No. 14 Duke Cruises to 81-46 Victory at SMU

Thursday, January 23

Dallas, Texas

8 p.m.

Duke University

16-4,7-1ACC

SMU

10-10,2-6ACC

Duke

SMU

Photo by: Duke Athletics

No. 14 Duke Cruises to 81-46 Victory at SMU

1/23/2025 10:02:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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DALLAS, Texas – The 14th-ranked Duke women's basketball team held SMU to just 25 points over the final three quarters to post a convincing 81-46 victory over the Mustangs in ACC action at Moody Coliseum Thursday evening.

Freshman Toby Fournier led all scorers with 24 points and seven rebounds while Ashlon Jackson had 17 points thanks to five trifectas. Jackson also pulled down five rebounds and dished two assists. Oluchi Okananwa had 12 points and Taina Mair rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points.

Jadyn Donovan was excellent yet again on the glass with 10 boards to go with her three assists and four points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Offense was the story of the opening quarter as the teams combined for 45 points on 61-percent shooting from the floor (17-of-28).
First-quarter scoring for the visitors was keyed by four triples – two coming via Jackson. Jackson had six points in the period while Fournier (8) and Okananwa (5) combined for 13 off the bench to send the Blue Devils into the first break with a 24-21 lead.
Duke quickly extended its lead to eight in the first minute of the second period following another Jackson trifecta and a midrange jumper from Mair.
After a furious battle for the rebound following a Fournier miss, Okananwa scooped up the loose ball and converted through traffic to give the Blue Devils a 31-21 lead at the 5:15 mark.
SMU managed to stop the bleeding momentarily with a layup from Sandra Magolico, but Duke closed the half on a 15-2 run for the 46-25 advantage at the break.
The Blue Devils continued to fire on all cylinders early in the third quarter, extending their lead to 28 at the midway point of the period.
Defensively, Duke held the Mustangs without a point for 5:50 en route to growing the advantage to 34 points, 62-28. Fournier led all scorers with nine points in the period while Mair had six, giving Duke a 70-34 lead after 30 minutes of action.
Duke's lead ballooned to 42 points, 80-38, in the first five minutes of the final stanza. Four different Blue Devils scored in that span as Duke coasted to the 81-46 triumph.

NOTES:

Duke held its opponent below 60 points for the seventh consecutive game and 12th time overall.
After giving up 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting (66.7%) in the opening period, the Blue Devils held SMU to just 25 points on 21 percent (8-of-39) for the rest of the game.
The Blue Devils limited the Mustangs to single digits in the second (4) and third (9) quarters. Duke has held foes to single digits in 19 quarters this season.
In the second quarter, Duke held SMU to just four points on 1-of-13 shooting (7.7%). The Mustang's point total tied for the fifth-fewest points in the period by a Blue Devil foe all-time, with the shooting percentage tied for fifth lowest.
Duke finished with a plus-13 margin on the glass, outrebounding SMU 45-32. The Blue Devils also rejected five shots, collected 12 steals and forced 17 Mustang turnovers.
Duke eclipsed the 70-point threshold and had at least three players in double figures for the 16th time this season. The 81 points against the Mustangs marks the Blue Devils' ninth game with 80-plus points.
The Blue Devils shot 46 percent from the floor (30-of-66), 48 percent from beyond the arc (10-of-21) and 85 percent at the charity stripe (11-of-13).
Duke assisted on 73 percent of its field goals, racking up 22 dimes on 30 buckets. It marks the Blue Devils' third time this season tallying at least 20 assists and their 13th game with 17 or more.
The 46 points in the first half marked a season high for the Blue Devils, surpassing the 43 scored against Columbia (12.1) and Stanford (1.19).
Duke won the superlative stats battle with a sweep of all five categories - bench production (43-20), points in the paint (34-18), points off turnovers (24-9), second chance scoring (19-10) and fastbreak points (10-2).
Freshman Toby Fournier notched her 12th game in double figures and fifth 20-point outing of the season, leading all scorers with 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting. She rounded out her night with seven boards and one block. Fournier maximized her efficiency against the Mustangs, scoring just under a point a minute (0.96).
Junior Ashlon Jackson dropped 17 points, turning in her sixth consecutive double-digit scoring effort and 13th overall. She knocked down five triples for the game - one shy of matching her career high. Jackson completed a strong all-around performance with five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Sophomore Oluchi Okananwa scored nine first-half points and finished the contest with 12 points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal off the bench - her ninth game this year in double figures.
Taina Mair rounded out the quartet of double-figures scorers for Duke with 11 points on an extremely efficient 4-of-5 shooting (80%). Mair also added three dimes, two rebounds and a steal. The junior has been extraordinary quarterbacking the Blue Devil offense lately with 20 assists to just one turnover over her last three outings.
Sophomore Jadyn Donovan commanded the glass with a game-high 10 boards - six on the offensive end - for her sixth double-figure rebounding effort of the season. Donovan also chipped in three assists and three blocks.
Sophomore Delaney Thomas also made her presence felt on the glass pulling down six rebounds of her own, while matching her career high in steals for the sixth time this season with three thefts against the Mustangs.

UP NEXT:
Duke continues its three-game road swing, making the trek to the Peach State for a top 20 Sunday showdown at No. 18 Georgia Tech. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m., live on ACCNX.

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