Big weekend for Duke hoops

Part two, the women

About 15 hours after the end of the Duke-Boston College men’s game the Duke women took the court against Stanford, in Cameron.

Stanford is one of the game’s iconic programs. They won an NCAA title as recently as 2021 and made the Final Four the following season. When Duke visited Stanford last season and lost in overtime it was viewed as a good loss against overwhelming talent..

A lot has happened since then, Tara VanDerveer retired after 38 seasons st the helm. Most of their top talent either used up their eligibility or hit the portal. And, of course, they’re in a new conference, one that’s kicking their derriere.

Stanford won the opening toss against Duke but immediately turned it over, an ominous portent of things to come. Duke guards Ashlon Jackson, Reigan Richardson and Taina Mair were aggressive from the get-go. Richardson and Mair scored all of Duke’s first nine points, as Duke jumped to a 9-5 lead.

Duke led 9-8 before Jackson made two foul shots and a short jumper and it was 13-8.

“We always say that the shots, a lot of the time, are dictated by how the defense plays,” Kara Lawson said. “The way they were playing defensively on the ball screen allowed our guards to get downhill and get those pull-ups. We got really good looks.”

The Blue Devils took an 18-14 lead into the second quarter. That second 10-minute span was decisive. It was 18-17 when Duke went on a 14-0 run, with five different players scoring.

It was 43-21 at the half.

More than double.

Duke got a little “muddy”-Lawson’s word-- late in the third and early in the fourth and tyhe visitors got as close as 14, at 59-45. But a Toby Fournier 3-point play and a Jackson jumper stabilized the ship and Duke was never threatened again.

Several things stand out about the win. Duke forced 20 turnovers and turned them into 20 fast-break points.

Stanford had three fast-break points, as Duke turned it over only nine times, four by Fournier, all dead-ball turnovers.

It was hand-to-hand combat in the paint and Duke acquitted itself well. Nuna Agara, Stanford’s leading scorer, was held to an inefficient 15 points, 4 for 16 from the field.

She had two points at the half.

“Personally, I think the ACC is all-around physical,” Delaney Thomas said “and I think Stanford being introduced to that was a big part for them and being physical and staying aggressive and matching their intensity, we knew we were going to have to do that.”

Lawson praised Thomas and Fournier for their interior defense.

“Delaney and Toby drew the assignment of number three [Agara] and she’s a very talented player. She’s a load in there. I thought they did a good job of making her shots tough. I thought they set that tone from the beginning.”

Thomas had a double-double, 12 points and 10 rebounds, 5 for 6 from the field.

“Me and Coach T [Tia Jackson] have talked a lot about that [efficiency] and that’s been a big point of growth for me.”

Thomas is shooting 41 for 57 over her last 10 games. That’s 72%.

Duke outrebounded Stanford 39-35.

Mair had an almost perfect point-guard performance, six assists, no turnovers and two steals, to go along with 13 points.

Mair has had 17 assists against one turnover, with eight steals in her last three games, all Duke wins.

“I thought T did a great job of playing with intensity,” Lawson said. “She’s such a competitor and continues to just grow in that way. That’s what you want from your point guard.”

Jackson led Duke with 16 points. Fournier and Oluchi Okananwa added nine, Richardson eight.

Duke moves to 6-1 in the ACC, 15-4 overall, while Stanford drops to 2-5, 10-8.

Duke next plays at record-setting SMU Thursday night.

Record-setting, you ask.

Not the good kind.

On January 12 SMU visited Pitt. The Panthers aren’t very good so it’s no surprise that SMU jumped to a 49-18 half-time lead. They actually led by 32 at one point.

Then the second half started.

I don’t know what Pitt coach Tory Verdee told his team at halftime but he should bottle it and sell it. Pitt outscored SMU 28-0 in the third quarter. Not a typo, not a football score.

The fourth quarter was almost as bad, 26-10. Final, Pittsburgh 72 SMU 59, 54-10 in the second half, the largest regulation comeback in NCAA women’s history. A 45-point turnaround.

Fun fact. an announced attendance of 290 saw this in person.

Keep those ticker stubs, people.

Georgia Tech on the road Sunday. Much tougher test.