Fournier comes up big early and late for No. 17 Duke in 59-58 win over No. 6 Louisville
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9:37 PM on Thursday, February 5
By STEVE BITTENBENDER
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Toby Fournier scored 15 points and came up with a huge block late for No. 17 Duke, which started hot and then rallied to beat sixth-ranked Louisville 59-58 on Thursday night.
The lone regular-season matchup of the Atlantic Coast Conference co-leaders was a defensive battle as the Blue Devils (17-6, 12-0) shot just 42.6% (23 of 54) and committed 19 turnovers, while the Cardinals (21-4, 11-1) shot a season-worst 33.9% (21 of 62).
Louisville’s Imari Berry missed the second of two free throws with 1.1 seconds left. Duke’s Riley Nelson got the rebound.
It looked like it would be a blowout at first as the Blue Devils took a 16-1 lead and made their first seven shots while Louisville missed its first nine.
Fournier scored eight of those points. Nelson and Tania Mair finished with 13 each as Duke extended its winning streak to 14.
The Cardinals twice got the deficit to seven points in the second quarter and to three in the third.
Louisville took its first lead 93 seconds into the fourth quarter on Laura Ziegler's 3-pointer.
Duke, however, countered with an 11-1 run to go up 57-50 with 3:57 left.
The Cardinals, who had missed nine straight after Ziegler’s go-ahead bucket, got a layup from Elif Istanbulluoglu to cut the deficit to 59-57 with 1:18 remaining.
The score was the same when Berry tried a 3-pointer from near the top of the key with 37 seconds left. Fournier blocked that shot, and Duke got the rebound.
Ziegler stole the ball in the closing seconds and fed Berry for a fast break. Riley Nelson fouled Berry to prevent a tying layup.
Istanbulluoglu led Louisville, which saw its 14-game winning streak snapped, with 13. Ziegler and Reyna Scott added 11 each.
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