The Duke Blue Devils women’s basketball team fell to the No. 13 Virginia Tech Hokies Thursday night. Here’s the breakdown on how the game went.
The Duke women’s basketball team had their three-game winning streak snapped in a narrow loss to No. 13 Virginia Tech on Thursday night.
The Duke Blue Devils (16-8, 8-5 ACC) fell to the Hokies (21-4, 12-2 ACC) 61-56 in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Blue Devils guard Ashlon Jackson led the team in scoring with 18 points on 5-11 shooting. She also affected the game defensively with two steals and two blocks.
The Blue Devils’ upset attempt got off to a solid start as they kept it a three-point game at halftime, trailing 30-27. The two sides continued to trade the lead as each team led on 12 occasions and were tied 11 times.
Duke guard Reigan Richardson also helped keep them in contention, and she finished the game with 11 points on 5-14 shooting.
The Blue Devils defense pestered the Hokies all game long as they finished with nine steals and six blocks as a team.
Virginia Tech and Duke entered the fourth quarter tied at 42 points apiece, but the Blue Devils’ stifling defense eventually started to show cracks.
Duke had no answer for Hokies center Elizabeth Kitley. Kitley finished the game with 34 points on 13-17 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds to complete the double-double.
Kitley dominated the fourth quarter when she scored 11 of her points to give the Hokies a lead they’d never give up for the rest of the game. She also grabbed five boards in the final quarter, three of which were offensive rebounds.
Duke trailed 56-53 late in the game but missed three shots to try and tie it. Virginia Tech guard Georgia Moore made the Blue Devils pay and drilled a 3-pointer. Duke was forced to foul late and ultimately fell on the road.
Duke’s defense kept it close all game but a poor shooting night kept them from pulling off the upset. The Blue Devils shot just 36.5% from the field as a team and 27.8% from beyond the arc. Duke also struggled to stay consistent from the charity stripe as the team finished 65% from the free throw line.
The Blue Devils will return home for their next game against the No. 17 Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Monday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN2.
