The Blue Devils just got All-American center Elizabeth Williams back from an injury, but lost another post player to injury, this time for the season.
Freshman center Lynee Belton tore her ACL late in Wednesday's game against Oklahoma and is expected to miss the rest of the season, team sources confirmed Friday night before No. 13 Duke dominated UMass Lowell 95-48.
The Blue Devils were in control of Wednesday's 92-72 win against Oklahoma when Belton banged knees with a Sooner player in the final 20 seconds and suffered the severe injury. The freshman had put together a career-high 10 points and grabbed four rebounds before the collision.
"In the last 18 seconds of a game in which you score [10] points, that happens?" head coach Joanne P. McCallie said after Friday's game. "I can't even begin to understand that. She played a fantastic game, she was coming on very, very strong for our team....It just makes me really, really mad. It adds fuel to the fire. She'll handle it well and learn from it herself, but that just doesn't seem right."
According to team sources, Duke plans to apply for a medical redshirt since the Clinton, Md., native only played 66 minutes in eight games this season.
Belton was a top-10 recruit according to ESPN and was coming on strong of late, but the Blue Devils should have the depth down low with six players 6-foot-3 or taller to play without her the rest of the season.
The Blue Devils will host No. 8 Kentucky Sunday at 3 p.m. in search of their first win against a ranked opponent this season.
Keep up with The Chronicle for all of your Blue Devil women's basketball news and follow us on Twitter @chroniclesports for more news on Belton's status.
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