No. 16 Tigers Fall to No. 12 Duke

January 14, 1999

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) – Nicole Erickson scored 25 of her 28 points in the second half as No. 12 Duke rallied to beat No. 16 Clemson 86-77 Thursday night.

Erickson was 7-of-12 from 3-point range as the Blue Devils (14-4, 6-0) remained the only undefeated team in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

After holding Duke to just 38 percent shooting in the first half, Clemson (13-3, 4-3) took a 35-29 lead at halftime.

But Duke shot 57 percent from the field and converted 20 of 23 free throws in the second half.

Erickson hit a 3-pointer with 11:33 left to put Duke up 55-53, and then she nailed her last 3-pointer to give the Blue Devils the lead for good, 67-64, with 6:20 to play.

Clemson was within 74-71 after a free throw by Erin Batth with 4:06 remaining, but the Tigers missed 13 of their last 18 shots. Duke made 14 of 16 free throws over the final 4:34.

Georgia Schweitzer scored 16 points for Duke, while Peppi Browne had 14 and Michele VanGorp added 12. Hilary Howard went 6-for-6 at the foul line over the final 58 seconds and finished with nine points and matched her career-best with 11 assists.

Nikki Blassingame scored a career-high 25 points and tied her career-high with 12 rebounds, while Amy Geren added 18 points and Itoro Umoh had 17 for the Tigers.