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 28
Birmingham, Ala.
2:30 p.m.
Duke University
vs
North Carolina
Photo by: Nat LeDonne / Duke Athletics
Duke Primed for Sweet Sixteen Matchup Versus North Carolina on Friday
3/27/2025 2:21:00 PM | Women's Basketball
THE STARTING FIVE:
Should the Blue Devils win, they will advance to the Regional Final of the Birmingham 2 Region to take on the winner of No. 1-seed South Carolina and No. 4-seed Maryland.
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
- Making its 19th Sweet 16 appearance all-time and the second consecutive under head coach Kara Lawson, No. 7 and second-seeded Duke gears up for its 2025 NCAA Regional Semifinal game against No. 12 and third-seeded North Carolina on Friday, March 28. The Blue Devils and Tar Heels tip off at 2:30 p.m., ET on ESPN, live from Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala.
- Duke and North Carolina are squaring off for the 111th time overall with Friday's tilt marking the first meeting in the NCAA Tournament between the two rivals. The Tar Heels hold a slim, two-game advantage in the all-time series, 56-54. The teams have split the past six meetings, with the home-designated team winning all six.
- Ashlon Jackson continues to up her play this season, making significant strides from a season ago and improving all facets of her game throughout the year, including sizeable leaps in scoring, field goal percentage, three pointers, three point percentage and steals. The junior has broken onto the Duke individual season charts, ranking first in three point attempts (217) and tied for second in three pointers (83). She needs just four triples to tie the Duke single-season record for three pointers (87) set by Tricia Liston during the 2013-14 campaign).
- Duke is 63-26 (.708) all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including 24-9 as a No. 2 seed, and sports a 26-7 (.788) mark when earning the automatic bid. Duke currently owns the sixth most NCAA Tournament wins and is seventh in NCAA Tournament games played (88). Among programs competing in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, Duke leads all teams in scoring defense (39.0) and forced turnovers per game (23.5). The Blue Devils are also third in bench production (29.5), fifth in field goal percentage defense (30.6%) and turnover margin (9.5), sixth in scoring margin (33.5) and seventh in three point percentage defense (20.7%).
- With their seven threes against Oregon (3.23), the Blue Devils set the program single-season record for three pointers and now have 215 on the year. The 2025 Blue Devils are also first on the Duke single-season charts in three point attempts (624), third in fewest turnovers per game (14.9), eighth in assists (590) and total minutes (7,050), ninth in field goals made (994) and total points (2,584) and tied for ninth in assists per game (16.9).
- After capturing the ACC's automatic bid, Duke earned the No. 2 seed in the Birmingham 2 Region of the 2025 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament. It 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 24-9 (.727) all-time as the second seed.
- Among programs competing in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, Duke leads all teams in scoring defense (39.0) and forced turnovers per game (23.5). The Blue Devils are also third in bench production (29.5), fifth in field goal percentage defense (30.6%) and turnover margin (9.5), sixth in scoring margin (33.5) and seventh in three point percentage defense (20.7%).
- 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 63-26 (.708) all-time in the NCAA Tournament and sports a 26-7 (.788) mark when earning the automatic bid.
- Over the history of the program, the Blue Devils have advanced to 19 Sweet 16's – most recently in 2025 – 11 Elite Eights and four Final Fours.
- Duke currently owns the sixth most NCAA Tournament wins (63) and is seventh in NCAA Tournament games played (88). The Blue Devils also entered the big dance ranked No. 8 in all-time NCAA Tournament winning percentage (.701).
- Ashlon Jackson has continued to up her play this season, improving in all facets of her game. The junior has made significant strides from a season ago, upping her scoring, field goal percentage, total three pointers, three point percentage and steals.
- Jackson's strong 2024-25 campaign has seen the China, Texas product break into the Duke individual season charts with the junior currently tied for first in three point attempts (208), No. 4 in three pointers (78) and No. 7 in free throw shooting (.883). Jackson needs just nine more triples to tie the Duke single-season record for three pointers set by Tricia Liston (2013-14).
- 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. She leads the squad in three pointers and minutes per game (28.6), while ranking second in scoring (12.3). The junior has reached double figures in 15 of her past 21, averaging 12.3 points on a 35-percent clip from three, along with 2.54 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.1 steals.
- 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. She 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.
- She is one of 24 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.
- Duke boasts one of its strongest offenses in recent memory, putting up 73.8 points per game on 45-percent shooting from the field and 35 percent from deep. Duke's scoring average and shooting percentage are program bests dating back to the 2013-14 and 2016-17 campaigns, respectively. The Blue Devils are also 21st nationally with an offensive rating of 112.4, per HerHoopStats.
- Duke's balanced attack is led by Toby Fournier (13.4), Ashlon Jackson (12.5) and Oluchi Okananwa (10.2), with Reigan Richardson (9.9) just under double digits. Overall, Duke has had eight different leading scorers on the year with nine different players reaching double figures thus far.
- With their seven threes against Oregon (3.23), the Blue Devils set the program single-season record for three pointers and now have 215 on the year. The 2025 Blue Devils are also first on the Duke single-season charts in three point attempts (624), third in fewest turnovers per game (14.9), eighth in assists (590) and total minutes (7,050), ninth in field goals made (994) and total points (2,584) and tied for ninth in assists per game (16.9).
- Per HerHoopStats, Duke is No. 7 in two-pointers made (779), 16th in field goals made (994) and 25th in total points (2,584). In the NCAA, Duke is 50th in three point percentage.
- The Blue Devils have scored 70-plus points in 24 games and featured at least three double-figure scorers in 25 contests. Duke opened the 2024-25 slate with a program-best 12 straight 70-plus outings.
- The Blue Devils have shot 50 percent or higher in 11 games and finished with at least five in double digits five times. Duke has eclipsed the 80-point threshold 13 times and scored over 90 in three games.
- Duke's 109 points against then-No. 8 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.
- Nine players average over 12 minutes per game, with six playing 20-plus - A. Jackson (28.8), R. Richardson (27.0), J. Donovan (25.2), T. Mair (25.1), O. Okananwa (22.2) and D. Thomas (21.3).
- 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.
- 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 11.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.7 steals with 16 double-figure performances.
- The sophomore turned in a stellar weekend of competition at the 2025 Ally ACC Tournament en route to leading the Blue Devils to the ACC crown, averaging 16.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists. Okananwa was tapped the program's sixth ACC Tournament MVP and put herself in a league of her own, becoming the first ACC player this century to earn the distinction while coming off the bench, per ESPN Stats & Info.
- Overall, Okananwa has reached double digits on 19 occasions this season, including 10 times in ACC play, and has tallied 17 games with five-plus boards.
- Defensively, she leads Duke with 62 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).
- Duke features one of the nation's most stifling defenses, entering Friday's contest with the fourth-best defensive rating (73.1) while holding foes to 100.1 points per 100 possessions (4th) and 0.70 points per possession (12th), per HerHoopStats. In the NCAA rankings, Duke is 20th in forced turnovers (20.7), 30th in scoring defense (57.2), 35th in steal average (10.5) and 50th in blocks per game (4.1).
- The Blue Devils have kept 30 opponents this season below their respective scoring averages and 14 teams below 50 points, including four foes - Radford (36), Pitt (31), California (38) and Lehigh (25) to fewer than 40. Duke has also limited foes to single digits in 33 quarters and forced 43 shot clock violations on the year.
- In ACC play, 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-leading 22.2 turnovers per game. Duke's defense held ACC teams to 0.67 points per possession, a vast improvement from the 0.86 given up in non-conference action.
- The Blue Devils concluded the league slate 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.
- Duke has been extremely solid on the glass this season, ranking in the top 25 nationally in offensive rebounds per game (21st) and rebounding margin (22nd).
- Duke is averaging 39.0 rebounds per game with nearly 15 (14.7) coming on the offensive end. Duke has parlayed those extra opportunities into 514 second-chance points.
- Per HerHoopStats, Duke is fourth in the NCAA in total offensive rebounds (516), ninth in offensive rebounding rate (40.6%), 18th in offensive rebound average (14.7) and 19th in total rebound rate (55.2%).
- In ACC play, Duke led the league in offensive rebound percentage (.396). Duke was also No. 2 in offensive rebounds per game (14.8) and rebounding margin (+4.5) and No. 3 in rebounding defense (33.2).
- Eight different Blue Devils have tallied at least 80 boards this season - Jadyn Donovan (228), Oluchi Okananwa (177), Toby Fournier (173), Delaney Thomas (166), Taina Mair (107), Jordan Wood (105), Reigan Richardson (96) and Ashlon Jackson (84).
Should the Blue Devils win, they will advance to the Regional Final of the Birmingham 2 Region to take on the winner of No. 1-seed South Carolina and No. 4-seed Maryland.
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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