Jan. 17, 2005
DURHAM, N.C. – Monique Currie scored 27 points and Jessica Foley made seven of Duke’s school-record 13 3-pointers, helping the top-ranked Blue Devils rally from their largest deficit of the season to beat Georgia Tech 82-59 Monday night.
Foley finished with a career-best 23 points for the Blue Devils (17-1, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who have won 15 straight since a loss at Notre Dame in November.
Wanisha Smith added 16 points for Duke, Currie finished with 11 rebounds and Alison Bales had five blocks.
But this victory was a bit harder than the rest. Georgia Tech’s (10-5, 1-3) first five baskets were 3-pointers, including three from Jill Ingram, who scored 18 of her career-high 20 points in the first half.
After the second 3 made it 6-0 less than a minute in, Blue Devils coach Gail Goestenkors called a timeout and chastised her team. She leaned into the face of nearly all the starters and yelled at them for the lackluster start, and for a time, the tongue-lashing appeared to have the right effect.
Duke got to 6-5 on a 3-pointer by Smith before Georgia Tech continued its barrage from beyond the arc. Ingram made the final one of the early spurt to make it 15-5, and added a jumper a couple of minutes later to give the Yellow Jackets a 23-8 lead.
The 15-point margin surpassed an 11-point deficit the Blue Devils faced earlier this season against Penn State, and it still was 11 before they rallied.
Currie had seven of Duke’s points during an 11-2 run, and a 3 from Foley left Georgia Tech with a three-point lead late in the first half. Ingram heaved in a desperation 30-footer in the final seconds with the shot clock winding down, and the Blue Devils trailed by six at the break.
Consecutive 3-pointers by Chioma Nnamaka early in the second half gave the Yellow Jackets a 45-35 lead. But they went nearly eight minutes without a basket and were outscored 33-10 during that span.
Meanwhile, Currie was finding her range. She scored nine points in about three minutes – part of 19 straight points for Duke – and helped hold Ingram to a 1-for-7 effort in the second half.
Goestenkors improved to 3-0 against Georgia Tech coach MaChelle Joseph, who played at Purdue when Goestenkors was an assistant in the early 1990s. Duke beat the Yellow Jackets for the 24th time in a row, dating to Feb. 27, 1994.
Nnamaka scored 17 points for Georgia Tech.
KEITH PARSONS
AP Sports Writer
