THE FLATS – Georgia Tech women’s basketball held the halftime lead, but No. 16/19 Duke used a strong second half to come away with a 65-47 decision Sunday afternoon in McCamish Pavilion. Kayla Blackshear and Tonie Morgan contributed double-figure scoring totals to lead the Yellow Jackets.
A relentless Georgia Tech (9-9, 0-7 ACC) squad put on the pressure against Duke (16-1, 6-0 ACC) in the first half, quickly erasing an early five-point deficit to the Blue Devils. Trailing 11-6 in the first, Blackshear sparked a 9-2 run to close the frame and setup a 15-13 Tech lead after the first 10 minutes. Nerea Hermosa handed the Jackets a three-point lead, but a three-pointer from the Blue Devils evened the score back at 19-all. Duke connected on one free throw thereafter, but the lead was short-lived as Georgia Tech gained momentum and used a 9-4 run, fueled by three-pointers from Morgan and Cameron Swartz, to gain a 28-24 lead with less than a minute remaining in the first half. Duke cut the score to 28-27 to close the half.
Duke came out of intermission limiting Georgia Tech’s offense and quickly retook the permanent lead. The Blue Devils won the second half, 38-19, shooting 61.5 percent (16-26) in the final two periods to Tech’s 24.0 percent effort to remain undefeated in the league.