No. 14 Duke Rallies in Fourth Quarter for 60-55 Win at Virginia

Sunday, January 12

Charlottesville, Va.

12 p.m.

Duke University

13-4,4-1ACC

Virginia

10-7,2-3ACC

Duke

Virginia

Photo by: Duke Athletics

No. 14 Duke Rallies in Fourth Quarter for 60-55 Win at Virginia

1/12/2025 2:09:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Duke sophomore Oluchi Okananwa finished with 17 points and seven rebounds while Taina Mair knocked down a dagger three-pointer to lead the 14th-ranked Blue Devils to a 60-55 victory at Virginia in ACC women's basketball action Sunday afternoon.

Okananwa paced the Blue Devils (13-4, 4-1 ACC) in scoring with 14 of her 17 coming in the second half. Ashlon Jackson had 11 points while Mair dished six assists (no turnovers) to go with a pair of crucial second-half trifectas. Duke trailed by five late in the fourth quarter, before outscoring the Cavaliers 14-5 down the stretch.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The opening 10 minutes was a back-and-forth affair, Virginia holding an 11-9 edge after one.
Jackson (4) paced the offense during the period with Okananwa and Delaney Thomas contributing to the scoring efforts as well.
Duke's offensive struggles continued in the second quarter with the Blue Devils hitting just four field goals in the first eight minutes. Each of the Blue Devil field goals were timely, however, allowing the visitors to stay within reach.
Virginia, meanwhile, continued its hot shooting from distance and extended its lead to nine with back-to-back three-pointers.
Trailing 27-18, Jackson drained a mid-range jumper to bring it back to seven, 27-20, but the Cavaliers capitalized off a Duke turnover to take a 29-20 lead into halftime.
Jackson started the second half with a trifecta, but Virginia continued to have an answer. The Cavaliers pushed their lead to as many as 10 and refused to let the Blue Devils complete the comeback.
Duke, trailing by eight, used a 6-0 spurt led by Toby Fournier's four points to pull the Blue Devils within two, 41-39 late in the period. The Cavaliers capped the third quarter with a putback by Edessa Noyan, leaving Duke with a four-point deficit heading into the fourth quarter.
Okananwa and the Blue Devils came out on the front foot in the final period. The sophomore guard knocked down a three to start the frame and added a layup on the next possession to give the Blue Devils their first lead of the afternoon, 44-43.
Virginia used a quick 7-2 run to go back in front by four, 50-46. However, the Blue Devils answered by scoring the next nine points for their largest lead of the game, 55-50.
Okananwa connected on a pair from the charity stripe and Reigan Richardson converted a turnover into two points to tie the game. A Mair three-pointer and layup from Fournier extended the lead to five and forced Virginia to call a timeout with 4:32 left.
Duke turned up the defensive pressure coming out of the 30-second breather, forcing turnovers to push the lead to seven, 57-50, with 2:29 remaining.
Refusing to go away, the Cavaliers scored five straight points to bring it to a two-point contest with just over a minute left to play. Virginia had the opportunity to tie the game or go ahead coming out of a timeout, but a defensive rebound by Okananwa and the three from Mair iced the five-point victory for the Blue Devils.

NOTES:

Duke commanded the glass and finished the game with a plus 15 margin on the boards, 44-29, including a 20-7 edge on the offensive end. The underclassmen corralled 28 of those caroms with all four players - Toby Fournier, Jadyn Donovan, Oluchi Okananwa and Delaney Thomas - grabbing six or more boards.
Duke won the battle of the superlatives Sunday as the Blue Devils took four of five categories - bench production (30-0), points in the paint (30-28), fast break points (11-8) and second chance (7-2).
The Blue Devils shot a season-high 86% at the charity stripe, knocking down six of their seven attempts.
Seventy-nine percent of the Blue Devils' field goals came via the extra pass with Duke dishing out 19 dimes on 24 buckets.
On the defensive end, Duke forced 17 turnovers and collected nine steals. The Blue Devils held Virginia 16 points below its respective season scoring average and 14 below its rebounding average. UVA entered the game putting up 71.6 points and grabbing 42.6 rebounds per game.
Two players finished the game in double figures - Ashlon Jackson and Oluchi Okananwa.
Oluchi Okananwa posted her eighth double-figure outing of the year, netting nine of her game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter to help the Blue Devils complete the rally. She rounded out her statline with seven boards and two assists.
Ashlon Jackson steadied the ship in the first half and finished the contest as the second Blue Devil in double figures with 11 points. It is the junior's third double-digit game in her last four contests and ninth of the season.
Freshman Toby Fournier provided a spark off the Duke bench with eight points, seven rebounds and two assists. Fournier matched a season high on the offensive glass with six rebounds, just missing out on a spot on the program charts.
Senior Reigan Richardson had her hands all over the statsheet with seven points, four boards, two assists and two steals.
Sophomores Jadyn Donovan and Delaney Thomas combined for 13 rebounds and five assists. Donovan pulled down seven rebounds while adding two assists and a pair of blocks, with Thomas tallying six boards and three assists.
Junior Taina Mair quarterbacked the offense to perfection with six assists and no turnovers. Mair completed her afternoon with six points and two steals.

UP NEXT:
The Blue Devils tip off a two-game homestand with a midweek tilt against ACC newcomer California on Thursday, Jan. 16. Action is slated to get going at 8 p.m., live on ACC Network.

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