Tag: Ashlon Jackson

No. 14 Duke women’s basketball falls to No. 18 UNC in overtime after defensive battle

Duke women’s basketball erased a 16-point UNC lead in Chapel Hill on Thursday night but couldn’t prevail in overtime.

The No. 14 Duke Blue Devils women’s basketball team faced the No. 18 North Carolina Tar Heels in a top-20 matchup Thursday. The game delivered on its expectations, reaching overtime after Duke overcame a late UNC lead, but the Blue Devils eventually fell 53-46 in extra time.

The game was very much a defensive battle as neither team scored more than 40 points in regulation. The Blue Devils got the early lead, leaving the first quarter up 8-6, but things ended up tied 16-16 at the halfway point.

The script flipped in the second half. The Tar Heels surged well ahead, holding Duke scoreless for eight minutes to build a 32-16 advantage, but a pair of Jadyn Donovan buckets and two Blue Devils 3-pointers sparked a quick 10-0 run to carve the lead to six.

Duke spent the entire fourth quarter in chase mode, but a Reigan Richardson triple tied it up with 3:38 left on the clock. Two Ashlon Jackson free throws in the final minute ensured extra basketball would be needed.

The story of the game was overtime, though. A game that was very split from start to finish was dominated by the Tar Heels after regulation. North Carolina more than doubled the Blue Devils, winning with a 13-6 period despite Duke scoring the first three points of additional time.

Jackson finished led with a team-leading 10 points in 28 minutes, and Donovan and Delaney Thomas combined to secure 21 rebounds between them. The Blue Devils finished with more steals (16 to UNC’s nine) and fewer turnovers (21 to UNC’s 26), but they shot just 23.5% from both the field and 3-point range.

North Carolina didn’t far much better as the Tar Heels shot just 32.1% from the floor, but guard Alyssa Ustby took over for the home team. She put together a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds, adding two steals and two blocks defensively, while teammate Indya Nivar contributed seven points, nine rebounds, and four assists.

With the loss, Duke falls to 12-4 on the season and 3-1 in conference play. The Tar Heels, now 2-2 against ACC opponents, improve to 14-3 for the season. The Blue Devils return to the court with a road game against Virginia on Sunday.

Duke women’s basketball holds Boston College to two second-quarter points in blowout win

Five different Blue Devils scored at least 10 points in Duke’s 86-59 victory over Boston College on Thursday night.

The Duke women’s basketball won for the first time in two weeks on Thursday night, an 86-59 road victory over Boston College powered by a balanced offense and one of the best defensive quarters in program history.

Ashlon Jackson, Reigan Richardson, and Taina Mair all looked unstoppable on the offensive end for the Blue Devils. Richardson put two points on the board within 30 seconds of the opening tip, the first of Jackson’s three assists in the opening frame, and Jackson knocked down a 3-pointer in the final minute of the quarter to open up a 22-17 lead.

Mair took her share of the production in the second window, setting up two of her teammates in the first two minutes and notching seven more points on her own before the midway point. The tradeoff continued the entire night, and Boston College looked incapable of stifling all three guards at once.

The trio each finished with 14 points on Thursday, shooting a combined 17/34 (50%) from the floor and 6/11 (54.5%) from 3-point range with four triples from Jackson alone. All three finished with multiple assists, and Jackson and Mair both ended up with three steals.

While the Blue Devils shot 52.4% from the floor and 50.0% from beyond the arc as a team, the second-quarter defense put the game out of reach. Duke forced nine missed shots and more than a dozen turnovers to hold Boston College to two points, the third time in school history that the Blue Devils kept a team to two points in a quarter.

The offense kept chugging, and 19 more points boosted the advantage to 42-19 lead at the midway point. Thanks in part to 23 combined points from sophomore Oluchi Okananwa and freshman Toby Fournier off the bench, the Blue Devils cruised for the entire final 20 minutes.

Duke, now 11-3 on the season with a 2-0 ACC record, hosts Pittsburgh at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Sunday.

Ashlon Jackson drops 30 points to help Duke defeat No. 10 Kansas State

Duke women’s basketball took down No. 10 Kansas State on Monday thanks to a 30-point performance from Ashlon Jackson.

The Duke women’s basketball team took down another top-25 team on Monday, opening the Ball Dawgs Classic out in Nevada with a 73-62 victory over No. 10 Kansas State.

The Blue Devils rode into town on the back of three straight victories, but the Wildcats won each of their first five games and they looked primed to continue that form in the opening minutes.

KSU scored the game’s first 11 points, holding Duke scoreless until the 6:35 mark of the first quarter. Facing a 16-8 deficit with three minutes left in the frame, however, the Blue Devils finally began to stir. Jadyn Donovan, Ashlon Jackson, and Reigan Richardson combined to make four shots in a two-minute span, with Richardson earning a whistle for an additional point on the last of them to stunningly take a one-point lead.

From there, Jackson grabbed complete control of the game in the second quarter. She made all four of her 3-point looks during the 10-minute period, including three in the final 5:13, to tie a school record with 16 points in a single quarter and open up a 37-31 advantage at the halfway point.

“The energy was crazy from my teammates,” Jackson said after the game. “It just felt great. My teammates have the utmost confidence in me. That’s what keeps me going.”

Jackson finished the afternoon with a career-high 30 points, making six of her nine 3-point attempts, and she added three rebounds and a pair of steals.

“Ashlon was the best player on the floor offensively and defensively,” head coach Kara Lawson said afterward.

The Blue Devils outscored the Wildcats by six points in the third quarter, effectively removing the drama from the final 10 minutes. Reigan Richardson ended with 16 points, the second-most of any player on the team, and Taina Mair and Delaney Thomas combined for 15 rebounds.

Duke will face the winner of Monday’s game between the Oklahoma Sooners and DePaul Blue Demons in Wednesday’s title game for the Ball Dawgs Classic crown.

Toby Fournier scores 25 points as Duke women’s basketball beats Belmont

The Duke women’s basketball team won its third straight game on Thursday night as five-star freshman Toby Fournier scored 25 points.

The Duke women’s basketball team won its third straight game on Thursday night as five-star freshman Toby Fournier wreaked havoc against Belmont with 25 points.

The Blue Devils moved back up to No. 14 in the USA TODAY Sports women’s basketball coaches poll after its Sunday win over South Dakota State, and Duke wasted no time extending that momentum in front of the home crowd at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

After the Bruins took an early 9-5 lead with four of the game’s first six baskets, Kara Lawson’s squad erupted for the final 12 points of the opening quarter. Fournier, a top-10 prospect in the espnW HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings, powered that surge with six points in the final five minutes.

The 6-foot-2 forward dominated the final minutes of the second quarter in similar fashion. After not adding to her total over the first six minutes of the frame, she scored twice in a 25-second span to help Duke double the Bruins.

Two free throws and another layup later, Fournier returned to the locker room with 16 points (already a career-high) in a 40-17 game. The Duke defense held Belmont under 10 points in both early quarters, and the Blue Devils could cruise to a 79-47 victory over the remaining 20 minutes.

Fournier put an exclamation point on her night in the final minute of the third quarter when she grabbed a pass from guard Vanessa de Jesus and turned around to see herself entirely alone at the top of the key. The freshman put up a 3-point shot, only the second deep attempt of her career, and found the net for her first collegiate triple.

Fournier made 10 of her 15 shots from the floor for the night, pulling down six rebounds and blocking three shots. She’s now averaging 14.5 points, the most of any Blue Devil, with 5.2 rebounds, 1.3 blocks, and 1.0 steals to start her debut season.

“Our team has a great deal of trust in one another and a great deal of excitement for the success of each other,” Lawson said after the game. “That’s pivotal on a team. It’s someone else’s night every night. They play really well together and try to make the right plays.”

Ashlon Jackson, who entered Thursday’s game as the team’s leading scorer, added 14 points herself with a pair of 3-pointers, and reigning ACC Sixth Person of the Year Oluchi Okananwa provided 15 points off the bench thanks to a six-for-seven night shooting.

The Blue Devils get the weekend to themselves before a Monday afternoon game against Kansas State, the first part of the Ball Dawgs Classic out in Nevada.

Jadyn Donovan’s monster game helps Duke women’s basketball beat No. 25 South Dakota State

Duke women’s basketball picked up its first ranked win of the 2024-25 season on Sunday, defeating No. 25 South Dakota State 75-71.

The Duke women’s basketball team picked up a second straight win on Sunday, defeating No. 25 South Dakota State in its own building in a 75-71 shootout.

After two scoreless minutes from both teams to start the game, Duke scored 12 points over the final 4:03 of the first quarter to take a five-point lead at the first break. The Blue Devils kept comfortable control throughout the second quarter, heading back to the locker room with a 38-30 advantage, but the second half belonged to sophomore Jadyn Donovan.

Donovan scored eight points in the first two quarters, but two baskets in the first three minutes of the third helped create a 44-38 advantage. The Jackrabbits scored nine of the next 10 points to retake the lead, but Donovan made it to the basket twice in about a minute near the end of the quarter. Her free throw after the second of those buckets put the Blue Devils back out in front, keeping pace in a back-and-forth battle.

Donovan came through one last time in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, converting two straight looks on consecutive possessions with less than seven minutes on the clock to turn a tie game into a four-point lead.

The Blue Devils never trailed again, and when the Jackrabbits closed within two with 2:42 to play, Donovan surprised no one in the building by getting to the basket one last time for two more points.

“She was unbelievable,” Lawson said of Donovan after the game. “She was a presence on both ends for us all afternoon. Jadyn is the biggest reason we were able to come away with the win.”

Donovan ended the game with 23 points and 15 rebounds, leading the team in both categories.

Ashlon Jackson, who scored 22 points against Liberty in the second game of the season, finished with 18 points for her fourth consecutive double-digit game. She also tacked on the final point of the game, making a free-throw in the final seconds to cement the two-score advantage.

The Blue Devils, now 4-1 on the season, host Belmont on Thursday for their next game.

Ashlon Jackson leads the Duke women’s basketball team past Liberty for 2-0 start

Ashlon Jackson scored 22 points on Thursday night to lead the Blue Devils to a road victory over Liberty, moving Duke to 2-0 for the year.

The Duke women’s basketball notched another game in the win column on Thursday night when Ashlon Jackson led the Blue Devils to an 83-67 road victory over Liberty.

Head coach Kara Lawson and her team, which started the year at No. 11 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, put their foot on the pedal from the opening minute. Jackson buried a 3-pointer on the first possession, kickstarting a 17-4 run to start the night.

Jackson made another 3-pointer before the end of the first quarter, and Duke led 29-15 after the opening 10 minutes. The Flames clawed back in the second quarter, though, scoring 22 points to pull themselves with two by halftime.

“I love these games,” Lawson said after the game. “I love being in a road environment. How it tests your team. How it tests me. Everybody’s good when it’s good. I need to see what happens when it’s bad — how do we respond?”

Jackson and the Blue Devils responded by dominating the third quarter even more than the first. She opened the second half with another 3-pointer in the opening minute, adding eight points to the board by herself within three-and-a-half minutes.

Duke ended that quarter with a 64-50 lead after holding Liberty to 13 points in 10 minutes, and Jackson finished the night with 22 points and six assists while shooting 5/7 from beyond the arc.

Freshman Toby Fournier didn’t match Jackson’s volume, but the first-year forward put up 13 points and came down with four rebounds in her second collegiate game. Sophomore Jordan Wood, who led the Blue Devils with a career-high 13 points in their opening victory over Radford, added 10 more off the bench as well.

Duke continues its road trip on Sunday against No. 18 Maryland, a game that tips off on FS1 at 1 p.m. Eastern time.

Duke survives first-round battle with Richmond after dominant second half

Duke women’s basketball advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday after a huge second half surge over Richmond.

Duke women’s basketball punched its ticket to the second round on Friday with a 72-61 victory over 10-seed Richmond.

The Blue Devils entered the game as the higher seed, with the committee assigning Duke the No. 7 spot in the Portland 3 region, but the Spiders had the advantage in the early going. The two teams combined for 49 points in an explosive first quarter, with Duke leading most of the way.

The final five minutes all came up Richmond, however. Siobhan Ryan buried a triple to give her team the lead with four minutes left, sneaking the Spiders ahead 16-15 and igniting a 13-6 run. Richmond took a 26-23 lead into the first break of the day.

The second quarter couldn’t have been more different, though. Both teams combined for 16 total points, including just five from the Blue Devils. A 3-pointer from Emma Koabel with three minutes left before halftime was the only made field goal of the frame for Duke despite 14 attempts from the floor.

Luckily, Richmond didn’t fare much better for the second quarter, but the Spiders’ 11 points still gave them 37-28 lead at the midway point, putting Duke squarely on upset alert.

Reigan Richardson, the Blue Devils’ leading scorer from the season, refused to let that go any farther. She made the first basket of the third quarter, a jumper on the opening possession, and Duke hit the ground running. The Blue Devils scored the first nine points of the quarter, swinging it back to a tie game when Ashlon Jackson buried a triple for the exclamation point.

A few minutes later, Richardson made a three of her own, and ACC Sixth Player of the Year Oluchi Okananwa drew a foul, dropping both free throws to give the Blue Devils a three-point lead. Okananwa made another layup a few minutes later before Jackson’s second 3-pointer of the quarter broke the game apart.

When the third quarter was all said and done, the Blue Devils outscored Richmond 23-10 to flip the game from a nine-point deficit to a four-point advantage.

Jackson buried another 3-pointer for the first points of the fourth quarter, and she finished the game with 14 points after shooting 4/7 from beyond the arc.

Richardson caught fire again midway through the final quarter. She went two-for-two from the free-throw line before making two straight baskets on back-to-back possessions, one of which from beyond the 3-point line, leading a 13-7 run from Duke that put the game out of reach.

By the time Richardson’s latter jump shot found the nylon, Duke was leading 67-56 with three minutes to play. Jackson ended the game for good with her fourth and final 3-pointer a minute later.

Richardson finished the game with 25 points, shooting 10/18 from the floor and adding seven rebounds. Center Kennedy Brown added 10 points, seven rebounds, and five assists.

The Blue Devils move on to face No. 2 Ohio State in the second round with the game scheduled for Sunday.

Duke women’s basketball drops close game to Virginia Tech

The Duke Blue Devils women’s basketball team fell to the No. 13 Virginia Tech Hokies Thursday night. Here’s the breakdown on how the game went.

The Duke women’s basketball team had their three-game winning streak snapped in a narrow loss to No. 13 Virginia Tech on Thursday night.

The Duke Blue Devils (16-8, 8-5 ACC) fell to the Hokies (21-4, 12-2 ACC) 61-56 in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Blue Devils guard Ashlon Jackson led the team in scoring with 18 points on 5-11 shooting. She also affected the game defensively with two steals and two blocks.

The Blue Devils’ upset attempt got off to a solid start as they kept it a three-point game at halftime, trailing 30-27. The two sides continued to trade the lead as each team led on 12 occasions and were tied 11 times.

Duke guard Reigan Richardson also helped keep them in contention, and she finished the game with 11 points on 5-14 shooting.

The Blue Devils defense pestered the Hokies all game long as they finished with nine steals and six blocks as a team.

Virginia Tech and Duke entered the fourth quarter tied at 42 points apiece, but the Blue Devils’ stifling defense eventually started to show cracks.

Duke had no answer for Hokies center Elizabeth Kitley. Kitley finished the game with 34 points on 13-17 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds to complete the double-double.

Kitley dominated the fourth quarter when she scored 11 of her points to give the Hokies a lead they’d never give up for the rest of the game. She also grabbed five boards in the final quarter, three of which were offensive rebounds.

Duke trailed 56-53 late in the game but missed three shots to try and tie it. Virginia Tech guard Georgia Moore made the Blue Devils pay and drilled a 3-pointer. Duke was forced to foul late and ultimately fell on the road.

Duke’s defense kept it close all game but a poor shooting night kept them from pulling off the upset. The Blue Devils shot just 36.5% from the field as a team and 27.8% from beyond the arc. Duke also struggled to stay consistent from the charity stripe as the team finished 65% from the free throw line.

The Blue Devils will return home for their next game against the No. 17 Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Monday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN2.