In their first contest of the year tonight, the Blue Devils overcame the Wildcats 54-48 at Cameron Indoor Stadium—despite being unable to break away from their opponents until the end of the game.
With just over a minute and a half to go, No. 3 Duke (14-0) was tied with No. 11 Kentucky (11-2) 48-48. The team knew that if it wanted to break the Wildcats' six-game winning streak, it needed to step up its game.
Coming back from a time out with just under a minute left in the game, the Blue Devils' freshman class joined forces with senior Jasmine Thomas to finish strong.
Freshman Chelsea Gray made a two-point jumper that gave Duke the lead, and missed shots from Kentucky, followed by a foul on Thomas gave the Blue Devils another one-point advantage as the senior made one of her free throws.
But the All-American quickly made up for her miss by blocking a three-pointer from the Bobcats that led to a defensive rebound by freshman Chloe Wells.
A final foul on Kentucky and a team technical foul led to Thomas making three of her four subsequent free throws, and the Blue Devils started off the new year with a victory and an undefeated record.
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