Jackson’s Hot Hand Sends Duke to Sweet 16; Duke Downs Oregon, 59-53

Sunday, March 23

Durham, N.C.

12 p.m.

Duke University

28-7,14-4ACC

Oregon

20-12,10-8Big Ten

Oregon

Duke

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Jackson’s Hot Hand Sends Duke to Sweet 16; Duke Downs Oregon, 59-53

3/23/2025 3:03:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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DURHAM, N.C. – Duke junior Ashlon Jackson knocked down five three-pointers and finished with 20 points to lead the second-seeded Blue Devils to a 59-53 victory over No. 10-seed Oregon in the second round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament Sunday afternoon.

The Blue Devils advance to the Sweet 16 for the 19th time and for the second consecutive season. Jackson knocked down 5-of-9 from long range – all in the second half – and pulled down four rebounds in 35 minutes of action. Senior Reigan Richardson had 13 points and six boards while Delaney Thomas registered 12 points, six rebounds and three steals in a fierce competition in the paint.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Both offenses got off to a slow start with Oregon building a 7-2 lead after the first five minutes. The Blue Devils came out of the first media timeout and scored five unanswered to tie the game at seven apiece.
Jordan Wood hit a free throw for Duke's first points in three minutes and then put back an offensive rebound to make it a two-point game. Reigan Richardson turned defense into offense with a steal and fastbreak layup to tie the game.
Oregon scored five of the final seven points of the quarter to take a 12-9 lead into the first break.
The Ducks kept the pressure on the Blue Devils in the second quarter, extending their lead to nine, 24-15, midway through the period. Richardson and Oluchi Okananwa put together a 5-0 spurt to pull Duke to within one possession, 24-21, with under two minutes remaining in the half.
The teams traded baskets over the final 1:40 with Wood laying the ball in at the buzzer to send Duke into the locker room trailing, 28-23. Oregon shot 50 percent (12-of-24) from the floor in the opening 20 minutes while Duke hit 36 percent (10-of-28) of its shots.
Ashlon Jackson was the show in the third quarter. The junior sharpshooter drained back-to-back threes to start the period, giving Duke its first lead of the game, 29-28. Jackson added a layup and another three to cap the 11-0 run and give Duke the 34-28 lead. The China, Texas native had all 11 points and finished with 14 in the quarter.
Duke stretched its lead to 10, 41-31, before Oregon's Deja Kelly took control for the Ducks, scoring the team's next nine points to cut Duke's advantage to five, 45-40, with one quarter remaining.
Oregon continued to chip away at Duke's lead, pulling within one, 49-48, at the 5:50 mark of the fourth quarter. The Blue Devils and Ducks traded defensive stops and baskets over the next few minutes as Delaney Thomas drained a pair from the charity stripe to put Duke ahead, 53-50, with 3:19 to play.
Thomas forced an Oregon turnover on the ensuing possession and converted a layup to = put the game out of reach for the Ducks at 55-50. Jackson hit a dagger three at the 1:33 mark to make it a seven-point game and solidify the six-point win.
Kelly finished the game with 20 points while Phillipina Kyei had 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Defensively, Duke forced Oregon into 17 turnovers, scoring 18 points off the giveaways. The Blue Devils held the Ducks to just 32 percent shooting in the second half after knocking down 50 percent of their looks in the first.

NOTES:

Duke improves to 28-7 overall and pushes its win streak to eight games. The 28 victories are the most in the Kara Era and match a program best dating back to 2016-17.
The Blue Devils advance to the Sweet 16 for the second straight season and 19th time overall.
Duke concludes the 2024-25 home slate with a 15-1 (.938) record. Over the past three seasons, the Blue Devils are 43-6 (.878) overall at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Duke moves to 63-26 (.708) all-time in the NCAA Tournament, 24-9 (.727) as the No. 2 seed and 26-7 (.788) overall when earning the automatic bid. Duke currently owns the sixth most NCAA Tournament wins and is seventh in NCAA Tournament games played (89).
Duke finished with at least three players in double figures for the 25th time this season.
Duke held Oregon nearly 16 points below its season scoring average as the Ducks entered the contest putting up 68.7 points a night. Oregon marks the 30th opponent this season the Blue Devils have held below their respective scoring average.
The Blue Devils forced Oregon into 17 turnovers and limited the Ducks to four assists - the latter marking a season low for Oregon and tied for the ninth fewest dimes by a Duke foe all-time.
Duke shot 21-of-55 (38.2%) from the floor, 7-of-17 (41.2%) from three and 10-of-13 (76.9%) at the charity stripe. The Blue Devils also assisted on 62 percent of their field goals against Oregon with 13 dimes on 21 buckets.
Duke won the superlative battle, finishing with the advantage in four of the five categories - points off turnovers (18-9), points in the paint (20-16), fast break points (10-5) and bench production (11-5).
Ashlon Jackson reached double figures for the 23rd time this season, finishing her afternoon with 20 points, four rebounds and a block. With her five trifectas, Jackson netted her 12th game this season - and the 23rd of her career - with at least five threes. The junior now has 83 triples on the year - tied with Rebecca Greenwell (2016-17) for No. 2 on the Duke single season charts - and needs just four more to tie Tricia Liston's school record of 87.
Jackson poured in 14 points in the third quarter, knocking down 5-of-10 from the field, including four shots from deep. The 14 points matched the third-highest individual scoring output in a third quarter by a Blue Devil all-time.
Reigan Richardson notched her 16th double-digit scoring effort of the year with 13 points on an efficient 6-of-10 shooting from the field, while also corralling six rebounds and dishing two assists. Richardson, who already eclipsed the 1,000-point mark earlier this season versus Pittsburgh (Jan. 5), now has 994 points as a Blue Devil and needs just six more to become the 36th Duke women's basketball player all-time to tally 1,000 career points as a Blue Devil.
Delaney Thomas turned in a strong all-around performance with 12 points, six caroms and three steals. It marks the sophomore's 18th game this season with at least five rebounds and her 11th outing with at least three thefts. The Blue Devils improved to 11-1 in 2024-25 when Thomas reaches double figures.
Oluchi Okananwa chipped in six points and three rebounds off the bench while Jadyn Donovan snagged three caroms of her own while leading the team in the assist department with four dimes.

UP NEXT:
The Blue Devils move on to the Regional Semifinal of the Birmingham 2 Region to take on the winner between No. 3-seed North Carolina and No. 6-seed West Virginia. The Tar Heels and Mountaineers play March 24 at 7 p.m.

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