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 the week of March 13-19.
Men’s basketball
One week to the day after its coronation at the ACC tournament, No. 5-seed Duke’s season came to an unceremonious end Saturday afternoon in Orlando, Fla., with a 65-52 loss to No. 4-seed Tennessee. The physical Volunteers were ultimately too much to handle for head coach Jon Scheyer’s young Blue Devils without everyday starter Mark Mitchell, even after Thursday’s 74-51 first-round win against Oral Roberts offered a vision of a deep postseason run. As the Big Dance marches on, Duke now turns to next season after going 27-9 with a conference title in its first season under Scheyer. -Jonathan Levitan
Women’s basketball
No. 3-seed Duke kicked off its NCAA tournament campaign on the right foot Saturday night, defeating No. 14-seed Iona 89-49 at home in Cameron Indoor Stadium. After recent lackluster offensive play, the Blue Devils scored their third-highest point total this season. It was a balanced affair, as four players scored in double figures and seven players scored at least eight points. Seniors Celeste Taylor and Elizabeth Balogun were the leading scorers with 13 points apiece. The bread and butter of Duke’s success thus far — aggressive, turnover-forcing defense — was on display, and its full-court press gave the Gaels trouble. The Blue Devils will take on No. 6-seed Colorado at 9 p.m. Monday night in Durham. -Ranjan Jindal
Women’s lacrosse
The 18th-ranked Blue Devils took two heavy blows this past week, starting with a 15-14 loss to Yale and ending in a deep 16-10 cut from then-No. 2 Syracuse. These losses constitute the latter half of a four-game losing streak for Duke (4-5, 0-4 in the ACC), which has yet to prevail in an ACC game. Both games, however, were largely back-and-forth outings that — except for the third quarter against Syracuse — proved Duke still has a chance to get its season back on track. Its next opportunity will arrive Wednesday in the form of a nonconference matchup at East Carolina. -Sophie Levenson
Men’s lacrosse
The fourth-ranked Blue Devils earned their seventh win of the season Friday with a 15-8 victory against No. 14 North Carolina. Once again, Duke (7-1, 2-0) got off to a fast start, outscoring the Tar Heels 6-1 in the first. Though North Carolina made a push through the middle of the game, Duke put the Tar Heels to bed once and for all by holding them scoreless for the final 26:37. Graduate goalkeeper William Helm made 14 saves on a 64% save percentage to lift the Blue Devils, helped along by senior attacker Dyson Williams’ five goals. Next, Duke ends its three-game homestand by welcoming Air Force to Koskinen Stadium Monday night. -Sasha Richie
Softball
No. 10 Duke notched four wins on the week, defeating James Madison before sweeping North Carolina. Four hurlers took the circle for the Blue Devils (24-5, 7-2) Wednesday in the 5-0 victory against the Dukes. The Blue Devil bats drove comeback 7-5 and 9-7 wins at the Tar Heels Friday and Saturday before freshman Cassidy Curd tossed her second one-hit shutout of the season in Sunday's 8-0 win. Deja Davis and Ana Gold, both with stellar OPS marks above 1.200, continued to lead the charge offensively. Duke faces off with Liberty Tuesday before hosting No. 7 Florida State over the weekend. -Molly Honecker
Baseball
Playing outside of Durham for the first time all year, the Blue Devils won a midweek game against Presbyterian 15-2 before winning a thrilling series at Clemson. After splitting a doubleheader Saturday, Duke (13-7, 3-3) came out on top 11-8 in a back-and-forth game Sunday. Freshmen Andrew Fischer and James Tallon each had big weekends, with Fischer hitting two home runs and Tallon closing out each of the team’s wins. The Blue Devils will continue their road trip next weekend to Chapel Hill, where they will take on the 19th-ranked Tar Heels. -Dom Fenoglio
Men’s tennis
The five-match winning streak for No. 13 Duke came to a close Sunday at the hands of Virginia, as the Blue Devils (11-5, 4-1) fell 7-0 on the road. The 12th-ranked Cavaliers were too much for Duke, sweeping the match and remaining undefeated in ACC play. On Friday, Duke won at Virginia Tech in a 4-3 nail-biter. Although they lost the doubles point, the Blue Devils won four singles matches en route to victory. There were tight matches across the board, as freshman Pedro Rodenas and senior Michael Heller both won in three sets. Next up for Duke is a pair of road conference matches against Clemson and Georgia Tech. -Jindal
Wrestling
Duke wrapped up its season in Tulsa, Okla., at the NCAA Championships. Team captain Jonah Niesenbaum, the only wrestler to qualify for the tournament, went 1-2 and was eliminated in consolation round two. In his first match of the double elimination tournament, No. 19-seed Niesenbaum lost to No. 14-seed AJ Nevills of South Dakota State 8-1. He then bounced back to beat No. 30-seed Hayden Copass of Purdue 6-0 before his season ended at the hands of No. 13-seed Tyrell Gordon of Northern Iowa in a 6-1 defeat. An offseason of hard work and preparation awaits the Blue Devils, who will look to change the trajectory of the program next season. -Luke Jovanovic
Men’s golf
Duke struggled this weekend in Myrtle Beach, S.C., finishing eighth out of 14 teams in the General Hackler Championship. The Blue Devils were able to break into red figures as a team, but their 1-under finish was well behind the 24-under tally of East Tennessee State, which easily captured the team title. Despite the lackluster team performance, sophomore Kelly Chinn had a great weekend in South Carolina, shooting even on day one and 2-under on day two to finish top-20 for the fourth time this season. Next up for the Blue Devils is the Valspar Collegiate Invitational in Palm Beach, Fla., beginning March 27. -Robert Miron
Swimming and diving
Duke had an extremely successful week at the Women’s NCAA Championships in Knoxville, Tenn. For the first time in school history, two swimmers earned First Team All-America honors: freshman Kaelyn Gridley and junior Sarah Foley. Gridley broke the school record in the 100-yard breaststroke, earning a time of 58.76. Both swimmers also placed top-10 in the 200-yard breaststroke. As a team, the Blue Devils totaled 42 points and placed 21st, their highest finish since 2011. The Men’s NCAA Championships will be in Minneapolis, beginning March 22. -Jindal
Track and field
Duke started its outdoor season with a bang. It swept the Alan Connie Shamrock Invitational this past weekend, setting five top-five program records Friday alone. The Blue Devil women more than doubled runner-up James Madison’s 111.5-point total with 247 of their own. Their 100m, 200m and 400m relay teams took home the top spots, while the men won the 4x800m race. The all-around victory on both sides comes immediately following an underwhelming performance from the indoor squads at the NCAA championships. The outdoor men and women will return to the track Thursday just down the road for the Raleigh Relays meet. -Rachael Kaplan
Rowing
The Blue Devils opened their season this past weekend as they traveled to Oak Ridge, Tenn., for the Oak Ridge Cardinal Invitational. On the first day of competition Saturday, Duke posted seven first-place finishes while sweeping the first five races. In the races in which the top spot evaded them, the Blue Devils earned second-place finishes. Sunday brought more Duke dominance, as it took first place in five of its six remaining races. In total, the Blue Devils won 12 of 18 races on the weekend while coming in second in the remaining six. Duke will have two weeks of rest before it takes on Virginia, Michigan and Ohio State in the ACC/Big Ten double dual April 1. -Mackenzie Sheehy
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