WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary lacrosse team outscored No. 17/21 Duke during the final 20 minutes but fell to the Blue Devils, 20-8, at Martin Family Stadium on Wednesday evening.
 
Although W&M (1-4) took a 2-1 lead early in the contest following goals by Sarah Cipolla and Meredith Hughes, Duke (4-2) rattled off a 7-0 run during a 15-minute stretch to build a six-goal margin.
 
While Belle Martire's goal on a free position opportunity ended the run with 5:52 showing, Duke closed the opening stanza by scoring four of the next five goals to lead, 12-4, at the intermission.
 
After Duke opened the second half with a 5-0 run to go ahead, 18-4, with 20:15 remaining, W&M outscored the Blue Devils the rest of the way but was unable to overcome the deficit.
 
Tribe Standouts
Belle Martire led the Tribe with a team-high three points (2g, 1a), while Meredith Hughes and Grace Ahonen also found the back of the cage twice. Martire added three draw controls, while Ahonen posted two draw controls and a pair of caused turnovers.
 
Starr Howard came up big defensively with a team-high three caused turnovers and four ground balls to go with a draw control.  
 
 
Inside the Numbers
Although Duke held a narrow edge in ground balls, 21-20, the Blue Devils outshot the Tribe, 34-24, and won 19 of the 30 draw controls.
 
Additionally, Duke committed just 11 turnovers.
 
The Opposition
Anna Callahan led Duke with five points (3g, 2a), While Maddie Jenner (2g, 2a) and Catriona Barry (3g, 1a) both tallied four points apiece.  Jenner added a game-high 13 draw controls.
 
Notes
Duke marks the first of two consecutive opponents on W&M's schedule from the Atlantic Coast Conference, as the Tribe will play at Virginia Tech next Wednesday … The contest marked the midway point of W&M's non-conference slate, as it has five games remaining before its CAA schedule begins at Drexel on April 3 … Martire has recorded at least a share of the team's leading goal totals in all five games this season and leads the Tribe with 18 … With three draw controls against Duke, freshman Sarah Cipolla has posted at least three draw controls in four of five games this season and leads the team with 15.
 
Up Next
W&M will return to action when it plays at Virginia Tech next Wednesday at 4 p.m.