A funny thing happened on the way to the blow-out.
The Duke women spotted Ohio State a 16-point lead (30-14) Sunday afternoon, at Columbus. And then flipped the narrative about as completely as possible, dominating the final 22 minutes for a 75-63 win.
The upset puts Duke in the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2018.
It was a veritable Murphy’s Law for the first 18 minutes or so for Duke. If it could go wrong, it did. Ohio State’s press rattled Duke mightily-six turnovers in just the first period. Duke went 12 minutes without making a field goal. Fouls mounted. Ohio State forward Cotie McMahon was unguardable.
It was 20-10 after one period.
After falling behind by 16 Duke started climbing back late in the second period by taking care of the basics, the most important of which was limiting turnovers. Which gave Duke a chance to get some decent shots. Reigan Richardson scored 10 points in the second period.
“These guys never flinched,” Kara Lawson said. “In the huddles, they were locked in. They kept their belief, even though it felt like we were getting run out -- we didn't feel like it, we were getting run out of the gym at the beginning of the game, and we just possession by possession worked our way back.”
A crucial sequence occurred with about two minutes left in the half, with Ohio State up 36-23. Ashlon Jackson scored inside, drew the foul and converted the foul shot. Duke’s press so disconcerted the Buckeyes that Kennedy Brown’s former Duke teammate Celeste Taylor threw a pass right to a wide-open Brown, who finished easily.
Just like that a 13-point OSU was down to eight in a span of six seconds.
For the first time since the game’s opening minutes this looked like a game Duke could win.
Delaney Thomas made two foul shots, Richardson a jumper and the teams went into the locker room with Ohio State clinging to a 36-32 lead.
Duke held the home team to two points over the final three minutes of the half.
The Blue Devils caught up at 47-47 on a Richardson layup and Duke had their first lead at 49-47 on a Thomas layup.
Duke led 51-50 after three despite a late foul on Duke that enabled OSU’s Rikki Harris to hit two foul shots with less than a second remaining.
Duke has struggled to find a go-to scorer for much of Lawson’s tenure in Durham.
They may have found one. Duke and Ohio State traded buckets for most of the final period. Ohio State’s last lead was 57-56, with 5:36 left.
Richardson hit a 3-pointer. After a Taina Mair steal, Richardson hit a mid-range jumper. 61-57. Then another jumper. Then one of two from the line. Then another jumper.
Ten points by Richardson over a span of less than four minutes.
“Once I hit my first shot, I was kind of feeling it already,”Richardson said. “Then my teammates did a great job of setting screens or doing whatever it took to get me open and I was just able to knock down the shot.”
When the onslaught was over Duke led 66-59. Duke finished with nine foul shots in 10 attempts, rendering harmless Jacy Sheldon’s 3-pointer, OSU’s only triple of the game.
Holding the Buckeyes to one made 3-pointer?
“I think it's a testament to our collective ability defensively because we switch a lot,” Lawson said. “If you watch us play the onus is on every player to be able to guard every player on their team.”
McMahon led Ohio State with 27 points and five rebounds but Duke held everyone else to 13 for 37 shooting (35%). All-American Sheldon was held to 13 points.
Richardson followed up Friday’s 25-point game against Richmond with a game-high 28 points. Ashlon Jackson (13 points) and Taina Mair (11 points) joined her in double figures, the latter doing most of her damage from the foul line, where she went 8 for 9. After that sloppy opening quarter Duke ended with 16 turnovers, which was more than offset by Duke’s 38 to 20 rebounding advantage. Duke also connected on 24 of 29 (83%) from the foul line.
Freshman forward Delaney Thomas led everyone with eight rebounds off the bench and drew praise from Lawson for her lack of fear against the best teams on the biggest stages.
Duke will move on to Portland to play the winner of tomorrow’s Connecticut-Syracuse game sometime Saturday.
“We keep maturing, even at this late stage in the season. We continue to grow, we continue to just trust in each other,” Lawson said.
A recipe for success in March.