CHESTNUT HILL, Mass.—After struggling in the third quarter in their effort to upset No. 13 Syracuse Sunday, the Blue Devils desperately needed to put four quarters together to keep from falling to 1-7 in the ACC.
With only nine sets of legs available, Duke could not maintain early momentum and fell to Boston College in double overtime 92-90 Thursday night at Conte Forum. The Eagles made three straight buzzer-beaters, the final off the hands of Makayla Dickens with two seconds remaining in the second overtime to seal the victory for Boston College.
“Obviously we had a tough time with [Dickens]. Didn’t do a great job there,” head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “But again, just being focused together as a team is important and playing great defense...you have to get stops.”
Entering the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, Duke had a 65-61 lead.
A Boston College three gave the Blue Devils (9-11, 1-7 in the ACC) a one point advantage at 65-64. Duke made two straight defensive stops and had the ball with approximately 30 seconds remaining before Gorecki stepped out of bounds on the sideline to give the Eagles back the ball.
Boston College (14-7, 3-5) missed its attempt on the floor and the Blue Devils were able to corral the rebound. Freshman Onome Akinbode-James got the foul call and she went to the line for two shots to protect the Duke lead.
Akinbode-James missed both. But, a lane violation from the Eagles gave her another opportunity and she converted. The Blue Devils had a 66-64 lead with 25 seconds remaining in the game.
Duke got the defensive stop but Boston College got the jump ball on the rebound. They had six seconds to convert a shot. The first attempt did not go down but the rebound and second attempt went in at the buzzer, sending the game into overtime.
“Obviously a great basketball game. A really intense basketball game. Both teams played really hard. A really offensive basketball game—a lot of good attacking,” McCallie said. “I was really proud of our team’s fight and their attacking and how we played. It came down basically you have to get a few stops in these offensive games. You have to stop people. And we didn’t do that.”
Three of the Eagles players had four fouls going into overtime, so the Blue Devils continued their strategy in the paint. Jade Williams hit two early free throws to give Duke the advantage but a floater and a three gave Boston College the 71-68 lead.
Haley Gorecki came through for the Blue Devils and hit two straight 3-point shots. The conversions improved her overall clip from 1-for-6 and gave Duke the 74-71 lead. The Blue Devils held on to a 76-75 lead until the Eagles converted another last second shot to give them the 77-76 lead with five seconds left in the game.
“It’s important to just control the tempo. Take care of the ball, do the little things,” Gorecki said. “Making the extra pass for the easy shot. And rebounding. It was good that we won the boards. But just doing the little things is important.”
Gorecki was put on the line and hit one, sending the game into a second overtime. She finished the game with her fifth double-double of the season, tacking on 24 points, half of which came in overtime. Gorecki played a career-high 50 minutes and corralled 14 rebounds.
Freshman Miela Goodchild provided the spark plug for the Blue Devils, finishing with 23 points and shooting 5-of-6 beyond the arc. Her career performance was particularly vital to ending several Boston College runs in the first half.
Goodchild was perfect across all categories at the half, converting three triples, a couple free throws and a shot from the short corner. She had 13 of Duke’s 34 points in the first half and was supplemented by eight points apiece from Gorecki and Leaonna Odom.
“Miela plays super hard. Not only in making her shots but also defensively she was super,” McCallie said. “I also thought Haley was super. Jade did some nice things, especially being in foul trouble. Talk about a limited bench, we also had foul trouble...you just have to keep attacking.”
Duke returns home to take on Pittsburgh on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Panthers are the only team in the ACC that have not won a conference game and a victory would keep the Blue Devils from falling to last place in the conference.
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