The Blue Devils closed out their home season by defeating Virginia 78-70 on Senior Day.   The win assures the Devils of a third place seeding in the upcoming ACC Tournament.  Wanisha Smith made two free throws with 5:04 remaining in the second half which enabled Duke to pull even at 61 apiece.

Duke then had three consecutive steals, taking advantage of two to go up 65-61.  Two of those steals were made by freshman Jasmine Thomas and the other Careem Gay.  The Blue Devils never looked back after trailing by nine earlier in the half eventually going on a back breaking 11-0 run.

Wanisha Smith hit this key lay up to give Duke a 63-61 lead and the Devils never looked back.

"I think it was defense and learning from our previous games to have to fight to figure out a way when we're down in the second half to get a lead and keep the lead.  Just learning from previous games helped us a lot," said the senior Smith.

The Dukies were led by Chante Black's career high 22 points.  Wanisha Smith added 16 in her last game in Cameron.  She was honored along with Emily Waner at games end.  Duke had a 49-5 record at home during Smiths four year stint.

It seems like just yesterday when I snapped a picture Smith, who was then a rising senior in high school.  She visited Duke with Candace Parker of Tennessee during that recruiting weekend.  Candace got Shelden, but we got Wanisha and she proved to be a solid player over the years.

Duke will now travel to North Carolina to close their season next Sunday.  That game will be televised by Fox Sports Net at 5:50 p.m.  Duke is now 10-3 in the league and 21-7 overall.  Duke tied a season high with 24 free throws made on 30 attempts.  he Blue Devils also forced 22 turnovers, making this the 20th time that has happened this season.