It would be an understatement to say that this has been a year of adversity for the women's basketball team.
Duke started off the season with only eight healthy players. Since then, the Blue Devils' active roster ballooned to 12, and with the departure of junior Shannon Wills, Duke has recently been competing with 11 healthy players.
Now adversity has again struck the Blue Devils.
This weekend Duke lost two close games, falling to Georgia Tech 72-67 on Friday night and bowing to Florida State 74-67 on Sunday afternoon. More importantly, the Blue Devils lost two key players, senior Dana McDonald and junior Valerie Evans, because of injuries during the second half of the Tech game. Both players will miss the remainder of the season.
McDonald broke her hand early in the second half against the Yellow Jackets, and Evans suffered a serious fracture of her foot. Also, freshman Alison Day did not play because of a stomach virus, so Duke finished the game with only eight players.
"It was a very physical game, and obviously not in our favor when you come away with two key injuries," head coach Gail Goestenkors said. "That's something we need to work on over the year, getting bigger and stronger."
Duke fell behind Tech early, but the Blue Devils managed to cut into the lead and only trailed by two at the half, 31-29.
"We started in a hole, and then we made a run to cut it close," Goestenkors said. "It seemed like we were always trying to catch up, working hard to catch up, and expending a lot of energy."
In the second half, Duke hung around despite the injuries. McDonald went down at the beginning of the half, and Evans was hurt with about eight minutes to go.
Duke was able to cut the margin to one with 5:20 remaining, but Tech was too tough down the stretch and was able to pull it out.
"[The five-minute mark] is about the time that I stick Dana back in there for her leadership," Goestenkors said. "Usually we have Val in there because she's a tremendous free-throw shooter for us, and she's our best post defensive player. I thought the kids that were in there did a good job, but they weren't used to being in there in that situation."
Duke stayed in the game behind the play of sophomore Zeki Blanding and freshman Jen Scanlon. Neither started in the game, but both played a lot of minutes and were in the game down the stretch. Blanding finished with 21 points, while Scanlon added 20 points on the evening.
Tech was led by All-American candidate Joyce Pierce, who had 22 points. Not only did Pierce play well on the offensive end, but she also shut down Duke's leading scorer, Carey Kauffman, who only managed two points on four shots.
"Carey was trying real hard, she just couldn't get her shot up," Goestenkors said. "Joyce [Pierce] bumped her and was very, very physical with her . . . Pierce was bumping her all the way down the floor and kind of pushing her around. That's not to our advantage."
Making matters worse for Kauffman was the fact that she was playing against her sister, Lara, in Lara's last home game. The Kauffman family was present, and Lara turned in what might have been the game of her life. Lara, a center who had not put up big numbers this year, had 10 points, 15 rebounds, and six assists in her home finale.
"[L. Kauffman] probably had the best game of her career," Goestenkors said.
It was the last home game for all five of Tech's senior starters, so the Blue Devils also had to combat an emotional, as well as talented opponent.
"The tough thing is it's Senior Night,' and we're going up against them, and their families are there and what not," Goestenkors said. "But the good thing is it's also a reminder to our kids,Hey, next year all these kids are going to be gone."'
Sunday, the young Duke team traveled to Tallahassee without any seniors in the lineup to take part in Florida State's home finale. Like Georgia Tech, the Seminoles are also graduating several key players, so it was again an emotional occasion.
Duke was ahead at the half, 31-30, but the Seminoles came out strong in the second half to pull out the 74-67 victory.
Blanding again led Duke, this time with 20 points. Kauffman rebounded from the Tech game by scoring 12 points, while junior Nicole Johnson turned in a 10-point, eight-rebound effort.
Florida State's was led by its All-American candidate, senior Tia Paschal. Duke had hoped to slow down the star forward, but that proved impossible on Sunday, as Paschal notched her usual 22 points and 13 rebounds.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.