Five Score in Double Figures as Duke Races Past Syracuse, 80-49

Sunday, February 23

Durham, N.C.

2 p.m.

Duke University

21-7,12-4ACC

Syracuse

10-17,4-12ACC

Syracuse

Duke

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Five Score in Double Figures as Duke Races Past Syracuse, 80-49

2/23/2025 4:19:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes (PDF)Coach Lawson Presser Duke Quotes (PDF)Highlights

DURHAM, N.C. – Freshman Toby Fournier paced five double-figure scorers to lead a balanced offensive effort for No. 11 Duke (21-7, 12-4 ACC) in an 80-49 victory over Syracuse (10-17, 4-12 ACC) in women's basketball action Sunday afternoon inside Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Fournier notched her eighth 20-point outing of the season, finishing her afternoon with 22 points and six rebounds in just 21 minutes of action. Reigan Richardson had a solid all-around performance of 11 points, four rebounds and five assists, Oluchi Okananwa dropped in 13 points while Delaney Thomas and Ashlon Jackson contributed 12 and 10, respectively. Jadyn Donovan paced Duke's efforts on the glass with seven caroms.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Duke held a 20-13 lead after the opening 10 minutes of action, thanks to a 13-2 run midway through the quarter. Fournier and Thomas jump-started the spurt, each going 2-of-2 at the charity stripe while Okananwa added a three-point play the old-fashioned way. Vanessa de Jesus capped the run by converting in transition to put the Blue Devils ahead, 13-6, at the 4:00 mark.
Syracuse closed the gap to four on two occasions, but Jordan Wood and Okananwa added baskets inside and Taina Mair drilled a triple from the far-right corner to give Duke the seven-point margin.
The Blue Devils parlayed eight unanswered points early in the second frame into a 13-point advantage. Fournier, Jackson (4) and Okananwa led the charge during the run as Duke opened a 28-15 advantage, forcing Syracuse to burn a timeout.
Shy Harkins stopped the bleeding momentarily for the Orange with a jumper at the 6:59 mark, but the Blue Devils closed the half on a 13-2 run to take a 41-19 lead into the break.
Duke kept the clamps on Syracuse in the third quarter, holding the Orange without a point for the first four minutes to build a 29-point lead, 48-19. Syracuse, facing its largest deficit of the game, put together a 9-0 run to bring the score to 50-30, but the Blue Devils finished the third on a 10-5 run to head into the final 10 minutes up 60-35.
Richardson and Fournier both had six points apiece in the third stanza as the Blue Devils forced Syracuse into five turnovers in the quarter.
Fournier and the Blue Devils closed out the game, winning the fourth quarter 20-14 for the 80-49 win. Duke's rookie forward had seven of the team's 20 points.

NOTES:

Duke shot 30-of-69 from the field (43.5%), 5-of-15 from three (33.3%) and 15-of-19 (78.9%) at the charity stripe.
Duke scored over 70 points and had at least three players in double figures for the 21st time in 2024-25.
The Blue Devils eclipsed the 80-point threshold for the 12th time this season. Duke also posts its fifth game of the year with five or more in double figures.
Seventy percent of Duke's points were assisted as the Blue Devils dropped 21 assists on 30 buckets. It marks the sixth time the Blue Devils have tallied 20 or more dimes.
Defensively, Duke limited Syracuse to 49 points for the game and held the Orange to just 29-percent shooting from the floor. Syracuse marks the ninth opponent this season that Duke has held below 50 points. The Blue Devils also tallied 14 steals and forced 23 Syracuse blunders.
The Blue Devils forced two shot clock violations, pushing their season total to 38 violations forced.
Duke held Syracuse to single digits (6) in the second quarter. The Blue Devils have held opponents to single digits in 27 quarters this season.
Duke kept Syracuse 21 points below its average points per game. Syracuse entered the matchup putting up 70.3 points. Syracuse marks the 15th ACC opponent, and 23rd foe in 2024-25 overall, that Duke has held below its respective scoring average.
The Blue Devils swept all five categories en route to winning the superlative battle - points in the paint (42-14), off the bench (39-15), points off turnovers (26-4), fastbreak points (18-5) and second chance scoring (24-12).
Duke finished the game with a plus-13 margin on the glass, outrebounding Syracuse 48-35. The 21 offensive boards are the second most by the Blue Devils this season, trailing only the 22 corralled at NC State (Feb. 3).
Toby Fournier notched her eighth 20-point game and 17th double-figure scoring output of the season against Syracuse, pacing the Duke offense with 22 points on 7-of-16 shooting and 8-of-12 at the charity stripe. She also had six rebounds, a block and a steal. Fournier moves into No. 2 all-time on the Duke freshman charts for most 20-point games in a season.
Oluchi Okananwa put up 13 points on 50-percent shooting (5-of-10), going 3-of-3 from the free throw line as well. It marks her 15th game in double figures this season and fifth in the last six games. Okananwa rounded out her afternoon with six offensive rebounds and three dimes.
Delaney Thomas reached double digits for the 10th time in 2024-25 with 12 points on an efficient 5-of-7 shooting (71.4%), adding three rebounds and three steals to her statline as well. Thomas logs her 14th game this season with a field goal percentage of 60 percent or higher, while the Blue Devils improve to 9-1 on the year when she scores 10 plus.
Reigan Richardson turned in a strong all-around performance with 11 points (4-of-10), five assists, four caroms and two steals. Richardson nets her 13th double-digit scoring output of the year with her two thefts matching a season best.
Ashlon Jackson rounded out the quintet of double-figure scorers for Duke with 10 points, also chipping in four boards and two helpers. Jackson reached double digits for the 17th time in 2024-25 - tied with Fournier for the team lead.
The Blue Devils also got strong contributions on the glass from Jadyn Donovan (7), Vanessa de Jesus (5) and Jordan Wood (5). Donovan had her hand all over the stat sheet, producing three assists and four thefts on the afternoon - the latter tied for a career high.

UP NEXT:
No. 11 Duke gears up for its final home game of the regular season, hosting No. 9 and Tobacco Road rival North Carolina Thursday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m., live on ESPN. The Blue Devils will celebrate and honor their two seniors, Vanessa de Jesus and Reigan Richardson, for their contributions to the program.

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50 Seasons of Duke Women's Basketball
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