It’s not often that the Cameron Crazies fall silent, but they did just that when Duke standout point guard Chelsea Gray collapsed to the floor.
The No. 5 Blue Devils (24-1, 14-0 in the ACC) narrowly escaped a motivated Wake Forest squad (11-15, 4-10) Sunday in an 81-70 win, but the victory came with a heavy price. With 8:07 remaining in the first half, Gray moved to attack the basket after an offensive rebound and drew contact from Wake Forest forward Dearica Hamby in an awkward fall.
Several minutes passed as Gray writhed in agony before she could leave the floor with the assistance of team medical staff members, who took her to the locker room on crutches. Struggling off the court to an ovation from fans and players alike, the junior guard was careful not to put any weight on her right leg. After the game, Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie announced that Gray, who entered the game averaging 13.1 points per game and leading the ACC in both steals and assists, will miss the remainder of the regular season with a dislocated kneecap. If there are any ligament complications, she could miss even more time.
“We’ll find out [more] after the MRI,” McCallie said. “It’s been dislocated, and they don’t know what that involves relative to ligaments. What we do know is that she’ll be out for the rest of the regular season.”
Even before Gray’s injury, Sunday’s game was not going well for the Blue Devils. Wake Forest center Sandra Garcia led the Demon Deacons from the opening tip, scoring six quick points as Wake Forest took an early 8-0 advantage. Both Gray and Elizabeth Williams had slow starts for Duke, including several missed layups and some defensive lapses.
“We weren’t ready out of the get-go,” McCallie said. “Wake did a great job coming out of the gates.”
Duke clung to a 22-20 lead as Gray was helped off, and the Demon Deacons looked poised to earn a rare win in Durham.
The Blue Devils faced one of their darkest hours this season, and the team could have easily lost its composure had Tricia Liston not taken over the game. The sophomore sharpshooter tallied a career-high 29 points, including five 3-pointers. Wake Forest head coach Jennifer Hoover had high praise for the Illinois native’s contributions.
“Obviously, Duke is a phenomenal basketball team,” Hoover said. “They’ve got a lot of balance, a lot of different weapons. When one goes down they have somebody step up and try to take over.… Tricia Liston did that today.”
In addition to Liston’s exceptional production, Alexis Jones and Chloe Wells were key in filling the void left by Gray, combining for 14 points in 60 minutes of action. Coming off the bench, Richa Jackson also contributed eight points to the winning effort.
“Richa plays fearless,” McCallie said. “She’s a smart player in that she loves to play and attack…. When she came into the game late she hit that three—which was a really important three—on the right wing.”
Despite some streaky long-range shooting from guards Chelsea Douglas and Lakevia Boykin, the Demon Deacons were not able to keep pace with Liston and Duke’s supporting cast down the stretch. Liston and her fellow Blue Devils were urged onward throughout the second half by an injured Gray, who sat on the bench with her leg elevated, clapping and offering words of encouragement.
“I love playing with Chelsea on the court, and [it was awesome] off the court to see her there cheering on,” Liston said. “In the timeouts I’d walk over there right before I went out, and she’d tell me something that I needed to do or look for on the court. She was there the whole game, and I think everybody felt her presence in the game, especially her coming out in the second half and being as strong as she was.”
With several tough conference games remaining including a home game against North Carolina, Duke will have to find a way to win without Gray.
“We’re going to keep doing what we do,” McCallie said. “It’s a great opportunity for [our players] to step up like you saw today.”
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