Duke Comeback Falls Short in 53-46 Overtime Loss at UNC

Thursday, January 9

Chapel Hill, N.C.

7 p.m.

Duke University

North Carolina

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Duke Comeback Falls Short in 53-46 Overtime Loss at UNC

1/9/2025 9:55:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Fourteenth-ranked Duke rallied from a 16-point deficit in the third quarter to force overtime but couldn't complete the comeback in a 53-46 loss at No. 19 North Carolina in ACC women's basketball action Thursday evening inside Carmichael Arena.

Ashlon Jackson led all Duke scorers with 10 points, while Jadyn Donovan and Delaney Thomas had solid outings with seven points apiece and 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively. All 10 Blue Devils who saw the court scored at least two points.

Reigan Richardson finished with five points and provided the crucial three-pointer to tie the game, 38-38, late in the fourth quarter.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The first quarter was a defensive slugfest, with Duke holding an 8-6 lead after the opening 10 minutes of play. Vanessa de Jesus, Toby Fournier Oluchi Okananwa and Richardson were the Blue Devil scorers.
Quarter number two was much of the same, but this time it was North Carolina who finished with the advantage in the second period, 10-8, leaving the Blue Devils and Tar Heels deadlocked at 16.
The offensive struggles continued in the third quarter as North Carolina slowly extended its lead to 11, 27-16, forcing the Blue Devils to call a timeout.
The Tar Heels' lead ballooned to 16, 32-16, before Donovan got Duke on the board with 1:50 remaining in the third period.
Donovan's jumper sparked a 10-0 run to close the quarter as Emma Koabel and Jackson drained threes to make it 32-24. Donovan capitalized on a Tar Heel turnover, laying in the fastbreak layup to bring it to a two-possession game, 32-26, after three periods.
After the rivals traded baskets to start the fourth, Donovan knocked down a pair of free throws to pull the Blue Devils within four – the closest it had been since the 8:23 mark of the third quarter.
A Taina Mair jumper and free throw from Koabel combined with a four-minute North Carolina scoring drought nearly completed the comeback as Duke got within one, 36-35, with 4:52 left in the final frame.
North Carolina's Trayanna Crisp connected on a pair from the charity stripe to push the Tar Heel lead back to three, 38-35, but Richardson hit her biggest bucket of the night with a three-pointer to tie the game at 38 apiece.
The Tar Heels went back in front 40-38 with 2:29 left in regulation as neither team found the bottom of the net over the next 90 seconds to leave less than a minute left on the clock.
After a defensive stop by the Blue Devils, Jackson drew a foul to earn two free throws. The veteran scorer knocked down both, tying the game, 40-40. Duke forced another North Carolina turnover with 21 seconds left.
Richardson got the look in the final seconds, just missing as Duke and North Carolina headed to overtime.
Duke scored the first three points of overtime as the Blue Devils took the lead for the first time since the end of the first quarter.
North Carolina answered with a 9-0 run to break open the game, 49-43. Jackson hit from distance to cut the lead to three again, but the Tar Heels scored four straight points to ice the seven-point victory.

NOTES:

Duke forced 26 North Carolina turnovers and scored 25 points off those miscues. The Blue Devils have forced at least 26 turnovers in three consecutive games.
The Blue Devils also registered 16 steals, posted four blocks and outrebounded the Tar Heels on the offensive glass, 18-12.
Duke held UNC below its respective season scoring average and field goal percentage, with the Tar Heels' 53 points and 32.1% shooting marking season lows. North Carolina entered the game putting up 74.4 points on 43.4% shooting.
Duke limited the Tar Heels to six points in the first quarter and eight in the third. The Blue Devils have held their opponents to single digits in 15 quarters this season.
All 10 Duke players that played scored at least two points.
Ashlon Jackson notched her ninth double-figure game of the year, pacing the Blue Devils with 10 points and two steals.
Sophomores Jadyn Donovan and Delaney Thomas chipped in seven points and two thefts each while leading the efforts on the glass with 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively. The outing marks Donovan's fifth double-digit rebounding effort of the year, and the first for Thomas.
Oluchi Okananwa racked up a career-high six steals, four of which came in the third quarter. Okananwa's four thefts during the frame moved the sophomore into a tie with former Duke standout Haley Gorecki for first all-time on the program charts.

UP NEXT:
Duke caps the weekend with a trip to Charlottesville for a battle with Virginia Sunday, Jan. 12. The contest is set for a 12 p.m., tip live on ACC Network.

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