Donovan’s Career Day Pushes Duke Past Jackrabbits, 75-71

Sunday, November 17

Brookings, S.D.

3:30 p.m.

Duke University

4-1,0-0ACC

South Dakota State

3-1,0-0Summit League

Duke

South Dakota St.

Sunday, November 17th, 2024,
at First Bank & Trust Arena in Brookings, SD
(Photo by Peyton Bartsch)

Donovan’s Career Day Pushes Duke Past Jackrabbits, 75-71

11/17/2024 6:03:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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BROOKINGS, S.D. – Sophomore Jadyn Donovan turned in a career performance with a career-high 23 points and 15 rebounds to lead the 16th-ranked Blue Devils to a 75-71 road victory at South Dakota State in women's basketball action Sunday afternoon.

Donovan registered her third career double-double to lead all Blue Devils while Ashlon Jackson contributed 18 points in the winning effort. Vanessa de Jesus finished with 13 points and three assists, hitting a crucial 6-of-8 from the free throw line. Donovan and Jackson also dished out four assists apiece to lead the Duke (4-1) offense.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair with the 10-minute period featuring four ties and eight lead changes.
Junior Taina Mair got the Blue Devils on the board first with a floater off an offensive rebound, with Toby Fournier (4), Donovan (4) and Jackson (9) combining for the team's next 13 points.
de Jesus and Jordan Wood joined in on the action, scoring the Blue Devils' last two field goals of period to push the visitor's lead to five.
Duke, behind the nine points from Jackson, led 23-18 after the opening quarter. The Blue Devils shot an impressive 56 percent in the first 10 minutes.
The Blue Devils extended their lead to nine in the early minutes of the second period thanks to a 7-0 run over a span of 1:26.
The Jackrabbits cut the lead to four with three minutes to play, but Duke scored the next six points to take its largest lead of the game, 38-28, with 90 seconds left.
South Dakota State had the final basket of the half, sending Duke into the locker room with an eight-point advantage, 38-30. Jackson finished the half with 14 points as the Blue Devils shot 42 percent from the field.
South Dakota State slowly chipped away at the Blue Devil lead in the third quarter, tying the game at 45-45 with 4:53 left on the clock. A pair of free throws by Brooklyn Meyer gave the Jackrabbits their first lead of the game, 47-45.
The teams traded baskets over the next few minutes, but it was Reigan Richardson and Fournier with the two final buckets of the quarter to give Duke the 54-50 lead after three periods.
The back-and-forth continued into the fourth quarter with South Dakota State rallying to tie the game, 59-59, on a Duke turnover.
Donovan responded with consecutive mid-range jumpers to put the Blue Devils back in front 63-59. Jackson and Richardson sank three free throws, extending the lead to seven, 66-59.
The Jackrabbits, refusing to go away, pulled back within two, 66-64. Donovan responded with another clutch basket to put the lead back to two possessions and Jackson dropped in a pair of free throws to make it a six-point game, 70-64, with 2:03 to play.
Duke sank 5-of-8 from the charity stripe down the stretch with de Jesus hitting 4-of-6, to solidify the 75-71 victory.
Duke shot .429 from the field and just 27 percent from long range. The Blue Devils sank 18-of-25 free throws to ice the victory. The Jackrabbits hit 50 percent of their shots from behind the arc but were forced into 15 turnovers resulting in 21 Blue Devil points.

NOTES:

Jadyn Donovan scored a career-high 23 points and matched her career-best 15 rebounds to record her second double-double of the season and third of her career. She also had a season-high four assists.
Vanessa de Jesus scored a season-high 13 points and matched her career-best six free throws made.
Duke outscored South Dakota State, 24-15, in bench points and registered 21 points off 15 Jackrabbit turnovers.
Forty of Duke's 75 points came in the paint while the Blue Devils committed just nine turnovers.

UP NEXT:
The Blue Devils return home to host Belmont Nov. 21 at 7 p.m., on ACC Network.

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