No. 8 Duke and No. 21 Baylor Meet in NCAA Second Round

Sunday, March 22

Durham, N.C.

4 p.m.

Duke University

Baylor

No. 3 Seed Duke Advances with Win Over College of Charleston

Photo by: Duke Athletics

No. 8 Duke and No. 21 Baylor Meet in NCAA Second Round

3/21/2026 4:10:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Game Notes Watch Live Stats

The Opening Tip

Duke is making its 28th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Blue Devils are the No. 3 seed for the fourth time and second time under head coach Kara Lawson. Duke is 19-8 all-time in the opening round and has advanced to the Sweet 16 in each of the past two seasons. The Blue Devils are 9-3 overall as the No. 3 seed.
The Blue Devils are 65-27 all-time in NCAA postseason action and have advanced to the Sweet 16 19 times, including each of the past two seasons, and the Elite Eight 12 times. Duke is 7-3 in the NCAA Tournament under Lawson and making its fourth straight appearance and third as a top four seed.
The Blue Devils are 25-8 overall and ranked eighth in the AP poll. Duke is 22-2 after starting the year 3-6 overall. This will be Duke's second matchup against Baylor in NCAA Tournament history. The Bears garnered an at-large bid and earned the No. 6 seed. Baylor defeated Nebraska in the first round, 67-62.
The Blue Devils are led on offense by All-ACC First Team selection Toby Fournier's 17.5 points per game. Taina Mair is averaging 11.1 points, 5.5 assists and 5.9 rebounds per game. Ashlon Jackson is playing both ends of the court at an elite level, dropping 11.3 points per game, a team-best 69 three-pointers and 4.5 assists per game, while drawing the toughest perimeter defensive matchup for Duke's elite defense. Fournier, Delaney Thomas, Mair and Arianna Roberson lead the charge on the glass, averaging 8.2, 6.4, 5.9 and 5.6 rebounds per game, respectively. Thomas also contributes 10.9 points per game on a team-high 61 percent shooting, while Roberson adds 8.2 points and 1.1 blocks per game. Fournier is the top rim protector, averaging 2.3 blocks per game.

NCAA Tournament Notes

Duke is making its 28th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and the fourth straight under head coach Kara Lawson. The Blue Devils earned a top four seed for the 22nd time and third under Lawson.
Head coach Kara Lawson is 7-3 in NCAA Tournament action, advancing to the Sweet 16 in 2024 and the Elite Eight in 2025.
Only five of Duke's current seven active players had seen in NCAA Tournament action prior to Friday, playing a combined 27 games. Ashlon Jackson leads the way with 10 games, while Delaney Thomas and Taina Mair have played in eight. Toby Fournier has four under her belt.

Duke in NCAA Tournament History
Overall NCAA Tournament Record 65-27 (.707)
As an at-large bid: 37-19 (661)
As an automatic bid: 28-8 (.778)
NCAA Record under Lawson: 7-3 (.700)
First Round: 28-0 (1.000)
Second Round: 19-8 (.704)
Times as Number Three Seed: 3rd, last in 2026 (9-3, .750)
In Durham: 27-4

Game 1 Tidbits

Ashlon Jackson dished nine assists and Taina Mair had eight dimes in the first-round win. They are two of seven players who registered at least eight assists in a game in NCAA Tournament play. Jackson is the eighth Duke player to have nine assists in an NCAA Tournament game, while Mair is one of 10 to have at least eight assists. It was the first time in Duke NCAA Tournament history the Blue Devils have had two players with eight-plus assists in the same game.
Jordan Wood went 5-of-5 from distance to become the fifth Blue Devil to record at least five three-pointers in an NCAA Tournament game. Wood is the only player in Duke history to hit 100 percent of her shots from long range when attempting at least five threes.

Last Time We Met

Baylor outscored Duke, 15-9, in the fourth quarter to come away with a 58-52 victory in the season opener in Paris. The teams were tied at 43 after three quarters, but a fast start by the Bears in the fourth quarter proved to be the difference.
Toby Fournier led the Blue Devils with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Duke shot just 29 percent in the game and hit 21 percent of its three-pointers. Arianna Roberson did not play in the game and Delaney Thomas played just 17 minutes.
Taliah Scott's 24 points led the way for the Bears, while Darianna Littlepage-Buggs finished the game with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Baylor held a 51-40 edge in rebounding in the game, getting 13 second-chance points. The Bears' +11 rebounding margin in that game is the second largest by a Duke opponent this season.

Postseason Accolades

Postseason awards have started flowing in for the Blue Devils with sophomore Toby Fournier leading the way with the individual accolades.
Fournier, Taina Mair and Ashlon Jackson each garnered All-ACC First Team honors. Fournier was a consensus first-team choice, while Mair and Jackson split first and second team recognition on the coaches and Blue Ribbon Panel lists. Both Fournier and Mair also earned a spot on the ACC All-Defensive Teams.
Fournier was named a semifinalist for the Kartrina McClain award as well as the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year honor. She garnered All-America third team honors from the Associated Press, Sporting News and the USBWA and an honorable mention nod from USA Today.
Head coach Kara Lawson was voted the ACC Coach of the Year and is a semifinalist for the Naismith National Coach of the Year award.
Duke's starting five of Fournier, Mair, Jackson, Riley Nelson and Delaney Thomas was voted to the ACC All-Tournament Team. Mair was the ACC Tournament MVP. Fournier, Mair and Jackson also are regional finalists for the WBCA All-America teams.

Chart Climbers

The trio of Toby Fournier, Ashlon Jackson and Taina Mair are peppered throughout the Duke and ACC record books.
Fournier hit the 1,000-point benchmark in her 66th career game, making her the fourth fastest Blue Devil to reach 1,000 career points. She sits behind Chris Moreland (51), Alana Beard (56) and Katie Meier (62). Fournier sits in ninth in Duke single-season history with 76 blocks. She is just the fifth different Blue Devil to post 70 denials in a season.
Fournier has shot 188 free throws this season to rank ninth in Duke single-season history. A Blue Devil has shot at least 200 free throws in a season six times and not since 2004-05. Chris Moreland has three of the six on the list.
Duke senior point guard Taina Mair is climbing her way up both the Duke and ACC assists charts. With five assists against NC State, Mair took over sole possession of ninth on the ACC career assists chart. Her 657 helpers rank seventh on the ACC career list.
In three seasons at Duke, Mair has 440 assists to sit in eighth in Duke career history and five away from No. 7.
Mair has 183 assists on the season to sit second in Duke single-season history. Chelsea Gray (2010-14) holds the record at 201.
Ashlon Jackson hit five threes at North Carolina to pass Abby Waner for third in career history and has 231 overall. Jackson has 69 threes this season, leaving her one away from becoming the third Blue Devil to record at least 70 trifectas in multiple seasons.
Jackson and Mair are two of Duke's best free throw shooters. In three seasons, Mair is 112-of-131 (.855), which stands at fourth in Duke history. Jackson is 184-of-224 (.821), which would rank sixth in Duke history. Only six Blue Devils have finished their career shooting at least 80 percent from the line with a minimum of 100 attempts. Mair and Jackson will be the seventh and eighth.

Up Next

A Duke win sends the Blue Devils into the Sweet 16 for the third straight season. Duke will head to Sacramento to take on the winner between LSU and Texas Tech.

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