No. 10 Duke Falls to No. 14 NC State, 89-83

Monday, February 3

Raleigh, N.C.

7 p.m.

Duke University

17-5,8-2ACC

NC State

18-4,10-1ACC

Duke

NC State

Photo by: Nat LeDonne / Duke Athletics

No. 10 Duke Falls to No. 14 NC State, 89-83

2/3/2025 9:37:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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RALEIGH, N.C. – Juniors Ashlon Jackson and Taina Mair combined for 44 points, but it wasn't enough as 14th-ranked NC State used a fourth-quarter comeback to down the No. 10 Blue Devils, 89-83, in ACC women's basketball action at Reynolds Coliseum Monday night.

Jackson had 23 points, including shooting 6-of-14 from behind the arc, while Mair had 21 points and five assists. Toby Fournier chipped in 11 points and four rebounds to round out the Duke (17-5, 8-2 ACC) players in double figures. Sophomore Jadyn Donovan was dominant on the glass with 10 rebounds while matching her career high in assists with six dimes.

Aziaha James spearheaded the efforts for NC State (18-4, 10-1 ACC), finishing her night with a game-high 36 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Duke and NC State traded baskets throughout much of the opening quarter. The Wolfpack scored the game's opening bucket as the Blue Devils tied the game twice but were never able to jump ahead of the home squad.
Following a free throw from Oluchi Okananwa at the 4:26 mark to bring Duke within one, 12-11, NC State went on a 10-1 spurt to extend the Wolfpack lead to double digits, 22-12.
Fournier cut the lead to eight and then Jackson drained a three at the buzzer to bring Duke back within seven, 24-17, at the end of the opening period. Jackson led all Duke scorers with six points in the first 10 minutes.
The Blue Devils threw a massive counterpunch at the start of the second frame, parlaying a 14-0 run into a 31-24 advantage at the 7:32 mark.
Jackson and Mair cashed in from distance while the sophomore trio of Jadyn Donovan, Okananwa and Delaney Thomas, in addition to Mair, added buckets of their own. Duke went 6-of-6 to start the period en route to opening the seven-point lead, forcing NC State into a timeout.
The Wolfpack managed to stop the bleeding momentarily via a tip-in by Mallory Collier, but Jackson drilled her fifth triple of the half, and the Blue Devils added scores from Okananwa, Thomas and graduate student Vanessa de Jesus as Duke took a 43-32 ledger into the break.
Duke stretched its lead to 12 early in the third quarter and maintained its advantage over the next five minutes before NC State started to rally. The Wolfpack, trailing by 12 with 4:30 left in the third, closed the period on a 10-2 run to cut the Duke lead to four with one quarter left.
NC State found its shooting touch in the fourth quarter, knocking down 75 percent of its shots from the floor en route to chipping away at Duke's lead. Aziaha James was the catalyst for the Wolfpack scoring nine straight points to put her squad in front, 70-68, with six minutes remaining.
Mair knocked down a three-pointer to put Duke back up by one, but NC State responded with consecutive baskets to go back in front by three, 74-71. The Blue Devils tied it two more times but couldn't stop the Wolfpack down the stretch in the six-point setback. James finished with 15 points in the final quarter for NC State.

NOTES:

Duke shot 32-of-75 from the floor (43%), 11-of-24 (46%) from three and knocked down eight free throws. The 11 triples are the most in a game by the Blue Devils this season.
Duke's 26 points in the second period marked a season-high in the quarter, surpassing the previous mark of 25 scored versus Stanford (Jan. 19).
With their 86 points Monday evening, the Blue Devils eclipsed the 80-point threshold for the 10th time this season. Duke also had at least three players finish in double figures for the 18th time in 22 games.
The Blue Devils outrebounded NC State, 41-36, including a plus-12 margin on the offensive glass (22-10). The 22 offensive boards are a season high for Duke, edging out the 20 snagged at Boston College (Jan. 2).
Duke won the battle of the superlatives with the Blue Devils holding the advantage in three of the five categories - bench points (25-12), second chance points (29-16) and points off turnovers (13-11). The 29 second chance points against NC State marks a season best for the Blue Devils.
Ashlon Jackson turned in her 14th double-figure performance and third 20-point game of the season, leading the Blue Devils with 23 points, two rebounds and two assists. Jackson matched a career high with six triples - her fifth game this season with four or more trifectas.
Taina Mair posted her fourth consecutive and seventh game in double digits this season, netting 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. It was her seventh career 20-point outing. Mair rounded out her night with five assists, three steals and two rebounds.
With her five dimes against the Wolfpack, Mair has now totaled 30 assists to just two turnovers across her last six games - a 15.0 assist/turnover ratio.
Toby Fournier rounded out the trio of double-digit scorers with 11 points and four rebounds. Fournier has reached double figures 13 times this season and third time in her last four games.
Oluchi Okananwa tallied a near double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds - five of those coming on the offensive end. She also had three assists and three steals.
Jadyn Donovan also finished with a team-high 10 boards to post her seventh game this season with double-digit rebounds. Donovan added six points and six dimes to her statline - the latter matching a collegiate best.

UP NEXT:
No. 10 Duke returns home for two straight games, beginning with a midweek tilt against Clemson Thursday, Feb. 6 in the Blue Devils' Climate and Sustainability Game. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m., live on ACCNX.

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