Miami beats Duke women's basketball for Blue Devils' first ACC loss

The Devils took down the Florida State Seminoles, previously undefeated in the ACC, Saturday at Indoor Cameron Stadium
The Devils took down the Florida State Seminoles, previously undefeated in the ACC, Saturday at Indoor Cameron Stadium

After defeating Miami (19-9,10-7 in the ACC) by nearly 40 points at the end of January, No. 5 Duke (26-2, 16-1) was rocked by the Hurricanes Thursday night, conceding just its second game of the season and first in conference play, 69-65.

“They outplayed us, they out-physicaled us and outhustled us and probably played their best game of the season,” McCallie said. “It’s very disturbing to have other people get double-doubles against us like they did.”

Last time the teams met, the Blue Devil junior duo of Chelsea Gray and Tricia Liston were among five Blue Devils who scored in double figures that night, scoring 16 and 17 points, respectively. In that game, the Hurricanes had just one player in double figures—junior Krystal Saunders. This time, three Miami players scored in double figures: Saunders and seniors Stefanie Yderstrom and Shawnice Wilson scored 16, 16 and 15, respectively.

Wilson, a 6-foot-5 presence down low, also picked up 12 rebounds to add to her 16 points.

“We did not make any great stops....We didn’t bring anything out,” McCallie said. “[We] lack[ed] defensive energy. They brought something to the table in the second half….a lot of energy and we did not.”

Duke went into the locker room at halftime trailing by three and came out in the second half hoping to turn things around, but instead found itself in a back-and-forth battle with its ACC foe.

“Miami is a terrific team,” McCallie said. “We have to have maturity to know what is important for us to focus on…. They did a great job and took full advantage.” The Blue Devils’ struggles were evident on the stat sheet. Duke amassed 19 turnovers as opposed to Miami’s 10. The Hurricanes also stole the ball 12 times from the Blue Devils, compared to Duke’s four steals.

“That has a lot to do with the flavor of the game,” McCallie said.

Prior to this game, the Blue Devils ranked first in the conference in scoring defense allowing just 50.6 points per game, while the Hurricanes sat last averaging 71.9. Duke also led the conference in scoring margin, outscoring opponents by an average of 25.1 points.

The Blue Devils were led by Elizabeth Williams, who finished the game with 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Junior Haley Peters also contributed big numbers for Duke with 17 points and nine boards. Freshman Alexis Jones, who has been forced to take over more responsibility at point guard in the absence of junior Chelsea Gray, added 13 points for the Blue Devils along with six assists.

“We’re in a new season since Chelsea’s injury,” Peters said. “Our focus was not where it needed to be. I thought we played very young.”

The Blue Devils, who clinched the ACC regular season title last weekend with a win against Maryland, return home for their last game of the regular season as they take on North Carolina Sunday at 4 p.m. at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

“It’s disappointing, it’s a lesson for us, and we go from here,” McCallie said.

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