46 seconds remaining gave the visitors a three-point lead at the break.

Goodchild paced the Duke offense in the first half with 10 points and four rebounds. Goodchild four boards tied Lexi Gordon for the team-high through the first 20 minutes of play, while Day-Wilson dished out a team-leading four dimes. The Blue Devils shot 43.3 percent from the field and totaled 10 assists on 13 made field goals.

Day-Wilson heated up in the third scoring six of the team’s first 10 points. Duke led 39-34 with 5:26 remaining, however, after a split trip from Miami’s Lashae Dwyer, both squads struggled to pop the lid off the basket until a Hurricanes’ basket at the 1:45 mark cut the Duke lead to two. Gordon gave the Blue Devils a bit of breathing room and a 42-37 lead heading into the fourth after cashing in from distance just before the buzzer.

Miami took a 45-44 lead midway through the fourth, then Duke responded with a 6-0 run out of the media timeout to reclaim a six-point advantage and force the Hurricanes to call a timeout. From there, Duke’s defense tightened up and held the Hurricanes without a field goal for the remainder of the contest. Miami pulled within three on a pair of free throws, but that would be as close as they would get. Goodchild delivered the knockout punch with a dagger three to give the Blue Devils a 53-47 lead with 2:49 to go. Finklea-Guity, Gordon, and Goodchild combined to go 5-of-6 from the charity stripe down the stretch to ice the game and secure the nine-point win.

Duke returns home to host Virginia (Jan. 23) and North Carolina (Jan. 27) in Cameron Indoor Stadium.