Jackson’s Hot Hand Sends Duke Past Liberty, 83-67

Thursday, November 7

Lynchburg, Va.

7 p.m.

Duke University

Liberty

Duke women's basketball Ashlon Jackson celebrates with teammate Vanessa de Jesus

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Jackson’s Hot Hand Sends Duke Past Liberty, 83-67

11/7/2024 9:29:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA – Duke junior Ashlon Jackson registered a game-high 22 points on 70-percent shooting to lead the 11th-ranked Blue Devils to an 83-67 victory at Liberty in non-conference women's basketball action Thursday evening.

Reigan Richardson and Toby Fournier both added 13 points while Jordan Wood chipped in 10 points to round out the double-digit scorers. Duke (2-0), behind four steals by Vanessa de Jesus, scored 31 points off turnovers and held Liberty to 6-of-20 shooting from long range.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Duke threw the first punch, parlaying a 10-0 run midway through the period into a 29-14 lead at the end of 10 minutes.
The Blue Devils hit 11 of their 20 shots in the first with eight of them assisted, while the team featured six different scorers.
Jackson led the efforts during the period with eight points while Fournier and Wood added six points each.
Liberty responded with a counter in the second, finishing the quarter with a plus-12 margin (22-10) to pull within a pair, 39-37, at the break. The Flames, trailing by as many as 14, outscored Duke, 28-16, over a span of 12 minutes in the first and second quarters.
The Blue Devils regrouped at halftime and came out firing in the third quarter. Jackson had the hot hand in the period, dropping in 10 points, including a pair of three-pointers, to put Duke up 64-50 heading into the final 10 minutes. Jackson also dished out three assists as the Blue Devils shot 75 percent in the frame.
Duke also stepped up its game defensively in the third quarter, holding Liberty to four field goals while forcing five turnovers.
Duke continued to push in the fourth quarter, turning defense into offense to extend the lead to as many as 20, 72-52. The Blue Devils forced nine turnovers in the final 10 minutes, getting 12 points off the giveaways to earn the 83-67 victory. Richardson paced Duke in scoring in the fourth with eight points. Delaney Thomas had three steals to lead the defensive effort.
de Jesus and Oluchi Okananwa led the charge on the glass with six rebounds apiece.
Asia Boone led Liberty with 15 points and Elisabeth Aegisdottir was the top rebounder with 15 boards, including seven on the offensive glass.
Duke shot 50 percent from long range on the night and 53 percent overall from the field.

NOTES:

Duke improves to 2-0 this season and moves to 7-0 all-time against Liberty.
Four the second consecutive game, Duke has had at least four players finish in double figures.
The Blue Devils led the game from start to finish with their lead reaching as large as 20 at the 7:46 mark of the fourth quarter.
Duke shot 53 percent (29-of-55) from the field, 50 percent from distance (8-of-16) and 63 percent (17-27) at the charity stripe.
Defensively, the Blue Devils tallied 19 steals, forced 22 Liberty turnovers and kept the Flames 10 points below their respective season scoring average.
The Blue Devils assisted on 19 of their 29 buckets - a 59-percent assist rate.
Duke made a couple revisions to the program quarter records Thursday. The Blue Devils netted 29 points in the first quarter and shot at a 75-percent clip during the third period to snatch back control of the game. Both marks check in fifth all-time in their respective quarters.
In the battle of the superlative stats, the Blue Devils swept all five categories. Duke held the advantage in points off turnovers (31-24), in the paint (34-22), off the bench (30-25), in transition (15-9) on second chance opportunities.
Ashlon Jackson scored 22 points, marking her third career 20-point outing. Her five three-pointers are the second most in her career while her six assists match her career high.
Freshman Toby Fournier scored a career-high 13 points. She has scored in double figures in each of her two collegiate games.
Jordan Wood notched her second consecutive double-digit performance with 10 points.
The Blue Devils remain undefeated against Liberty, improving to 7-0 all-time versus the Flames.
Duke has scored 72 points off turnovers in its first two games this season.

UP NEXT:
No. 11 Duke makes the trek to College Park, Maryland for its first ranked contest of the year, taking on No. 18 Maryland Sunday, Nov. 10 at XFINITY Center. The game is slated for a 1 p.m. tip, live on FS1.

To stay up to date with Duke women's basketball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWBB."

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