January 9, 2005

Box score

No. 2 Duke 88, No. 25 Virginia Tech 67

 

DURHAM, N.C. - Second-ranked Duke proved to be too much for No. 25 Virginia Tech Sunday afternoon in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke defeated the ACC newcomers by a score of 88-67 in Tech's first ACC road game.

The Hokies drop to 11-3 on the season and 1-1 in conference competition while the Blue Devils won their conference opener and improved to 15-1 on the season and 1-0 in league play.

Tech was led by Carrie Mason, Erin Gibson and Kerri Garden with 13 points each in the game. Dawn Chriss and Megan Finnerty added six each.

The Blue Devils' Monique Currie netted a game-high 18 points. Wanisha Smith chipped in 15, while Mistie Williams and Wynter Whitley added 14 and 10 points, respectively. Williams also pulled down a game-high 11 boards. Alison Bales totaled four blocks in the win.

After extending its lead to double figures to end the first half, Duke ran off nine straight points to start the second before Mason converted a three-point play. Gibson and Gardin each hit an inside jumper to cut the 19-point lead to 12 with 14:30 remaining, but the Hokies were unable to cut the lead to single digits.

In the first half, Tech took its last lead on a layup by Mason, putting the Hokies up 7-6. Duke preceded to make a 7-0 run before Tech countered with a 9-3 run of its own, helped by two Mason three-pointers and a jumper by Kerri Garden.

Mason totaled eight points in the first 8:24 to keep the Hokies in the game, trailing by two at 18-16. After battling back and forth, the Blue Devils' Jessica Foley hit her only trey of the half to extend the lead to 28-21. Tech went on a 5-1 run to pull within three, but Mistie Williams hit two foul shots to begin an 8-3 spurt that turned into an 11-5 run that finished the first half and put the game out of reach at 41-31.

For the game, Tech canned 41 percent of its shots from the field, including 4-of-9 from behind the arc. Duke hit 37-of-67 attempts from the floor and 3-of-10 shots from the three-point line.

The Hokies forced Duke into 17 turnovers, but the Blue Devils held the edge in blocked shots and rebounding. Duke thwarted 12 attempts by Tech and held a 40-31 advantage on the boards.

The 88 points given up by the Hokies were the most points scored by an opponent this season. The previous high was 87 by Old Dominion.

Tech returns to the friendly confines of Cassell Coliseum on January 17, when they host ACC rival N.C. State at 7 p.m.