Blue Devils surge in second half to beat Eagles

January 14, 2006

BOSTON (AP) -- Duke just couldn't be stopped in the second half.

Monique Curry scored 14 of her 20 points after halftime and the

second-ranked Blue Devils shrugged off a slow start to beat No. 22

Boston College 66-52 on Saturday.

"Monique showed why she's the best player in the ACC and one of

the best players in the nation," Duke coach Gail Goestenkors said.

"She's a big-time player."

The Blue Devils (16-0, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) missed 20

of their first 25 shots and finished with their lowest scoring

total this season. They beat Georgia Tech 67-59 Wednesday.

"I guess, at times, it was frustrating because our offense

wasn't going," said Currie, who went 5-for-6 from the floor after

the break. "We weren't taking our time and getting good shots."

Currie got untracked early in the second half, connecting on a

pair of 3-pointers 3:20 apart.

"That's why she's a great player," BC coach Cathy Inglese

said. "She comes in at the end of games and does what's

necessary."

Kindyll Dorsey led the Eagles (12-5, 0-3) with 20 points. She

made four of nine 3-pointers. Brooke Queenan added 11 points for

BC, which fell to 1-5 against Top 25 teams.

"We know that we can play with these teams, but every game in

the ACC will be hard," BC forward Lisa Macchia said.

Queenan converted a reverse layup with 16:20 to play to give the

Eagles a 32-24 lead.

The Blue Devils battled back, putting together a 7-0 run to take

a 56-50 lead with 4:24 left. Lindsey Harding started the spurt with

a basket and finished it off with a steal and a breakaway layup.

"Duke showed why they're the No. 2 team in the country the last

five, six minutes," Inglese said. "We had a few shots that

weren't falling at the end of the game."

Wanish Smith scored off a drive to make it 61-52 Duke with 2:56

to play.

Harding added 18 points and Mistie Williams had 11 for the Blue

Devils. Currie also moved into third place in Duke's all-time

scoring list.

Duke shot 26 percent in the first half and trailed 22-20 at the

break.