Final: Duke wins in Raleigh for the first time since 2013 with a 70-65 victory, improving to 17-10, 11-5 ACC. NC State loses its third home game in a row (all in front of sell-out crowds) and falls to 23-4, 12-4 ACC. Louisville can clinch the regular season ACC title outright with a win Thursday night.
In a game where Duke led for 37:27 and never allowing NC State to lead for even a second, the Blue Devils shot 45.8% from the field, on 27 of 59 from the field, including 4 of 14 from THREE and was 12 of 14 from the FT line. NC State shot 46% from the field on 24 of 52 from the field, including 6 of 24 from THREE and was 11 of 13 from the FT line. All of Duke's FT occurred in the last 15 minutes of game action.
The Blue Devils took advantage of 16 NC State turnovers, turning them into 23 points. Duke turned the ball over 8 times, but NC State only scored 2 points off turnovers. Duke had 8 steals to 2 for NC State.
Points in the paint were even at 34-34. NC State led in second-chance points, 13-8, and in fastbreak points, 19-9. Both teams had 2 blocks and dished out 16 assists.
The leading scorer for the game was Duke's Haley Gorecki, who finished with 24 points on 8 of 18 from the field, grabbed 4 rebounds and dealt 5 assists. Onome Akinbode-James added 12 points, Kyra Lambert 11 and Leaonna Odom 10 for the Blue Devils. Odom was Duke's leading rebounder with 7 boards.
NC State was led by Elissa Cunane, who finished with 23 points, on 9 of 10 shooting, including one THREE and was 6 of 6 from the FT line. Cunane recorded a double-double, also grabbing 12 rebounds. Jada Boyd added 15 points for the Wolfpack Women, Kayla Jones had 9 points and Ace Konig showed signs of breaking out of her slump with 8.
NC State did win the rebounding battle, 33-28.
Up next: Duke travels to Blacksburg for a matchup with Virginia Tech Thursday evening. NC State will have its senior night against Syracuse Thursday, where seniors Ace Konig, Grace Hunter, Erika Cassell and walk-on and crowd-favorite Katie Wadsworth will be honored.
