The Blue Devils shot the lights out in the first half, but needed clutch shooting from the charity stripe in the game's final seconds to survive at home.
Redshirt freshman Rebecca Greenwell hit a pair of free throws with 26 seconds remaining to give No. 13 Duke a two-point lead, and the Blue Devils hung on to defeat No. 21 Syracuse 74-72 Thursday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The redshirt freshman finished with a team-high 20 points and hit 4-of-8 shots from beyond the arc.
Syracuse had a chance to send the game to overtime after Greenwell's free throws, but on the game's final possession, guard Diamond Henderson missed an open jumper and the Orange couldn’t connect on an open, last-second layup opportunity off the offensive rebound. Forward Amber Henson corralled the final miss for the Blue Devils, preserving the two-point win.
“The last play of the game I decided to slip the screen and Amber saw me and got the ball to me, ” Greenwell said. “I’m proud of how tough we were and I’m proud of Amber for pulling down the rebound.”
The Blue Devils (11-4, 2-0 in the ACC) jumped out to an early lead in the first half behind fluid ball movement on offense and a hot start from beyond the arc. Duke assisted on eight of its first 10 baskets and consistently beat the Syracuse zone for easy buckets down low. When the Blue Devils were unable to get the ball into the paint, open shooters were able to connect from deep as Duke hit a season-high seven 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes and stretched its lead to 15.
But the Blue Devils would struggle with a problem that has plagued them all year—turnovers. Thirteen Duke giveaways in the first half neutralized impressive offensive performances by Greenwell and freshman Azura Stevens—who scored all 12 of her points in the first half—and kept the Orange (10-5, 0-2) in the game. After starting 3-of-11 from beyond the arc, Syracuse was able to knock down a couple of perimeter shots to trim the lead to 45-37 at halftime.
“We have to understand that we’re playing in the moment," Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "We went up 15 and relaxed and that’s not what you do. If you go up 15, you put the pedal to the metal and keep doing what got you there.”
Early in the second half, it appeared as though Duke’s inability to take care of the basketball would continue to haunt them. With 13:24 left in the half, the Orange—led by guards Henderson and Brianna Butler—cut the lead to five. Syracuse used the long ball all night, knocking down 13 triples and attempting 38 of its 70 shots from beyond the arc.
However, the entry of junior college transfer Mercedes Riggs into the game would mark the start of a run for the Blue Devils.
Using a small lineup with Riggs playing alongside Greenwell and senior Ka’lia Johnson, Duke was able to get easy buckets in the paint and stretch the lead. The run was punctuated by a triple from Riggs that gave the Blue Devils a 65-53 lead with 7:22 remaining in the half.
“Mercedes is great and she brings fabulous energy," McCallie said. "She’s the only person you have to turn down on the team. You’re always turning people up to play defense, but you have to turn her down because she has so much energy. I really appreciate the fact that she has that energy and that she’s willing to play tough.”
But turnovers again prevented Duke from closing out the game. In the span of two minutes, the Blue Devils turned the ball over on five consecutive possessions allowing Syracuse to cut the margin to six with just five minutes remaining in the game.
“In the first ten minutes, we were superb," McCallie said. "We cut right through the zone and did what we were supposed to do. But we got out of what we do.…You have to execute throughout and we did not do that. The inconsistency of our action is something we will look at on film.”
The back-and-forth struggle would continue and with Duke struggling against Syracuse's full-court pressure, the game came down to the final two minutes. With 1:50 remaining, Butler connected from deep off of an offensive rebound. Just a minute later, the Orange guard hit from long range once again—her seventh 3-pointer of the night—to tie the game at 72 with 43 seconds remaining.
Looking to avoid another late-game meltdown, Duke got the ball in the hands of Greenwell, who drew contact to head to the line for what proved to be the game-winning free-throws.
Although the Blue Devils prevailed, several concerning numbers jumped out for McCallie. Duke finished the game with 25 turnovers and were outrebounded for just the second time all season, losing the battle on the glass to the Orange, 37-35. The 25 giveaways tied a season-high.
“That was a hard-fought game for us, " McCallie said. "It was a lesson about what turnovers can do and how they can impact the game. It’s very difficult to see us being outrebounded and that’s supposed to be our forte, but it was not tonight."
The victory was the Blue Devils' second against a ranked opponent this season. Duke hits the road for its first ACC road contest this weekend, heading to Tallahassee, Fla., to take on Florida State Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Donald L. Tucker Center.
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