No. 14 Duke Heads to Dallas for Midweek Tilt at SMU

Thursday, January 23

Dallas, Texas

8 p.m.

Duke University

SMU

Photo by: Duke Athletics

No. 14 Duke Heads to Dallas for Midweek Tilt at SMU

1/22/2025 4:31:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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DURHAM, N.C. – The 14th-ranked Blue Devils play their next three games on the road, starting with a trip to Dallas to square off against ACC newcomer SMU in a midweek tilt Thursday, Jan. 23 at 8p.m., live on ACC Network.

THE OPENING TIP:

Duke and SMU are set to square off for just the second time overall with Thursday's meeting marking the first in nearly two decades. The Blue Devils lead the series, 1-0, courtesy of a 75-45 victory Dec. 20, 2006.
Freshman Toby Fournier reeled in her third ACC Freshman of the Week honor after putting up 16.0 points, 8.5 boards and 2.0 blocks in a 2-0 week for Duke featuring dominant wins over No. 18 California and Stanford. She shot 59 percent from the floor and 85 percent at the charity stripe.
Duke checks in at No. 14 in the Associated Press (AP) Top-25 poll and No. 8 in the latest NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings. The Blue Devils are also No. 1 in Strength of Schedule (SOS).
Duke has seen an uptick on the defensive end, with flashes of the stifling Duke defense of the past two seasons emerging.
In ACC play, Duke has held each opponent well below its respective season scoring average, holding foes to 49.1 points on 34.8 percent shooting. The Blue Devil defense is holding ACC opponents to 0.69 points per possession, a vast improvement from the 0.86 defensive points per possession averaged in non-conference action.
The Blue Devils rank in the top five of seven defensive categories, sitting atop the league in scoring defense, field goal percentage defense, three point percentage defense (.247), steals (12.6) and turnover margin (+8.4). Duke is also second in blocks (5.4) and third in rebounding defense (33.1).
In the NCAA rankings, Duke ranks in the top 30 of six categories - bench points per game (6th), rebounding margin (18th), offensive rebounds per game (20th), forced turnovers per game (26th), assist average and steals per game (30th).
Duke has looked to make the extra pass on offense with nearly 60 percent of the team's field goals coming via assists. For the season, the Blue Devils have dropped 326 dimes on 559 buckets (.583).
Junior Taina Mair has done a great job quarterbacking the Duke offense this season, averaging 4.1 assists per contest. Over her last three games, Mair has been a magician with the basketball racking up 17 assists to just one turnover. She dropped six assists against Stanford (1.16) and Virginia (1.12) and five versus California.
Duke has been solid on the glass this season and checks in among the top 25 nationally in rebound margin (18th) and offensive rebounds per game (20th).
In ACC play, Duke is No. 1 in offensive rebound percentage (.414) and No. 2 in rebounding margin (+6.7). Duke also ranks No. 3 in rebounding defense (33.1) and offensive rebounds per game (15.4) and No. 5 in rebounding offense (39.9).
Duke boasts one of its most potent offenses in recent memory, putting up 76.6 points per game on 46-percent shooting from the field and 35-percent from deep.
Duke's balanced attack is led by the trio of Toby Fournier (12.4), Ashlon Jackson (12.2) and Reigan Richardson (11.6). Overall, Duke has had eight different leading scorers with nine players reaching double figures thus far.

DEVIL IN THE DETAILS – DUKE DEFENSE RETURNING TO FORM IN ACC PLAY:

Duke has seen an uptick on the defensive end over the last month, with flashes of the stifling Duke defense of the past two seasons emerging.
In ACC play, Duke has held each opponent well below its respective season scoring average, holding foes to 49.1 points on 34.8 percent shooting. The Blue Devil defense is holding ACC opponents to 0.69 points per possession, a vast improvement from the 0.86 defensive points per possession averaged in non-conference action.
The Blue Devils are also averaging 12.6 steals and 5.4 blocks per game in league play while forcing the opposition into 24.3 turnovers.
In Duke's win over No. 18 California (Jan. 16), the Blue Devils forced the Golden Bears into 31 turnovers while holding them to just 38 points for the game.
Cal's 38 points were the fewest by a ranked opponent against Duke all-time, with the 34-point margin marking the largest over a ranked foe since 2001, when Duke took down No. 15 Clemson, 92-42.
The Blue Devils rank in the top five of seven defensive categories, sitting atop the league in scoring defense, field goal percentage defense, three point percentage defense (.247), steals (12.6) and turnover margin (+8.4). Duke is also second in blocks (5.4) and third in rebounding defense (33.1).

FOURNIER TAKING FLIGHT:

Rookie Toby Fournier has gotten her collegiate career off to a rapid start, putting the nation on notice she's a force to be reckoned with.
Fournier has reached double figures 11 times, netted four 20-point outings and led the team in scoring on six occasions. She paces Duke on offense (12.4 ppg) and ranks second on the glass with 5.4 boards per game.
Additionally, Fournier has seen an uptick at the charity stripe. She has knocked down her freebies at a 78-percent clip (39-of-50) over her past 12 games, after shooting 55.2% (16-of-29) to open the year.
Fournier reeled in her third ACC Freshman of the Week honor after putting up 16.0 points, 8.5 boards and 2.0 blocks in a 2-0 week for Duke featuring dominant wins over No. 18 California and Stanford. She shot 59 percent from the floor and 85 percent at the charity stripe.
The Toronto, Ontario product registered her first career double-double in the 72-38 win over California (1.16), putting up 23 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. She was extremely efficient in the win, shooting 70 percent (7-of-10) from the field and 90 percent (9-of-10) from the charity stripe. Her nine free throws is tied for 10th all-time on the Duke freshman single game records list.
The rookie closed out the week with another solid performance, chipping in nine points, six rebounds, two rejections and a steal in the dub over Stanford (1.19).
Fournier earned her second ACC Freshman of the Week (12.9) honor after posting a near double-double in the ACC opener against Virginia Tech (12.8) with a career-high 27 points and nine rebounds.
Her 27 points were the most points by a Duke freshman in an ACC opener all-time, with the 12 field goals tied for second on the freshman single-game records list with former Duke standout Alana Beard (3x).
Fournier picked up USBWA Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Week (11.26) and ACC Freshman of the Week (11.25) honors after a stellar performance - 25 points, six boards, three blocks - versus Belmont (11.21).

EFFICIENT DT – THOMAS FLIPS THE SWITCH:

Following a slow start to the season, sophomore forward Delaney Thomas has found her rhythm, seamlessly flipping the switch and emerging as an offensive weapon for the Blue Devils.
Dating back to the Blue Devil's win over Oklahoma (11.27), Thomas has been averaging 9.0 points and 5.3 rebounds on 67.6% shooting. She opened the season putting up 5.6 points and 4.1 rebounds on 33.3%.
Thomas notched her second career double-double in the win over the Cardinal (1.19) with 12 points and 10 rebounds on 5-of-6 (83.3%) shooting. The sophomore is averaging 0.96 points per possession for the year.
During a six-game stretch from Nov. 25-Dec. 18, Thomas reached double figures in four straight and five of six games, averaging 11.5 points and 4.8 rebounds on 58-percent shooting.
The Charles Town, W. Va., product was incredibly efficient from the floor during the final three games of that span, putting up 14.3 points on a blistering 87% clip (1.06 PPP).
Thomas scored 14 points in back-to-back games against No. 3 South Carolina (12.5) and Virginia Tech (12.8), before posting a season-high 15 points against Wofford (12.18).
She was a perfect 7-of-7 from the floor against the Gamecocks, following that with consecutive 6-of-8 shooting performances against the Hokies and Terriers.

OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER:

Duke boasts one of its most potent offenses in recent memory, putting up 76.6 points per game on 46-percent shooting from the field and 35-percent from deep.
The Blue Devils' scoring average and field goal percentage are program bests dating back to the 2013-14 and 2016-17 campaigns, respectively.
Duke has scored 70-plus points and featured at least three double-figure scorers in 15 of 19 games. The Blue Devils opened the 2024-25 slate with 12 consecutive 70-plus outings - the stretch marking a program best.
The Blue Devils have shot 50 percent in eight games and finished with at least five double-digit scorers four times. Duke has eclipsed the 80-point threshold eight times and scored 90-plus points on two occasions.
Duke's balanced attack is led by the trio of Toby Fournier (12.4), Ashlon Jackson (12.2) and Reigan Richardson (11.6). Overall, Duke has had eight different leading scorers with nine players reaching double figures thus far.
Nine players average at least 10 minutes per game with five playing 20-plus - Reigan Richardson (28.2), Ashlon Jackson (27.5), Taina Mair (25.7), Jadyn Donovan (23.7) and Delaney Thomas (21.6).
Duke's 109 points against Oklahoma (11.27) were the Blue Devils' most against a ranked foe since Jan. 24, 2002, when the team scored 102 points in a 20-point triumph over No. 21 North Carolina.
The Blue Devils have eclipsed the 100-point threshold three times under Kara Lawson with the 109 points ranking second in the Kara Era - just two shy of the 111 scored against Charleston Southern in 2022-23.

UP NEXT:
Duke continues its three-game road swing, making the trek to the Peach State for a top-20 Sunday showdown at No. 18 Georgia Tech. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m., live on ACCNX.

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