Defense Shines in No. 11 Duke’s 61-48 Win over Louisville

Friday, March 7

Greensboro, N.C.

7:30 p.m.

Duke University

24-7,14-4ACC

Louisville

21-10,13-5ACC

Louisville

Duke

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Defense Shines in No. 11 Duke’s 61-48 Win over Louisville

3/7/2025 10:26:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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GREENSBORO, N.C. – Four different Blue Devils scored in double figures as No. 11 Duke used a balanced effort to upend Louisville, 59-46, in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Ally ACC Women's Basketball Tournament at the First Horizon Coliseum Friday night.

The Blue Devils advance to the semifinals to take on No. 2 seed Notre Dame, Saturday, March 8 at 2:30 p.m.

Oluchi Okananwa led the Blue Devils (24-7) with 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting while Reigan Richardson had 12 points, with eight of those coming in the fourth quarter. Ashlon Jackson dropped in 11 and Toby Fournier rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points along with eight boards and three steals. Taina Mair had a solid all-around effort with six points, a season-high seven rebounds and four assists.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Duke and Louisville traded baskets in the early minutes of the game. Jackson opened the scoring for the Blue Devils with a three-pointer from the right corner while Fournier finished through contact to make it 7-4 at the 6:21 mark of the period.
Okananwa knifed her way through the lane to extend the advantage to five, 9-4, and Fournier had a putback to send Duke in the first timeout up 11-7. Both squads tacked on four points apiece in the final five minutes, sending the Blue Devils into the first break with a 15-11 lead.
Okananwa hit from long range to start the second stanza, but the Blue Devils struggled offensively, being held without a field goal for the next five minutes. Duke's defense picked up the slack, keeping the Cardinals off the scoreboard for 6:33.
Playing stifling defense, the Blue Devils started to pull away, taking a 27-15 lead with 2:04 to play in the second period. Two of the buckets came off Cardinal turnovers while Fournier capped the 7-2 spurt with a pair from the charity stripe.
Mair swished a step back jumper in the final seconds, giving the Blue Devils their largest lead of the game, 31-18, at the half.
Duke forced 11 turnovers in the first half and held Louisville to just 31 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes.
The Blue Devils' defensive presence continued to be the story in the third quarter as Duke opened up a 22-point lead with just over three minutes to play in the period. Louisville went without a field goal for 5:51 while the balanced Blue Devils started to pull away.
Jackson spurred the run with back-to-back three-pointers with Fournier and Richardson combining for the next five points for the 43-21 lead.
Louisville started to find its offensive rhythm in the final minutes, totaling nine points in the final 2:53 to pull within 15 heading into the final quarter.
The Cardinals continued to chip away at Duke's lead, scoring the first seven points of the stanza to make it an eight-point contest, 45-37, and force the Blue Devils into a timeout.
Duke regained its composure coming out of the timeout, scoring the next four points to jump back ahead by 12, 49-37. The Blue Devils kept their foot on the gas down the stretch to earn the 13-point victory.

NOTES:

With the win, Duke improves to 24-7 overall in 2024-25 and gives the Blue Devils their 1,032nd program victory (1,032-462).
Head coach Kara Lawson earns her 92nd career victory, moving her to 92-40 (.697) overall. She needs just eight more wins to reach 100 career victories.
The Blue Devils improve to 52-38 all-time at the ACC Tournament and 21-19 in the quarterfinal round. Duke has won at least one game in the ACC Tournament in 27 of its last 30 appearances.
Defensively, Duke limited Louisville to 49 points for the game and held the Cardinals to just 32-percent shooting from the floor. Louisville marks the 13th opponent this season that Duke has held below 50 points. The Blue Devils also tallied 11 steals and forced 21 Louisville blunders.
Duke held Louisville to single digits (7) in the second quarter and has now held opponents to single digits in 29 quarters this season. The seven points by the Cardinals were their third-fewest in any quarter this season, trailing the six points scored against NC State (Dec. 15, 1st quarter) and Virginia (Jan. 28, 4th quarter). The 18 first-half points also marked a season low for Louisville, usurping the 21 against Pitt (1.9.25).
Duke kept Louisville 25 points below its average points per game, marking the 26th opponent this season the Blue Devils have held below their respective scoring average. The Cardinals entered the matchup putting up 73.1 points per game.
The Blue Devils won the superlative battle with a sweep of all five categories - bench scoring (25-19), points in the paint (24-18), on the break (13-0), points off turnovers (14-12) and second chance scoring (12-8).
Oluchi Okananwa led four Blue Devils in double figures with 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting, while also posting three rebounds. It marks the sophomore's 16 game this season with double-digit points and her fourth time leading the team in scoring.
Reigan Richardson posted her 15th game in double digits, scoring eight of her 12 points in the final period to help seal the win. Richardson also added three rebounds and two assists to her stat line.
Ashlon Jackson knocked down three triples en route to finishing with 11 points - her 10th game this season with at least three trifectas. Jackson now has 20 games in 2024-25 with 10 or more points - tied for tops on the team.
Toby Fournier reached double figures for the 20th time on the year, rounding out the quartet in double figures with 10 points. Fournier snagged eight rebounds, just missing out on her third career double-double, and racked up three steals.
Taina Mair turned in a solid all-around performance with six points, season-best seven caroms, four dimes and three steals.

UP NEXT:
The Blue Devils take on No. 2 seed Notre Dame in the semifinals of the Ally ACC Women's Basketball Tournament, March 8 at 2:30 p.m., live on ESPN2.

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