Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus Countdown to Craziness on October 3, 2025 at 7 p.m.
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7 p.m.
Women's Basketball
vs Countdown to Craziness
Friday, March 21
Durham, N.C.
8 p.m.
Duke University
vs
Lehigh
Photo by: Nat LeDonne / Duke Athletics
Blue Devils Tip Off NCAA Tournament Versus Lehigh
3/20/2025 7:28:00 PM | Women's Basketball
THE STARTING FIVE:
UP NEXT:
Should the Blue Devils defeat Lehigh, Duke will advance to the NCAA Second Round to take on the winner of No. 7-seed Vanderbilt and No. 10-seed Oregon on Sunday, March 23.
To stay up to date with Duke women's basketball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and subscribe to the YouTube channel by searching "DukeWBB."
50 Seasons of Duke Women's Basketball
The 2024-25 season marks the 50th anniversary of Duke women's basketball, a program rich in tradition, excellence and success. From its early foundations to national dominance, the Blue Devils have become a powerhouse in both athletics and academics. Join us in commemorating five decades of sisterhood, championships and iconic moments as we set the stage for the next 50 years. For more information, please visit goduke.com/WBB50.
#GoDuke
- No. 7 Duke continues postseason play this weekend with the First and Second Rounds of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. The Blue Devils earned the No. 2 seed in the Birmingham 2 Region and tip off tournament play versus No. 15-seed Lehigh on Friday, March 21 at 8 p.m., live on ESPNU.
- Duke is making its 27th all-time appearance in the Big Dance and third straight under head coach Kara Lawson, with the No. 2 seed marking the highest of the Kara Era. Duke is 61-26 (.701) all-time in the NCAA Tournament and sports a 24-7 (.774) mark when earning the automatic bid. The 2025 NCAA Tournament marks Duke's 10th time as a No. 2-seed, having also done so in 1998, 2000, 2005, 2010-14 and 2017. The Blue Devils are 22-9 (.710).
- The Blue Devils enter the Big Dance fresh off winning the 2025 Ally ACC Women's Basketball Tournament - the program's ninth tournament title and first since 2013. Duke avenged regular season setbacks to Louisville, Notre Dame and NC State en route to claiming the ACC crown, becoming the lone ACC school in 2024-25 to beat the other 17 conference opponents.
- Oluchi Okananwa poured in 22 points to help lead the Blue Devils to the ACC title, completing the double-double with 10 boards while adding four dimes. Okananwa, the tournament MVP, became the first ACC player this century to earn the distinction while coming off the bench, per ESPN Stats & Info. The sophomore spearheaded Duke during the weekend with 16.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists while hitting 65-percent (15-of-23) from the field, 75 percent (6-of-8) from three and 87 percent (13-of-15) at the charity stripe.
- Ashlon Jackson also garnered ACC All-Tournament First Team recognition after pouring in 22 points and adding six rebounds against the Wolfpack. Jackson knocked down her shots at a 50-percent clip (7-of-14) for the game, including 5-of-6 (83.3%) at the foul line. The junior has reached double figures in 15 of her past 20, averaging 12.6 points on a 35-percent clip from three, along with 2.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals. She is one of 23 players in the Power 4 this season putting up at least 12 points, 2.0 assists, 2.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals while shooting 37 percent from three.
- Oluchi Okananwa and Ashlon Jackson each poured in 22 points to lead the No. 11 Blue Devils to a convincing 76-62 victory over top seed and seventh-ranked NC State to capture the 2025 Ally ACC Women's Basketball Tournament title.
- Okananwa did it all for the Blue Devils, going 8-of-13 from the field, including 3-of-4 from distance, pulling in 10 rebounds and dishing four assists while committing zero turnovers en route to earning a spot on the ACC All-Tournament First Team and MVP honors. She is the first ACC player this century to earn the distinction while coming off the bench, per ESPN Stats & Info. It marked the fifth career double-double for Okananwa as Duke claimed the program's ninth ACC Women's Basketball Tournament crown, and the first since 2013.
- Jackson also earned a spot on the ACC All-Tournament First Team courtesy of her stellar showing, with the junior tying a season-high six caroms and dishing an assist to round out her performance.
- Duke avenged regular-season losses to Louisville, Notre Dame and NC State en route to the title, becoming the lone ACC team to beat all other 17 conference opponents.
- Duke trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half but used a commanding second-half performance to come away with the win. The Blue Devils were stellar offensively after the intermission, shooting 16-of-29 (55.2%) from the field with 11 buckets coming via the assist. Defensively, Duke held the Wolfpack to 32-percent shooting, including a 3-of-15 (20%) shooting performance in the third quarter.
- The 2025 ACC Tournament saw historic marks in both attendance and viewership, respectively, with 70,204 attendees (the most since 2009) and 833,000 viewers (the most on record).
- Duke earned the No. 2 seed in the Birmingham 2 Region and will open NCAA Tournament play against No. 15 seed Lehigh on Friday, March 21 at 8 p.m., ET on ESPNU.
- The Blue Devils are making their 27th all-time appearance in the Big Dance and third straight under head coach Kara Lawson, with the No. 2-seed marking the highest of the Kara Era. Duke is 61-26 (.701) all-time in the NCAA Tournament and sports a 24-7 (.774) mark when earning the automatic bid.
- Over the history of the program, the Blue Devils have advanced to 18 Sweet 16's – most recently in 2024 – 11 Elite Eights and four Final Fours.
- The 2025 NCAA Tournament marks Duke's 10th time as a No. 2-seed, having also done so in 1998, 2000, 2005, 2010-14 and 2017. The Blue Devils are 22-9 (.710) all-time as the second seed.
- The Durham site will also host the first-round game between No. 7-seed Vanderbilt and No. 10-seed Oregon. The winners of the two games will face off in the second round March 23.
- Duke flipped the switch and wreaked havoc during ACC play with the stifling Duke defense of the past two seasons returning to the forefront.
- Duke held 17 opponents below their respective season scoring averages, limiting foes to 54.1 points on 38-percent shooting. The Blue Devils also averaged 10.6 steals and 4.7 blocks while forcing the opposition into an ACC-high 22.2 turnovers per game. Duke's defense held ACC foes to 0.67 points per possession, a vast improvement from the 0.86 given up in non-conference action.
- The Blue Devils concluded ACC play ranked in the top five of seven defensive categories, sitting atop the league in scoring defense, steals and turnover margin (+7.9). Duke checked in at No. 2 in three-point percentage defense (.278) and field goal percentage defense, No. 3 in rebounding defense (33.2) and No. 4 in blocks.
- Overall, Duke has kept 28 opponents this season below their respective scoring average and 13 teams below 50 points. The Blue Devils have also limited foes to single digits in 29 quarters and forced 41 shot clock violations.
- Oluchi Okananwa found her offensive rhythm once the calendar hit December. Dating back to the Blue Devils' game at South Carolina (12.5), the sophomore has elevated her play, averaging 11.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.7 steals with 15 double-figure performances.
- Okananwa kicked it into another gear during the ACC Tournament, spearheading the Duke offense over the weekend by putting up 16.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists en route to leading the Blue Devils to the program's ninth ACC Tournament crown. Okananwa culminated the weekend with a 22-point, 10-rebound double-double, locking up tournament MVP honors in the process.
- The sophomore put on a phenomenal shooting display across the three days, hitting 65-percent (15-of-23) from the field, 75 percent (6-of-8) from three and 87 percent (13-of-15) at the charity stripe.
- Overall, Okananwa has reached double digits on 18 occasions this season, including 10 times in ACC play, and has tallied 16 games with five-plus boards.
- Defensively, she leads Duke with 58 thefts and sports a 3.9-percent steal rate, per HerHoopStats. Okananwa has nine games with three-plus steals, including a career-high of six at UNC (1.9).
- Sophomore Jadyn Donovan picked up the first conference honor of her career as she was tapped to the ACC All-Defensive Team - the 26th Blue Devil to be named to the conference's all-defensive team.
- A mainstay on the glass and one of the most versatile defenders in the ACC, Donovan paces Duke in rebounds and blocks while ranking third in steals. She has totaled 19 games this season with seven-plus rebounds and seven contests with double-digit boards, while producing 15 contests with at least two steals and 11 tilts with two or more blocks. In ACC play, the sophomore ranked fourth with 1.6 blocks per game.
- Donovan is one of nine players in the Power 4, and one of two players in the ACC (Saniya Rivers) averaging at least 6.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.0 blocks and 1.0 steals per game.
- Following a career-best performance (23 points, 15 rebounds, 4 assists and four steals) in the victory at South Dakota State (11.17), Jadyn Donovan became just the fifth Duke player, and first since 2019, to post a statline of 20 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and four steals. She joined Alana Beard (2x), Haley Gorecki, Sheana Mosch and Traci Williams as the other Blue Devils to achieve the feat.
- Duke has been extremely solid on the glass this season, checking in among the top 30 nationally in offensive rebounds per game (20th) and rebounding margin (29th).
- For the season, Duke averages 39.0 rebounds per game with nearly 15 (14.8) coming on the offensive end. Duke has parlayed its extra opportunities into 441 second-chance points.
- Per HerHoopStats, Duke is ninth in the NCAA in offensive rebounding rate (40.4%), 14th in total offensive rebounds (445), 17th in offensive rebound average (14.8) and 25th in total rebound rate (54.9%).
- In ACC play, Duke led the league in offensive rebound percentage (.396). Duke is also No. 2 in offensive rebounds per game (14.8) and rebounding margin (+4.5) and No. 3 in rebounding defense (33.2).
- Seven other Blue Devils have tallied at least 60 boards this season - Toby Fournier (153), Oluchi Okananwa (147), Delaney Thomas (139), Jordan Wood (93), Taina Mair (88), Reigan Richardson (79) and Ashlon Jackson (68).
- Ashlon Jackson was tapped to the 2025 All-ACC Second Team, becoming the 27th Blue Devil all-time to garner a spot on the all-conference second team. The junior raised her game during the league slate, putting up 11.5 points on 35-percent shooting and 38 percent from deep, along with 2.1 assists and 1.9 rebounds.
- Jackson leads Duke with 22 double-digit scoring games, including five with over 20 points, and has five games where she has knocked down more than five threes. The China, Texas product leads the squad in three pointers (76) and minutes per game (28.9), while ranking second in scoring (12.4).
- The junior has reached double figures in 15 of her past 20, averaging 12.6 points on a 35-percent clip from three, along with 2.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals.
- She is one of 23 players in the Power 4 this season putting up at least 12 points, 2.0 assists, 2.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals while shooting 37 percent from three.
UP NEXT:
Should the Blue Devils defeat Lehigh, Duke will advance to the NCAA Second Round to take on the winner of No. 7-seed Vanderbilt and No. 10-seed Oregon on Sunday, March 23.
To stay up to date with Duke women's basketball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and subscribe to the YouTube channel by searching "DukeWBB."
50 Seasons of Duke Women's Basketball
The 2024-25 season marks the 50th anniversary of Duke women's basketball, a program rich in tradition, excellence and success. From its early foundations to national dominance, the Blue Devils have become a powerhouse in both athletics and academics. Join us in commemorating five decades of sisterhood, championships and iconic moments as we set the stage for the next 50 years. For more information, please visit goduke.com/WBB50.
#GoDuke
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