TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—A year ago, the third-ranked Blue Devils needed overtime to conquer the Seminoles in a thrilling 85-77 road victory.
The two teams went down to the wire again Sunday afternoon, but this time Florida State got its revenge.
No. 13 Duke fell 74-58 to the Seminoles in a physical, back-and-forth contest. After knotting up the contest at 54 with six minutes left to go in the game, the Blue Devils were unable to finish down the stretch in a crushing conference road loss. Duke shot just 1-of-6 from the floor to end the game and twice missed the crucial front end of a 1-and-1 from the free throw line.
"We obviously don't feel great about things that we did," head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "It's best to give credit. Those two transfers sure make a difference for Florida State."
The Blue Devils (11-5, 2-1 in the ACC) built an early lead on the backs of a strong defensive performance highlighted by tremendous defensive rotations that forced Florida State into tough, contested shots. But the Seminoles (15-2, 2-1) were able to hang around in the game early due to uncharacteristic struggles on the glass for the top rebounding team in the nation.
Duke allowed 11 offensive rebounds in the first ten minutes of the game and gave up a season-high 18 boards on the offensive side of the glass.
"Our rebounding stat is so disturbing I can't even comment on it really," McCallie said. "I can't say even in the first half, when we were more dominant and gave 10 offensive rebounds up, [the rebounds] were generally in the paint."
Beginning at the 12:20 mark of the first half, the Blue Devils hit 9-of-11 baskets during a six-minute stretch—including three consecutive three-pointers—that allowed Duke to stretch its lead to a game-high 14 points with 6:17 going in the half.
But Duke would once again be plagued by turnovers and 11 first-half miscues neutralized the strong play of freshman Azura Stevens and Rebecca Greenwell—who led the team with nine and 13 points, respectively, in the opening half. With Seminole guard Morgan Jones finding the range from beyond the arc, the Blue Devils lead was cut to 37-34 going into the locker room.
Florida State jumped on Duke early in the second half and used a 6-0 run fueled by the dominating interior presence of center Adut Bulgak—who finished with 18 points and 18 rebounds to take a 40-37 lead. The 6-foot-4 junior made life tough for Duke post players all game long, including All-American Elizabeth Williams, who finished with just three points on 1-of-8 shooting and three rebounds.
With Williams in foul trouble, the Blue Devils went to Stevens and Greenwell on the offensive side on the ball again in the second half to try to remain unbeaten in ACC play.
Along with Stevens’ dominating presence in the post, Greenwell continued to knock down shots from beyond the arc. With the Seminoles crowd getting into the game, the redshirt freshman kept Duke in the game and with 6:47 remaining in the game, the score was knotted up at 54.
"I've tried not to rush it as much and get squared up," Greenwell said of her recent shooting success.
But the hot shooting of Florida State guard Leticia Romero and more turnovers for the Blue Devils allowed the Seminoles to go on a 12-1 run during a four-minute stretch and seize control of the game.
With the lead in tact, Florida State put away the contest from the free-throw line and come away with the home upset.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.