Duke Women Respond To Halftime Talk, Beat Clemson

Duke coach Gail Goestenkors gave her players an earful at halftime. They must have listened.

Payton Black scored 19 points, and Kira Orr sank a 3-pointer with 3:09 remaining Friday as the No. 24 Blue Devils beat No. 10 Clemson 70-61 in women’s basketball.

Orr’s 3-pointer from the top of the key gave the Blue Devils (12-6 overall, 4-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) a 62-61 lead with 3:09 to play.

“I had avoided telling the team this, but I felt this was a must-win for us. We had that talk at halftime,” Goestenkors said. “We weren’t playing like a team that had to win; we were playing like a team that had its back against the wall; we weren’t playing like a team that was fighting for its life. We did down the stretch.”

Clemson (14-4, 5-4) led by as many as 10 points in the first half and had a 29-27 lead at the break.