The women’s basketball team was not able to carry over its momentum from its upset victory over No. 2 North Carolina, falling to No. 4 Duke on Sunday in Durham, N.C., 60-34. With the loss, the Jackets fall to 14-5 overall and 2-3 in ACC play.
“It’s a tough swing when you have North Carolina at home then turn around and play Duke. For a young team that’s never been in Cameron that’s an even tougher challenge. I don’t think that there was much carry over as to how we played against North Carolina, but I was proud of the fact that we never quit playing,” said Head Coach MaChelle Joseph.
Sophomore forwards Alex Montgomery and Iasia Hemingway led the Jackets with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Sophomore guard Deja Foster led the Jackets in rebounds, picking up seven off the boards.
The Jackets struggled offensively in the first, shooting under 20 percent from the field, which totaled only four baskets off of 22 shots. In comparison, Duke’s shooting percentage was nearly triple that of the Jackets, as they went 13-for-23 from the field.
Fouls hindered the Jackets throughout the game Montgomery picked up two fouls within the first two minutes of play. The Jackets were able to keep the fouls under control for the rest of the half, committing only 5 more. The second half fouls proved to more detrimental for the Jackets, as the Blue Devils shot 20 from the free throw line, hitting 18.
“That’s the earliest that we’ve had to go offense-defense in a game. We’ve done it throughout the first half when [senior guard] Jacqua [Williams] or Alex [Montgomery] would get into foul trouble. We get a lot of confidence and swagger from [Montgomery]. She’s our leading rebounder. She’s been averaging a double-double all year long,” Joseph said.
The Jackets improved their shooting in the second half, hitting just over 30 percent, but were unable to gain any ground on the Blue Devils who shot just under 40 percent.
Duke also out played Tech on the defensive side of the ball. While the Jackets picked up two more steals than the Blue Devils, Duke accumulated nine blocks, while the Jackets were unable to block a single Duke shot.
“I have to give Duke a lot of credit. I think they’re a very good team; they’re deep, they’re athletic, they have size and they have great leadership, and that makes a big difference,” Joseph said.
“We played for 40 minutes and we got better as the game wore on. That’s what I was looking for today,” Joseph said.
The Jackets returned home yesterday to take on Miami. At the time of release to press, the results were not available. The Jackets are home again on Sunday when the take on Clemson, before they travel to N.C. to take on Wake Forest on Tuesday.