Injuries hurt Blue Devils on the glass in Sunday's loss

With just 1:51 remaining in the fourth quarter, freshman guard Angela Salvadores stepped to the free-throw line with Duke trailing 58-53. On the sideline, freshman Faith Suggs crossed her fingers, praying for a victory on Senior Day.

Salvadores made both of her shots. But after Georgia Tech snatched three consecutive offensive rebounds on the next possession, the last glimpse of hope went out the window for the Blue Devils, who suffered a heartbreaking 64-59 loss Sunday afternoon at Cameron Indoor Stadium. After Duke was its own worst enemy in the first 20 minutes with 16 turnovers, the Blue Devils ran into injury problems after halftime in a physical game that left head coach Joanne P. McCallie’s squad battered, bruised and still very much on the NCAA tournament bubble.

Duke trailed by as many as nine in the fourth quarter, but toughed out a comeback attempt and cut the Yellow Jacket lead to just three after Salvadores’ free throws. But Georgia Tech senior Aaliyah Whiteside’s free throw made it a 61-57 game with 16 seconds to play, and after Duke responded immediately with a quick layup from freshman Kyra Lambert, the Yellow Jackets put the game to rest with two foul shots by senior Roddreka Rogers, sealing Georgia Tech’s first win in Durham since 1993.

With four players already unavailable heading into Sunday’s game—three of them due to injuries—things got worse for the Blue Devils as several key players went down during the course of the second half. The injuries forced Duke to adjust on the fly, but it was not enough to pull off a comeback.

“These kids have done a remarkable job having to reinvent themselves over and over again as we dealt with some difficult situations,” McCallie said. “So I am very proud of them for that. Adversity strikes, most definitely.... But you play these games because we are trying to get better as a team and as people take those lessons.”

After scoring the game’s first 10 points, Duke fell apart against Georgia Tech’s trapping defense, committing nine turnovers in the first quarter that allowed the Yellow Jackets to overcome a 1-for-17 start from the field. The giveaways fueled a 23-5 Yellow Jacket run that left the visitors up by a point at halftime.

But if the Blue Devils were bothered by the Georgia Tech pressure in the first half, they were disrupted by their own injuries in the third quarter.

With Azurá Stevens out for the sixth straight game with a left foot injury and redshirt freshman Lyneé Belton done for the year after undergoing knee surgery Thursday, the Blue Devils were already undermanned down low heading into Sunday. The Yellow Jackets exploited that on the glass, dominating Duke 24-9 in offensive rebounds, including the three critical boards near the end of regulation that allowed Georgia Tech to run 1:22 of precious time off the clock.

Several Blue Devils—including graduate student Amber Henson and freshman Crystal Primm—were helped off the court in the second half after suffering apparent leg injuries. After hurting her foot in the first half, Salvadores fell down once again midway into the third quarter and held her ankle in pain. She left the court to receive treatment but managed to return and helped Duke close the game down the stretch. Suggs was elbowed by a Yellow Jacket player in the midst of a scrum for a loose ball and did not return.

“It’s part of it,” McCallie said. “It’s just a battle out there and everyone is fighting. We try to move on and look for the next person to contribute. Fortunately, it seems everybody came back.”

Despite the physical challenge, the Blue Devils drove the ball into the paint over and over again to draw contact throughout the back-and-forth third quarter. Duke trailed by as many as five, led by as many as four and ultimately entered the fourth quarter with the game tied at 43.

“I think it’s just staying with what’s working and not breaking out of what we are doing well,” Henson said. “I think there were times [when] myself and others kind of got outside the scheme we were running or the play we were running. I think just sticking with that, no matter if we are up, down or whatever, just sticking with the gameplan is really important.”

The Yellow Jackets struck fast in the final frame with smooth ball movement to scatter Duke’s zone defense and created open looks for outside shots. Down by as many as nine points, the Blue Devils continued to drive into the lane, but did not have enough gas in the tank or time on the clock to come all the way back.

Hampered by injuries and unable to rebound at the game’s most critical juncture against Georgia Tech, the Blue Devils may now face their toughest moments of the season heading into Sunday’s regular-season finale at North Carolina, with a win against the Tar Heels and a strong showing in the ACC tournament sorely needed in order for Duke to bolster its NCAA tournament resume. How they respond to the adversity created by Sunday’s injuries—even more bad news for a team already missing its leading scorer and rebounder—will be key.

“Sports is about learning lessons, life lessons,” McCallie said. “They can be pretty difficult sometimes. So if you are not learning, I don’t know why you are playing.”