The Blue Devils were supposed to be as deep as ever at point guard entering the year, but they have now lost two threats at the position for the season in the span of less than two weeks.
Freshman Mikayla Boykin will miss the rest of the season due to a left knee injury she suffered in Duke's 101-30 win against Winthrop last Sunday, the program announced in a press release Friday. Last week, junior Kyra Lambert said she would redshirt and sit out the entire season while recovering from a torn ACL she suffered in March.
The freshman guard will have surgery to repair the injury, but a date has not yet been set for the procedure.
Boykin was averaging 4.6 points and 3.2 assists per game thus far before exiting the game against the Eagles toward the end of the third quarter. The Clinton, N.C., native was the Gatorade Player of the Year in North Carolina last year and was the centerpiece of a top-10 recruiting class for head coach Joanne P. McCallie.
McCallie has had a run of bad luck with point guard injuries in the last half-decade. Current WNBA players Chelsea Gray and Alexis Jones both suffered season-ending injuries when they were at Duke in 2013 and 2014.
Her absence will put even more of a burden on star graduate students Lexie Brown and Rebecca Greenwell to handle the ball in the backcourt, and redshirt sophomore Haley Gorecki is also likely to continue assuming a bigger role on the perimeter.
Duke will play its first game without Boykin Tuesday against Maine, with three more home nonconference matchups remaining to prepare for ACC play.
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