Sportswrap is your one-stop shop for everything Duke athletics, where we’ll recap how each of Duke’s sports currently in competition performed over the last week and give a brief look ahead. Here’s our recap for March 14-20.
Men’s basketball
The NCAA tournament tipped off this week, and Duke took both its first and second round games. It first took on No. 15-seed Cal State Fullerton, easily advancing to the Round of 32 with a 78-61 win Friday. No. 7-seed Michigan State was a different story, though, with the contest coming down to the final minutes. The Spartans came out with fire, amassing a 9-4 lead in just over three minutes. However, sophomore center Mark Williams took over to start before freshman forward Paolo Banchero closed out the half, and Duke led by four at the break. Still, Michigan State reclaimed a five-point lead in the second half, but a clutch performance from sophomore guard Jeremy Roach down the stretch and some key buckets from Trevor Keels and Wendell Moore Jr. ultimately secured Duke an 85-76 victory and a ticket to the Sweet 16 in San Francisco. -Sasha Richie
Women’s lacrosse
The eighth-ranked Blue Devils won both of their matchups this week. Sophomore attacker Katie DeSimone led Duke past Louisville 16-12 with four goals before Davidson rolled into town Sunday. Duke (10-1, 2-1 in the ACC) spoiled the Wildcats’ previously undefeated record with a 20-3 win in which 13 different Blue Devils recorded points. While graduate student Catriona Barry led the team in points with six, the spotlight was on senior Maddie Jenner as she tallied 11 draw controls to pass her own sister in Duke’s record books. She now has 515 career draw controls and currently leads the NCAA in draw controls this season. Next, the Blue Devils travel to South Bend, Ind., to take on Notre Dame. -Rachael Kaplan
Men’s lacrosse
Following a difficult loss to Loyola Maryland last week in which the Blue Devils trailed 10-2 at one point, Duke rebounded for a commanding 14-7 win against Towson in Washington, D.C. A tough first 30 minutes saw head coach John Danowski’s squad trail 4-2 at the half, but sophomore attacker Brennan O’Neill’s six goals and three assists pulled the Blue Devils ahead after the break. Next up is a Saturday trip to Syracuse for the first game of the team’s difficult ACC gauntlet. -Andrew Long
Men’s tennis
No. 18 Duke continued its dominant stretch of conference play with a 5-2 drubbing of rival North Carolina and a 7-0 sweep of Boston College. The team found itself down early versus the Tar Heels after losing the doubles point before rattling off five wins in singles to clinch the victory. Carrying this momentum into its Friday match in Chestnut Hill, Mass., the Blue Devils (12-4, 5-1) put together one of the most successful team performances in recent memory against the Eagles. Duke did not lose a set in either singles or doubles, with two doubles wins and six straight-set singles wins leading to a beatdown on the road. Duke next hosts Notre Dame and Louisville in matches Friday and Sunday, respectively. -Robert Miron
Women’s tennis
Make that seven in a row for the fifth-ranked Blue Devils, who eased past Boston College and Syracuse this past week to preserve their undefeated conference record. Duke (10-1, 6-0) received star performances across the board, dropping just one singles match combined across the two matchups, but senior Margaryta Bilokin stood out especially, dropping a single game in four dominant sets. The Blue Devils welcome Northwestern Wednesday before embarking on a four-match road trip beginning Friday at Florida State. -Jonathan Levitan
Women’s golf
As a unit, the Blue Devils could only muster a tie for eighth at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge, but there were some encouraging signs from the sophomore tandem of Phoebe Brinker and Anne Chen. Brinker led the way for the 54-hole event with a +5 total and a tie for 18th, while Chen finished in a tie for 26th at +7. That duo, along with junior Erica Shepherd, will have to carry the load for Duke over the next couple of months. Next on tap is the Chattanooga Classic, which runs from March 27-29. -Max Rego
Baseball
The Blue Devils dropped their weekend series to No. 19 North Carolina two games to one, their second ACC series loss in as many weekends. Duke (11-9, 2-4 in the ACC) was close throughout the set, but couldn’t sequence offense Friday or hit much of anything Sunday. Left fielder RJ Schreck, third baseman Graham Pauley, utility infielder Luke Storm and second baseman Wil Hoyle shone at the plate, while the bullpen’s back-end trio of Josh Allen, John Natoli and Jimmy Loper remained excellent. -Em Adler
Swimming & diving
Traveling down to Atlanta for the Women’s NCAA Championships, Duke returns to Durham with one of its best hauls yet. Earning 36 points, including an A-final appearance by sophomore swimmer Sarah Foley, the Blue Devils turned in their third-highest performance in program history. Additionally, both Foley and freshman diver Margo O’Meara earned a pair of All-America honors each, giving Duke four for the year, tied for its highest ever. With a semester full of accomplishments from one of the best teams in program history, the event truly may have been the cherry on top. -Babu Chatterjee
Wrestling
Duke sent its two qualifying wrestlers, seniors twins Josh Finesilver and Matt Finesilver, to NCAA Championships this past weekend in Detroit. Though both started the tournament with wins in the round of 32, neither came out victorious in the round of 16, forcing both to the consolation draw. However, Josh, Duke’s 149-pound bracket starter, fell in his first consolation match while Matt, the 174-pound starter, took down his opponent in the consolation bracket’s second round before falling in the next round. Both end their Duke careers with historic numbers in the tournament. -Ana Young
Track & field
Following a dominant performance in the NCAA Indoor Championships, Duke made the short drive to High Point, N.C., to take part in the Bob Davidson Invitational for its first outdoor meet of the season. Great performances from graduate student Lauren Hoffman, who set a meet record in the 400m hurdles, and junior Halle Bieber, who won the 100m and 200m dashes, were highlights, adding to a solid weekend for the Blue Devils. Duke next heads to Austin, Texas, for the Texas Relays meet Thursday and to the Raleigh Relays over the weekend. -Long
Softball
The Blue Devils won two of three in their weekend series against Clemson. No. 8 Duke (23-4, 8-1) never trailed the 19th-ranked Tigers after the second inning in the series opener, and Rachel Crabtree sealed the deal with a three-run home run in the fifth. The 10-2 loss Saturday, which snapped the team’s 11-game win streak, arose due to uncharacteristically shaky pitching performances. Sunday’s victory saw graduate pitcher Peyton St. George back in the circle, as she brought her strikeout total in the series to 19 and held the Tigers to a single run. Duke continues ACC play Friday against Notre Dame. -Molly Honecker
Rowing
The 14th-ranked Blue Devils pulled off an 18-race sweep at the Oak Ridge Cardinal Invite on Melton Hill Lake in Tennessee. After winning all 12 races Saturday, Duke’s six boats all won their respective events Sunday. The Blue Devils outpaced impressive competition, headlined by No. 16 Alabama and No. 20 Tennessee. Four of the final six races were decided by under six seconds, and Duke handled the pressure very well, earning the upper hand in all. The Blue Devils’ 2V4 posted Duke’s largest margin of victory of the second day, defeating second-place Navy by 13-plus seconds. The Blue Devils next travel to Columbus, Ohio for the Big Ten/ACC Double Dual April 2. -Cameron DeChurch
Men’s golf and fencing did not compete this past week. Men’s golf picks up again Sunday at the Seahawk Intercollegiate in Wilmington, N.C., while seven members of the fencing team will compete Thursday through Sunday at the NCAA Championship in South Bend, Ind.
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