Six Score Double Digits in 97-54 Win over South Dakota State

Thursday, December 18

Durham, N.C.

7 p.m.

Duke University

5-6,1-0ACC

South Dakota State

10-3,0-0Summit League

South Dakota St.

Duke

Six Score Double Digits in 97-54 Win over South Dakota State

12/18/2025 9:47:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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DURHAM, N.C. – Duke senior Ashlon Jackson scored her 1,000th career point as the Blue Devils cruised to a 97-54 victory over South Dakota State in non-conference women's basketball action inside Cameron Indoor Stadium Thursday night.

Senior Taina Mair led six double-digit scorers with 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting, including 3-of-4 from behind the arc. Toby Fournier registered 20 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Redshirt sophomore Riley Nelson had her best game as a Blue Devil, finishing with a season-high 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

Ashlon Jackson dropped in 13 points and dished five dimes while Delaney Thomas and Jordan Wood rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Thomas also pulled in eight boards.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Thomas scored Duke's first five points as the Blue Devils jumped out to an early 5-2 lead. The Jackrabbits responded with seven unanswered to surge ahead 9-5. Wood stopped the run with a three-pointer from the right wing and Mair drained one from the left side and then sliced through the lane for a layup to launch the Blue Devils back in the lead, 13-11, at the media timeout.
Spearheaded by a trio of threes by Jackson in the final 1:29, Duke closed the opening period with 13-2 run to head into the first break up 26-15. Mair was outstanding in the first 10 minutes, going 4-of-4 from the field for 10 points.
Duke continued to fire on all cylinders to start the second with Fournier and Thomas combining for six points to extend the Blue Devil advantage to 17, 32-15. The Blue Devils remained in full control in the second quarter as Nelson caught the hot hand with eight straight points to make it a 28-point game, 49-21.
With everything going right for the Blue Devils in the second quarter, Duke headed into the locker room sporting a 55-28 lead. The Blue Devils shot an impressive 54 percent from the field in the opening half.
Scoring slowed a bit for the Blue Devils in the third quarter, but the Jackrabbits weren't able to solve Duke's defense as the home squad's lead ballooned to 35, 69-34, with 3:23 left in the frame.
After South Dakota State scored six unanswered, Duke responded with seven straight to head into the final 10 minutes up, 78-43.
The teams went back-and-forth to start the final stanza, with the Blue Devils holding the 85-49 edge with 6:43 remaining in the game. The Blue Devils constricted the Jackrabbits to just five more points, with Arianna Roberson leading the way for the Blue Devils with two layups, to round out the Blue Devils' 97-54 triumph.
Brooklyn Meyer paced the offense for South Dakota State with 27 points, shooting 73 percent from the field, while adding four rebounds and a steal.

UP NEXT

The Blue Devils travel to Nashville, Tennessee, to take on Belmont before taking a short holiday break and resuming conference play at Syracuse, Dec. 28.

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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