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As the saying goes, three things are certain in life: Death, Taxes and Duke start slowly in ACC games. But the latter was easy for the Blue Devils to recover from, especially in a group as tough as Kara Lawson’s team.
The No. 13 Duke overcame a first quarter deficit 15-10 by defeating Syracuse 62-50 at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Sunday afternoon. With his sophomore Shayeann Day-Wilson and senior girlfriend Celeste Taylor combined in the backcourt he scored 31 points and the Blue Devils relentless defense. was forced to
Slow starts were common for Duke, and Sunday’s matchup against Syracuse followed a similar pattern. The Blue Devils trailed after the first quarter in his three of his final four games heading into Sunday. What’s their record in those matchups? 3-1.
“We thought we had a bad start to the game, maybe not ourselves yet,” Lawson said. “I don’t know if there were any lasting effects [from Thursday night]”
In the first quarter against Orange, the Blue Devils (17-2, 7-1 in ACC) shot 5/14 from the field, pitched six turnovers and trailed by five on home court. .
However, like this group, Duke fought back. Day Wilson’s 8 points and Taylor’s 7 headlined the second quarter as the Blue Devils outscored Syracuse (13-7, 4-5) 19-9 to take a halftime lead to 29-24. bottom.
“It’s been a really good match. [Day-Wilson]said Lawson. “She has made great progress at her end of the defensive front leading her team, and we know she can make shots.”
There were many reasons for Duke’s scoring in the second quarter, but the Blue Devils only turned the ball over twice in this period. Additionally, the defensive intensity increased, forcing him to make six turnovers from Orange.
“They had 19 sales, so that’s a good sign,” Lawson said. “But there were 18 of us, so I think they confused us too.”
As at the start of the first half, Duke found himself in another slump outside the locker room. Duke won the quarter 13-12, but the Oranges, led by senior Daisha Fair, seemed to irritate the Blue Devils. Lawson was effervescent on the sidelines as five turnovers in the third quarter plagued Duke’s offensive set.
Duke seemed to need yet another response. As they have all year, the Blue Devils have found their response on the defensive end. A 2:43 scoreless stretch occurred in unfortunate times for Syracuse, with Fair struggling down the stretch. The Star Guard finished 4/18 with 12 points from the field.
“[Fair and Teisha Hyman] They make tough shots, so it’s hard to guard,” Lawson said.
But three uncharacteristically sloppy turnovers early in the fourth quarter helped Orange hold its ground. With 2:39 remaining, Syracuse was only five points down on him.
As with Duke’s first quarter start, Taylor’s clutch performance failed to wow the Cameron Indoor crowd. Taylor broke his two fasts on a layup and a jumper as he scored a 6-0 run and suddenly, Blue his Devils lead increased to 12 points in less than a minute. bottom.
“Our coach Lawson kept telling us to play with energy, but she couldn’t even play with energy for us,” Day Wilson said. “So we had to bring it up for each other and stay together and execute.”
Perhaps the play of the game was in the middle of that 6-0 run, as sophomore guard Raygan Richardson stole the ball at halfcourt and found Taylor cleanly passing a Syracuse defender for a layup. After the play, Richardson let out a fist pump and blew all the wind out of Syracuse’s sails.
“I think Raygun is growing in front of us,” Lawson said. “She can defend multiple positions, [and] She plays hard in transition. I love where she is and I think she can continue to be a consistent performer for us. ”
As such, Duke succeeded in striking back from behind again, this time against the up-and-coming Syracuse Corps. , which is working for the time being. For now, Lawson’s team is 7-1 in his ACC, after getting off to Duke’s best start in the conference in his play since 2013-14, at 8 p.m. There will be a big home matchup against Virginia Tech.
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