COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Only one Duke basketball team got off to a quick Atlantic Coast Conference start by winning its first three league contests.
It wasn't the Blue Devil men, who have struggled early with losses to Clemson, Georgia Tech and Wake Forest. Instead it was the women's team that stood atop the ACC standings before a 78-62 loss to Virginia in Charlottesville that ended the Blue Devils' 11-game winning streak Tuesday night.
Duke fell out of first place as it dropped to 12-2, 3-1 in the ACC.
"I'm disappointed," Duke head coach Gail Goestenkors said. "I didn't feel like we were mentally or physically ready to play. We didn't do the things we needed to do to win the game."
Just two days earlier, Duke captured its third ACC win of the season with an 80-62 victory over the Maryland Terrapins in Cole Field House.
"Two years ago we won three ACC games the whole year," Goestenkors said. "So this feels great."
Everything went Duke's way right from the start of the contest -- even the Terps. On the opening tip, Maryland's senior guard Karon Ferguson grabbed the loose ball and appeared to drive downcourt. But she turned the ball over to the Blue Devils on a backcourt violation as she crossed the halfcourt line while dribbling toward the wrong basket.
The Terrapins recovered from the mental lapse to build an early 9-4 advantage, but Duke rebounded to gain an 11-9 lead about seven minutes into the game and never relinquished it.
"We just still have a long way to go," Terp head coach Chris Weller said. "Duke's a very fine team, obviously. They did a nice job during the second half in getting inside on both of our defenses, man-to-man and the zone."
Duke sophomore Kira Orr, a Poolesville, Md., native playing in front of her own personal cheering section, was a whiz breaking the Maryland full-court pressure. And once she got the Blue Devils into their halfcourt game, Duke used its height to pound the ball inside against a smaller Terp defense.
Lobs inside to forwards Carey Kauffman and Tyish Hall and centers Alison Day and Zeki Blanding produced instant offense for the Blue Devils. Kauffman paced Duke with 18 points and 14 boards while three other Blue Devils scored in double figures.
"I think for us [the key to the game] was spreading the offense," Kauffman said. "And once we started getting it inside, we started scoring and getting the confidence. I felt like we started to just beat them down the floor."
During the second half Duke appeared to really flex its muscle. The Blue Devils quickly built a 10-point lead and nearly held Maryland to a double-digit deficit for the rest of the contest.
"I feel very fortunate to have won this game. I don't feel like it was an 18-point game. I thought it was more like a 12-point game," Goestenkors said. "Their defense has always been something we've struggled with. I felt good about the fact that we shot 49 percent, which is indicative of how we've been playing."
And as of late, the Blue Devils have been playing excellent basketball. While their Duke classmates took to the ski slopes and sunny beaches, the women's basketball players took care of business, winning seven of their eight games over the winter break with the lone loss coming at the hands of No. 11 Virginia.
"I certainly think if we had the name of Maryland and we were12-1, we would be in the top 25," Goestenkors said. "Or maybe even [the name] N.C. State and we were 12-1 -- we'd be in the top 25. We are still building our program.
"They have the tradition. They've been there. They've paid their dues to get into the top 25 and to have that name recognition. We're still working and we'll keep plugging away. If it comes, great. And if it doesn't, we're just going to try and win our 20 games, finish in the [ACC's] top three and let the chips fall where they may."
NOTE: Orr missed the Blue Devils' Dec. 18 win over Princeton. The sophomore guard underwent an exploratory surgical procedure on her heart after experiencing an unusually rapid heart beat in practice. The results, however, were inconclusive, and Orr was cleared to play by the athletic department Dec. 20.
Just nine days later against St. Joseph's, Orr nailed a three pointer with just :04 left to give Duke a 67-64 win.
"I don't worry about [my heart] now," Orr said. "You can't think about that before you're going out to play a game. I feel healthy. I feel fine.
"I went through a procedure, and they didn't find anything wrong. They can't say I'm perfectly fine, but I'm okay to play. I don't feel like I'm about to pass out."
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