BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Virginia Tech women's lacrosse team fell 18-11 to the #8 Duke Blue Devils Monday evening. The Hokies drop to 4-12 overall and are 0-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, while Duke advances to 9-5 overall and 3-2 in ACC play.

The Hokies dominated the first 12 minutes of play by scoring the first three goals of the game. It took the Blue Devils over 14 minutes to take their first lead of the game.

Allie Emala had the first goal of the game, just 26 seconds in from the opening whistle with a free position shot. Emala followed up again a little over one minute later with a hard drive to goal.

Kady McBrearty's strong drive from the 12-meter arc brought the Hokies to a 3-0 lead with 25:42 remaining in the half.

It took two more minutes for the Blue Devils to get their first shot on the Hokies, and a total of 11 minutes and 15 seconds to get on the board.

Duke scored three more times in the following three minutes, and took its first lead of the game, 4-3, with Linsay Gilbride's unassisted goal with 15:51 on the clock.

Kady M cBrearty brought the game to its second and final tie of the game with her 14:23 goal.

Duke's five-goal scoring streak began 13 seconds later until Rachel Culp's free position goal brought the score to 5-9 with 2:57 left to play. Jessica McBride had the last goal of the half to bring the score to 10-5.

McBrearty had the first goal of the second half by taking advantage of a Duke turnover two minutes and 45 seconds into the half. The four-point spread was short-lived as Duke scored three consecutive goals in the next five minutes.

The Hokies managed to score twice in less than 20 seconds, beginning with Emala's unassisted goal with 16:29 left in the game. Christen Fratter brought the game to 13-8 just 19 seconds later off an assist from Briana Warner.

During the last 13 minutes of play, the Blue Devils score five goals while the Hokies managed only three. Tech offense was held to two goals in an eight-minute span.

McBrearty found Terri Cover in a fast drive to goal with 9:31 left in the game. Cover returned the favor with 1:25 left on the clock with a quick assist to McBrearty for the last goal of the game to bring the final score to 18-11.

Goalie Kari Morrison lead the team in ground balls, with four, and notched eight saves on the day.

Emala and Rachel Culp lead in draw controls with five and four each.

Next up, the Hokies travel to ACC rival Maryland in their last regular-season game this Saturday. The Hokies face of the Terps at noon in College Park, Md.