Sportswrap: Men’s basketball falls to Miami, women’s basketball tops Syracuse
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. 3-10.
Men’s basketball
It was a whirlwind week for the Blue Devils, who returned from a 12-day COVID-19 break this week for a pair of home matchups against Georgia Tech and Miami. Duke took care of business Tuesday night against the Yellow Jackets, overcoming some early rust and riding a strong defensive performance to a 69-57 win, but ran into some trouble Saturday against the surging Hurricanes. The battle of the ACC’s last two undefeated squads came down to the final minute, and despite a season-high 17 turnovers, the Blue Devils looked to be in control before a late four-point possession delivered the Hurricanes a 76-74 win in Durham. Duke returns to play Wednesday on the road at Wake Forest. -Jonathan Levitan
Women’s basketball
Duke traveled to Syracuse, N.Y., Sunday where it took down the Orange 74-65 marking a two-match win streak. Senior Onome Akinbode-James led with a season-best performance, shining from both the field and at the charity stripe with respective 5-of-9 and 6-of-6 clips. Duke’s season leading scorer Shayeann Day-Wilson had her first big show out since she missed the Virginia Tech contest due to the program’s health and safety protocols, contributing 13 points for Duke and tying Miela Goodchild for the most steals recorded with two. Altogether, the group managed a 45% clip from the field and 27 bench points. The Blue Devils will next take on Virginia Tech Thursday at Cameron Indoor Stadium for a rematch of their Dec. 30 loss. -Ana Young
Swimming and diving
In their first competition in two months, Duke competed against Queens University of Charlotte and Tennessee Saturday at home. While the women took down Queens, they suffered their first loss of the season to No. 6 Tennessee, and the men lost to both teams. Despite the team losses, there were some strong individual performances, including a personal best and second-place time in the 100 freestyle from freshman McKenna Smith and wins from school record holders Sarah Foley and Cole Reznick in the 200 breaststroke and 200 IM, respectively. The Blue Devils will return next Saturday in Raleigh to face off against N.C. State, who have the No. 1 and No. 2-ranked men’s and women’s teams in the ACC, respectively. -Babu Chatterjee
Jonathan Levitan is a Trinity sophomore and an assistant Blue Zone editor of The Chronicle’s 117th volume.
Ana Young is a Trinity first-year and a staff reporter for the news and sports departments.
Babu Chatterjee is a Trinity junior and sports staff reporter for The Chronicle’s 117th volume.
