Defensive dominance: Duke women down ACC rival UNC to reach NCAA Tournament Elite Eight

When Duke last appeared in the Elite Eight, its current players hadn’t reached high school, and head coach Kara Lawson was still in the WNBA.

The Blue Devils are making a return trip after 12 years — their 12th overall appearance in the national quarterfinals.

Second-seeded Duke defeated No. 3 North Carolina, 47-38, on Friday in the Sweet 16, a rubber match against its rival after the teams split their regular-season ACC meetings. The Blue Devils’ signature hard-nosed defense led the team to a ninth consecutive win and set up a Sunday date with No. 1 South Carolina, which squeaked by No. 4 Maryland on Friday, 71-67.

“I’m so thankful to be in this position that I am now, especially with the best team,” said junior Ashlon Jackson. “I love them so much. To be here, it’s a blessing.”

Duke (29-7) missed nine straight shots to start the game, including four 3-point attempts, and was scoreless for the first six minutes of play. It struggled against the UNC defense, which limited the Blue Devils’ ability to create space. North Carolina center Maria Gakdeng’s size and length made it difficult for Duke in the paint, forcing tough shots and stopping Duke from getting second-chance opportunities.

On the other end, the Tar Heels (29-8) started 5 for 9 to go ahead 11-0.

“I will be honest, I was worried down 11-0 if we would score at all in the game, but I don’t think there has ever been a shutout in the tournament, so I felt pretty good that we could score at some point,” Lawson said.

Jordan Wood scored the Blue Devils’ first three points. She came off the bench and made the back half of a free-throw opportunity with four minutes remaining in the first quarter and added the team’s first field goal 33 seconds later.

Though Duke’s defense helped keep the Blue Devils in the game, it also helped when Gakdeng briefly left the game early in the second quarter. Gakdeng stepped on Lexi Donarski’s foot and twisted her ankle with 8:13 remaining in the first half. With the help of her teammates, she limped off the floor and was taken to the locker room for further evaluation. Gakdeng returned to the lineup in the second half.

During Gakdeng’s absence, Duke’s defense forced 12 straight misses from UNC’s offense. The Tar Heels did not score for 11 ½ minutes, a drought that stretched over the first and second quarters. The Blue Devils’ defensive pressure also led to nine first-half North Carolina turnovers and only two assists. Nothing came easy for the Tar Heels.

Meanwhile, Duke’s offense went on a 20-2 run and took a 21-13 lead. Oluchi Okananwa and Vanessa De Jesus led the Devils’ early comeback. Okananwa scored 10 first-half points — she gave Duke its first lead of the game — and pulled down eight rebounds. De Jesus contributed eight points and a block.

Duke led by as many as 10 points in the first minute of the second half, but the Tar Heels weren’t deterred. Their third-quarter defense held the Blue Devils to nine points on 3-of-14 shooting. UNC’s Lanie Grant made a tough layup to cut its deficit to two points.

The Tar Heels, however, never retook the lead, even with Gakdeng back on the floor. Duke held Carolina to 2-11 from the field in the fourth quarter. It was held to under 10 points in the second and fourth quarters, while the team’s 38 points were the fewest scored by UNC this season. No Tar Heel scored in double figures.

Carolina finished the game with just 15 field goals and 15 turnovers.

“It wasn’t our best night offensively, that’s for sure,” Lawson said. “But man, did we dig down deep. The second and fourth quarter; single digits and in the Sweet 16, that’s hard to do. That’s something that’s been consistently who we are. We consistently play with great effort on that end of the floor. We kept ourselves in it.”

Okananwa led the Blue Devils with 12 points and 12 rebounds, notching her third double-double of the season. She came off the bench and scored nearly half of the team’s 26 bench points.

“Without our bench, I don’t think we win games,” Jackson said. “Every single game, they show up for us. They’re always ready. They stay prepared. Just being able compete in those type of games, and have to rely on them, it’s an amazing thing. Just so proud of them.”

Jackson added 10 points, while Reigan Richardson and Toby Fournier combined for 13 boards.

Alyssa Ustby led the Tar Heels with nine points in her career finale.

This was the third meeting of the season and 111th in the all-time series, but Duke and UNC had never met in the NCAA Tournament. According to the NCAA, the rivalry game resulted in the lowest-scoring Sweet 16 in tournament history.

Duke entered the game averaging 72.5 points while allowing 39 opponent points in the NCAA Tournament. In its two previous meetings with the Tar Heels, the Blue Devils averaged 57 points and gave up 53 both times.

“Our defense, their defense is very good, but being able to hit shots at key moments and being able to execute at those times are key,” Jackson said. “I give a lot of credit to them, as well. Their defense was great. Playing against that, it challenged us a bit. Obviously, we stayed together and we got it done.”

Friday’s win marked Duke’s second consecutive Sweet 16 appearance under Lawson, but it fell short last season, a loss that fueled its efforts this year.

“It’s an important game,” Lawson said Thursday. “It’s a game to get a step beyond where we were able to reach a year ago, and it’s a game to put yourself in position to play for a spot in the Final Four. That’s kind of how we’ve approached it, and trying to honor the value of the game with the right amount of respect and the right amount of preparation.”

This story was originally published March 28, 2025 at 4:35 PM with the headline "Defensive dominance: Duke women down ACC rival UNC to reach NCAA Tournament Elite Eight."

Jadyn Watson-Fisher

The News & Observer