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 4-10:
Men’s basketball
The ninth-ranked Blue Devils concluded their ACC gauntlet this week with a pair of rivalry clashes, one at N.C. State and another at home against North Carolina. Duke (24-7, 15-5 in the ACC) split those two games, winning the first by 15 before trailing by 15 en route to a defeat in the second. Senior guard Jeremy Roach led the Blue Devils in points against the Wolfpack but struggled to make a similar impact against the Tar Heels, shooting just 3-for-12 in his last ride at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Kyle Filipowski had an opposite week, playing just four first-half minutes amid foul trouble in Raleigh before dropping 23 against North Carolina. Duke finishes the season 15-5 in the ACC — it surrendered the ACC regular-season title with the loss to the Tar Heels — and now awaits the ACC tournament as a No. 2-seed, beginning Thursday in Washington, D.C. -Andrew Long
Women’s basketball
No. 7-seed Duke ended its ACC tournament run Friday, as the Blue Devils fell to No. 2-seed N.C. State in a 54-51 heartbreaker. In the second round, Duke defeated No. 10-seed Georgia Tech 70-58 in a balanced offensive performance. Four players scored in double figures paced by freshman Oluchi Okananwa, who led the way with 15 points. Against the Wolfpack, points were a premium for both sides as two of the league's best defenses clashed. The Blue Devils shot just 29% from the field and Okananwa was the long double-digit scorer. Duke now awaits its NCAA tournament seeding, but is safely in the March Madness field. -Ranjan Jindal
Men’s lacrosse
No. 5 Duke continued to put its demons from last week’s loss to Penn to bed, taking down a feisty Loyola team 16-10 in Baltimore. Graduate student Dyson Williams and senior Brennan O’Neill each contributed four goals from the attack line but the story of the afternoon was the third member of their tandem, Josh Zawada. Since transferring from Michigan at the start of the year, Zawada is third nationally in both assists and points, and buoyed his tally with a cool six dishes against the Greyhounds. Up next for the Blue Devils (6-1) is a midweek home clash with Providence and weekend trip to Richmond before the ACC schedule begins against Syracuse in a couple weeks. -Long
Women’s lacrosse
Duke secured its first ACC victory of the season this week, with an intense 13-11 win against Pittsburgh. The game was close from start to finish, with both teams trading points throughout the afternoon. Senior attacker Katie DeSimone emerged as a hero for Duke once again, notching an impressive nine points — seven goals and two assists — to lead her team from a three-point deficit to a three-point lead in the fourth quarter. Junior attacker Carly Bernstein also contributed to the win, tallying two goals, her season-high, and two assists. The Blue Devils (4-4, 1-2) look to continue this momentum Tuesday against Harvard and in their next ACC matchup Saturday at Virginia Tech. -Riya Khatod
Baseball
After an excellent start to the campaign, No. 12 Duke faced its toughest test yet this week, taking on No. 1 Wake Forest in an away series. Before that, though, the Blue Devils (13-2, 2-1) hammered Appalachian State Tuesday 28-2 behind an outstanding 16-run fifth inning. Up in Winston Salem, N.C., head coach Chris Pollard’s squad turned in an extremely exciting series, taking the first game 8-5 behind a great showing from the bullpen. The second game did not go as well, as the Demon Deacons struck out 20 Duke batters and cruised to a 6-3 win. With the series on the line, graduate reliever Charlie Beilenson did what he does best, ending the game with three strikeouts. Things don’t let up for Duke, which faces Rider and No. 10 Clemson this week. -Caleb Dudley
Softball
No. 3 Duke continued its winning ways in all three games it played this past week. In their midweek rematch against Elon, sophomore pitcher Cassidy Curd earned her 200th strikeout in another knockout performance, yielding only two hits and no runs as the Blue Devils (19-1, 3-0) cruised to a 6-0 win. The usual suspects of seniors Francesca Frelick and Kelly Torres spurred Duke’s offense into motion with 2 RBIs each against the Phoenix. Duke’s Saturday game against South Dakota State in their weekend series was rained out, but the Blue Devils didn’t let that deter them from sweeping the Friday afternoon doubleheader 3-0 and 7-0. Duke’s pitchers, led by Curd, sent yet another team home scoreless, only giving up four hits across both games for the Jackrabbits. In the first matchup of the doubleheader, freshman Amiah Burgess led the Blue Devils with two RBIs and one of Duke’s three runs. Next up, Duke travels to Lynchburg, Va., for a midweek matchup against Liberty before traveling down to Tallahassee, Fla., for a three-game weekend series against familiar ACC foe Florida State. -Elle Chavis
Men’s tennis
No. 15 Duke faced both Virginia schools from the ACC and split the difference, defeating Virginia Tech 5-2 Friday before falling to Virginia 6-1 Sunday. Against the Hokies, the Blue Devils (11-7, 3-2) got singles wins from the top four lines as Garrett Johns, Pedro Rodenas, Andrew Zhang and Connor Krug all emerged victorious. Despite the score against the Cavaliers, the match was much closer in reality, with many tight matches. In the doubles rounds, Virginia clinched with a tiebreaker on court 2. Chris Rodesch and Jeffrey von der Schulenberg won against graduate students Michael Heller and Andrew Zhang. In singles, Johns continued his winning ways, defeating Inaki Montes 6-3, 0-6, 6-2. Duke now travels to Florida for matches against Miami and Florida State Friday and Sunday, respectively. -Ranjan Jindal
Women’s tennis
No. 21 Duke continued its homestand with matches against Clemson and Georgia Tech this weekend. It was a split weekend, however, as the Blue Devils (9-5, 3-3) defeated the Tigers swiftly 4-0, but then fell to the Yellow Jackets 4-1. On Friday against Clemson, Duke was able to carry the doubles point with both courts 2 and 3 defeating their opponents 6-0. Brianna Shvets and Iuliia Bryzgalova defeated their opponents in only 21 minutes. Duke wasn’t so swift Sunday, though, as it dropped the doubles point but put up a fight on singles with three courts forcing a third set. Freshman Shavit Kimchi got the singular point for the Blue Devils with a 6-3, 6-4 singles win against her opponent and never trailed in the matchup. Duke will look to rebound from the loss Wednesday against Princeton. -Anna Newberry
Men’s golf
Earlier this week, Duke tied for fourth place at the Wake Forest Invitational at the coveted Pinehurst No. 2 golf course. The Blue Devils started out rough, sitting in 11th place after the first round. However, later that same day, sophomore William Love shot a tournament-best 4-under in the second round. That, along with a crucial birdie and an eagle from junior Kelly Chinn, moved the Blue Devils up to seventh place. In the final round, Love stayed true to the red numbers going 2-under, finishing in third place individually, and charged the Blue Devils into fourth — a hair away from a top-three team finish. This week, Duke will conclude The Hayt in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., as they are currently in sixth out of 14 teams, with sophomore Ethan Evans leading the squad. -Andrew Negus
Women’s golf
In the first check-in after an inconsistent performance at the Blue Devils’ spring opener, Duke showed only slight improvement, finishing the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate in ninth place Wednesday. Gusts of wind challenged the 17-team deep field in Hilton Head, S.C., over the second and third rounds of play, but a few Blue Devils put up strong showings nonetheless. Sophomore Andie Smith hit a 26-putt career-best on the third and final day, along with shooting a pair of 2-unders over rounds one and three. Graduate student Emma McMyler hit -1 in round two, leading the round for Duke, and freshman Katie Li shot even-par. Next up for the Blue Devils is a Friday trip down to Tallahassee, Fla., for the Florida State Match Up. -Ryan Kilgallen
Track and field
On Saturday, Duke capped off its record-breaking indoor season with the crowning of two new USTFCCCA All-Americans at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Fresh from her ACC Indoor bronze, senior Brianna Smith placed 15th in the pentathlon with 3,293 points, good for All-America Second Team honors. Graduate shot put school-record holder MaKayla Mason also garnered All-America Second Team honors with a 15th-place finish, tossing for 15.72m (15-7 feet). With the short-track season behind them, the Blue Devils will return to the outdoor oval at the Miami Collegiate Invitational in Miami March 22. -Prithvi Kotapati
Wrestling
Duke was outwrestled at the ACC Championships in Chapel Hill, finishing in last place with only four team points scored. Logan Ferrero (157 pounds) fared the best individually, with his bye and then victory against Jared Keslar of Pittsburgh accounting for three points. Logan Agin (125 pounds) also scored a point for the team, triumphing in his quarterfinal match against Virginia’s Kyle Montaperto by sudden victory. The performance ultimately ended the season, as for the first time in 16 years, the program failed to send a single grappler to the NCAA tournament. The group now approaches the offseason, where they will look to get stronger and wiser before next winter. -Luke Jovanovic
Fencing
Duke traveled to Madison, N.J., this weekend for the NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regional. The Blue Devils came home with 10 top-10 finishes and a first-place performance by freshman Charlotte Koenig in women’s foil. Koenig collected a total of 14 wins Saturday and dropped only three bouts in the final round. Other top scorers included Rachel Kowalsky in women’s epee (third), Natalie Olsen in women’s saber (fifth) and Samir Travers in men’s saber (sixth). The fencers’ performance from this weekend, in addition to the regular season, will impact if they qualify for the NCAA Championship in Columbus, Ohio, slated for March 21-24. The list of qualifiers will be released next week. -Emily Wang
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