Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball at Louisville on February 5, 2026 at 7 p.m.
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7 p.m.
Women's Basketball
at Louisville
Thursday, February 5
Louisville, Ky.
7 p.m.
Duke University
at
Louisville
Photo by: Duke Athletics
No. 17 Duke Travels to No. 6 Louisville Thursday in Battle of ACC’s Unbeatens
2/4/2026 12:15:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Opening Tip
Last Time Out Notes
Lawson Versus Top 25 Opponents
What Gives?
No Sophomore Slump for Fournier
Ashlon Jackson Finds Ways to Impact the Game
Up Next
- Thursday features a battle of the ACC unbeatens as the 17th-ranked Blue Devils travel to No. 6 Louisville for a 7 p.m., tipoff on ESPN. Winners of 13 straight, Duke is 16-6 overall and 11-0 in league action with its last loss coming Dec. 4 against LSU. The 11-0 start in ACC play is Duke's best under head coach Kara Lawson. The last time a Duke team won more than 10 conference games to start was in 2012-13 - going 15-0 en route to a 17-1 conference record. The 13-game win streak is the longest under head coach Kara Lawson and the longest since the 2012-13 team started 16-0.
- Duke's six losses are against the current NET No. 5 LSU, No. 2 UCLA, No. 4 South Carolina, No. 23 West Virginia, No. 26 Baylor and No. 82 South Florida. The Blue Devils are led on offense by sophomore Toby Fournier's 17.7 points per game. Taina Mair is having a career year, averaging 11.5 points, 5.2 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game. Ashlon Jackson is playing both ends of the court at an elite level, dropping 11.9 points per game, a team-best 46 three-pointers and 4.5 assists per game, while drawing the toughest perimeter defensive matchup for Duke's elite defense. Fournier, Arianna Roberson and Delaney Thomas lead the charge on the glass, averaging 7.9, 6.1 and 5.8 rebounds per game, respectively. Thomas also contributes 10.7 points per game on a team-high 63 percent shooting, while Roberson adds 8.7 points and 1.3 blocks per game. Fournier is the top rim protector, averaging 2.1 blocks per game.
- Duke and Louisville match up for just the 15th time overall and the 12th time in ACC regular season play. The Blue Devils have never won at Louisville, going 0-5 on the road against the Cards. Duke is 2-4 overall against Louisville under head coach Kara Lawson and owns the most recent win, 61-48, at the 2025 ACC Championship. Duke's last regular season win came in 2022-23, a 63-56 triumph inside Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Last Time Out Notes
- Delaney Thomas led the defensive effort for the Blue Devils against Wake Forest, amassing a career-high eight steals. The eight thefts rank tied for seventh in Duke single-game history, while the 19 team steals were a team-best and the most since the 2016-17 campaign.
- Toby Fournier and Arianna Roberson both collected double-doubles - their sixth and second of the year, respectively.
Lawson Versus Top 25 Opponents
- Duke will face a top-25 opponent for the sixth time this season and the 54th time since head coach Kara Lawson took the reins during the 2020-21 season. The Blue Devils' last ranked win was against then No. 18 Notre Dame in January.
- Duke is 0-14 versus top-five opponents under Lawson and 22-32 overall against top-25 competition since the 2020-21 campaign. The Blue Devils have fared well against Nos. 6-10, going 10-4. When unranked, Duke is 9-16 versus ranked foes.
- Duke is 6-15 in true road games against top 25 opponents.
What Gives?
- Thursday's contest at Louisville features a matchup of two of the hottest teams in college basketball. The Blue Devils have rattled off 13 straight, while the Cardinal are winners of 14 consecutive. Both are unbeaten in ACC play and haven't lost since Dec. 4. Since 1999-00, there have previously been 10 regular season conference matchups played on February 5 in a season or later between two undefeated teams in conference play.
- The matchup features two of the top scoring offenses in the country, with both teams averaging nearly 80 points per game in league play.
No Sophomore Slump for Fournier
- Toby Fournier is having a stellar sophomore season, leading the Blue Devils in points, rebounds and blocks. Overall, Fournier is the top scoring forward in the league and ranks third overall in scoring in the ACC at 17.7 points per game.
- Fournier is seventh in scoring average for forwards from Power 5 basketball programs.
Ashlon Jackson Finds Ways to Impact the Game
- Ashlon Jackson, often drawing the opponents' top perimeter defender, might not be shooting as well as she'd like (36% overall and 33% from three), but she continues to have an incredible impact in other ways. The senior captain has doubled her assist production from last season and is averaging 5.3 per game over the past 13 games.
- Defensively, she has increased her rebounding average from last season by 46 percent and has six five-plus rebound games, including her first double-digit performance.
- Jackson got off to a slow start from long range, going 12-of-44 (27.2%) in the first seven games. She has gotten into a better rhythm, knocking down 34-of-94 (36.2%) in the past 15 and 22-of-57 (38.6%) in the 11 league games.
- With 208 trifectas for her career, she is fourth all-time in threes in Duke lore. Her 588 attempts are third.
Up Next
- The Blue Devils return to Durham, Feb. 8 for a matchup with SMU. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m., on ACC Network.
Players Mentioned
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