No. 2 South Carolina Pulls Away to Down Duke, 83-66

Wednesday, November 26

Las Vegas, Nev.

4:30 p.m.

Duke University

3-4,0-0ACC

South Carolina

7-0,0-0SEC

South Carolina

Duke

Photo by: Duke Athletics

No. 2 South Carolina Pulls Away to Down Duke, 83-66

11/26/2025 7:42:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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LAS VEGAS. Nev. – The Duke women's basketball team pulled within eight points in the fourth quarter but couldn't complete the comeback as No. 2 South Carolina pulled away for the 83-66 win over the Blue Devils in the Players Era Women's Championship Wednesday afternoon.

Toby Fournier led all Blue Devil scorers with 16 points and five rebounds. Riley Nelson was strong off the bench, chipping in 14 points while Taina Mair had 11 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for another solid all-around effort.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Balanced scoring coupled with stifling defense put the Blue Devils up 8-4 in the opening minutes of the first quarter. Mair scored the first points of the game and Fournier added four points to give Duke the slight edge at the first media timeout.
Defensively, the Blue Devils held the normally strong shooting Gamecocks to 2-of-9 from the floor while forcing three turnovers. Duke did well on the glass, outrebounding South Carolina, 7-4, in the first portion of the opening frame.
The Blue Devils continued to have the upper hand coming out of the timeout, using a 7-1 run to stretch the lead to eight, 15-7. Three different players scored in the burst as Duke kept South Carolina without a field goal for 2:10.
The Gamecocks closed the quarter strong, outscoring Duke 7-0 in the final 2:30 to pull within one, 15-14, at the first break.
Arianna Roberson drained a three from the top of the arc to start the quarter as the teams' traded baskets. Nelson gave Duke a boost off the bench, dropping in five points to keep Duke in the lead. Keyed by Madina Okot, South Carolina used a 14-4 run over 4:37 to grab a seven-point lead, 34-27, and force Duke into a timeout.
The Gamecocks continued to frustrate Duke's offense down the stretch of the first half, keeping the Blue Devils off the board for the final 3:24 for a 40-27 lead at the half.
South Carolina got off to a fast start in the third, capitalizing on Duke turnovers to stretch the lead to 46-27. Delaney Thomas ended Duke's scoreless streak at 5:18, knocking down a jumper from the top of the key and jumpstarting an 11-2 run to get the Blue Devils back within 10, 48-38.
A trifecta from Roberson got the deficit down to eight, 51-43, with 4:17 left in the third stanza. The Blue Devils remained steady on both ends of the floor to head into the fourth quarter trailing, 61-51. Nelson and Fournier both chipped in seven points in the period. Mair was the facilitator for the Duke offense with four assists.
In the first four minutes of the final frame, Duke went on to claim seven of the next 13 points, backed by the three-pointer and jumper from Ashlon Jackson, to put South Carolina's lead at 67-58.
The Gamecocks pushed their edge to a commanding 81-61, constricting Duke to just three made three throws, while knocking down 14 points.
The teams traded a pair of points and Mair knocked down the final bucket from beyond the arc to round out South Carolina's 83-66 win.

UP NEXT

The Blue Devils return to Michelob ULTRA Arena Thursday for a matchup with No. 3 UCLA. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m., on truTV. Duke returns home to Durham for the first time since Nov. 12, hosting No. 5 LSU in the ACC/SEC Challenge. Tipoff is set for 9 p.m., on ESPN. The Blue Devils follow with opening ACC play Dec. 7 at Virginia Tech before taking a break for final exams.

To stay up to date with Duke women's basketball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and subscribe to the YouTube channel by searching "DukeWBB."


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