Sportswrap is your one-stop shop for everything Duke athletics, where we’ll recap how each of Duke’s sports currently in competition performed over the last week and give a brief look ahead. Here’s our recap for the week of Jan. 15-21:
Men’s basketball
No. 7 Duke had a week break after defeating Georgia Tech, but fell to Pittsburgh 80-76 in Cameron Indoor Stadium Saturday night. The Blue Devils (13-4, 4-2 in the ACC) defeated the Panthers just 11 days earlier, but were unable to repeat that success. Senior guard Jeremy Roach and sophomore forward Mark Mitchell were sidelined with knee injuries as junior guard Jaylen Blakes made his first start of the season. Pittsburgh’s Blake Hinson took advantage of the shorthanded group, and connected on all seven of his 3-point attempts, finishing with 24 points. Duke was led by freshman guard Jared McCain, who continued his elite play with a 20-point outburst. The Blue Devils will travel to Louisville, Ky., Tuesday evening to take on the struggling Cardinals. -Ranjan Jindal
Women’s basketball
It was a mixed bag this week for head coach Kara Lawson’s team. Thursday saw a statement victory by the Blue Devils, who knocked off No. 14 Virginia Tech 63-46 behind a 22-point performance by junior guard Reigan Richardson. Down by double-digits early in the game, Duke (12-6, 4-3 in the ACC) clawed back to cut the Hokies’ lead to five at halftime, before sprinting ahead in the third quarter on a 27-8 run, coasting to its first ranked win of the year. Sunday was a different story. Finding themselves down big again early at No. 4 N.C. State, the Blue Devils were unable to crawl out of the hole. Holding Duke to just 37.9% shooting on the day with 19 turnovers, the Wolfpack utilized stout defense and strong early outside shooting to get the victory. Continuing a tough conference schedule, the Blue Devils will look to bounce back against No. 15 Florida State Thursday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. -Ryan Hamner
Track and field
Duke spent the weekend in two spots, as the Blue Devils split their talent between the Hokie Invitational in Blacksburg, Va., and the Carolina Challenge in Chapel Hill. Both sets of athletes saw their first real ACC competition of the year, but neither contingent was particularly fazed by the extra level of competitiveness. At North Carolina, the women’s team took control of the Eddie Smith Field House on the actual field, notching wins in the weight throw and all three jumping events. Over at Virginia Tech, the women crushed first in five races while the men took care of the 4x400m relay, the mile and various other events on the field as well as the track. Next weekend’s meet means a trip to Boston for the BU Terrier Classic. -Sophie Levenson
Wrestling
Duke struggled this week, losing to both Gardner-Webb 23-15 and Chattanooga 33-11. Against the Runnin’ Bulldogs, the Blue Devils (4-8) picked up four victories from Connor Barket, Logan Ferrero, Gaetano Console and Jack Wimmer. However, it wasn’t enough to account for the technical fall loss by Christan Coleman and a pin by Logan Agin. Looking to bounce back Friday, Duke encountered even more trouble, dropping eight of 10 matches. Sophomores Barket and Conor Becker picked up impressive victories by pin and technical fall, respectively. Next up is a Friday home bout with Virginia for Duke’s ACC opener. -Luke Jovanovic
Fencing
The Blue Devil fencers kicked off the new year Saturday at the Philadelphia Invitational. Duke entered the tournament ranked No. 9 on both the men’s and women’s side but faced quite a few formidable opponents over the course of the weekend. Nonetheless, the Blue Devils started off strong, with the women going 5-2 and the men going 5-1 Saturday. Sophomore Kunling Tong rang in the first win of the tournament with a dominant 5-1 performance in saber. This was shortly followed by more wins from David Tierney in foil (5-2) and Chandler Wimmer in epee (5-3) to give Duke a close victory against the No. 7 men’s team from Penn. With freshman Sophia Shen ending the day with a win, the Blue Devils appear to be picking up right where they left off in 2023. Up next is a trip to Massachusetts for the Duke-Harvard Meet Friday and Eric Sollee Invitational Saturday. -Emily Wang
Swimming and diving
The Blue Devils returned to the pool Saturday to take on South Carolina and UNC Asheville in a spring slate opener. While the No. 17 women defeated the 21st-ranked Gamecocks 170-130 and crushed the Bulldogs 244-56, the men fell to South Carolina 204-91. A 200-yard medley relay of Ali Pfaff, Kaelyn Gridley, Aleyna Ozkan and Tatum Wall kicked off the meet with a first-place showing, and the women’s team then grabbed additional top finishes in events ranging from the 200-yard individual medley to the 1-meter dive. On the men’s side, Michael Jiang took second-place in both men’s backstroke events, while Blake Johnson and David Chang also scored crucial points with top-three finishes. Up next for the Blue Devils is a Friday home clash with North Carolina followed by a Saturday matchup with Texas. -Abby DiSalvo
Men’s tennis:
No. 8 Duke opened its season on the right foot, going undefeated in a three-match weekend. The Blue Devils (3-0) first defeated VCU 4-3 Saturday, as junior Jake Krug clinched the victory. Duke started off well by earning the doubles point in all three matches, led by the No. 1 and No. 2 pairings of Garrett Johns and Pedro Rodenas, and Michael Heller and Andrew Zhang, respectively. On Sunday, the Blue Devils beat Princeton 4-3 after singles wins by Johns, Zhang and freshmen Alexander Visser. They followed this up with a 7-0 sweep against N.C. Central to conclude the weekend. Duke next will host the ITA Kickoff Weekend, beginning against N.C. State Jan. 27. -Ranjan Jindal
Women’s tennis
Head coach Jamie Ashworth hit a big milestone this week, reaching 600 match wins with the Blue Devils’ win against Illinois Saturday. After defeating N.C. Central and Charlotte comprehensively in a Thursday double-header, Duke (4-0) solidified the achievement with a 4-2 victory against the Fighting Illini. Ashworth became only the seventh NCAA Division-I women's head coach to reach the 600-win mark. For the first time all season, Duke dropped the doubles point Saturday to Illinois but was able to pick up four singles wins to carry the match — with freshman No. 1 singles player Shavit Kimchi winning three straight singles challenges. The Blue Devils hope to continue this streak, as they host the ITA Kickoff Weekend starting Friday against Princeton. -Anna Newberry
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.