No. 11 Duke Downs No. 2 Seed Fighting Irish; Advances to ACC Title Game

Saturday, March 8

Greensboro, N.C.

2:30 p.m.

Duke University

25-7,14-4ACC

Notre Dame

26-5,16-2ACC

Duke

Notre Dame

Photo by: Duke Athletics

No. 11 Duke Downs No. 2 Seed Fighting Irish; Advances to ACC Title Game

3/8/2025 4:53:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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GREENSBORO, N.C. – Duke sophomore Oluchi Okananwa scored a team-high 14 points, and the 11th-ranked Blue Devils smothered No. 6 Notre Dame, 61-56, in the Ally ACC Women's Basketball Tournament semifinal at First Horizon Coliseum Saturday afternoon.

The Blue Devils advance to their first ACC women's basketball title game since 2017 and will play No. 1 seed NC State on March 9 at 1 p.m., on ESPN.

Okananwa was excellent on both ends of the floor, finishing her afternoon 3-of-3 from the field, including 2-of-2 from long range, and 6-of-6 from the free throw line for 14 points. She also pulled down a team-best seven rebounds and dished three assists. Ashlon Jackson dropped in 12 points as nine different Blue Devils scored. Delaney Thomas led the defensive charge with three steals and seven rebounds to go with her eight points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The opening 10 minutes of action were highly competitive, featuring three ties and a pair of lead changes. Notre Dame jumped out to a five-point lead, but the Blue Devils countered with a 7-0 spurt of their own to surge ahead, 11-9. Jadyn Donovan gave Duke the lead with a baseline jumper off a Notre Dame giveaway.
The Fighting Irish put up the next six points to regain the 15-11 advantage, but Duke once again had a response, scoring five of the next seven. Toby Fournier's offensive rebound and putback snapped the Notre Dame run and Vanessa de Jesus cashed in a triple with 34 seconds remaining to pull Duke within one, 17-16, at the end of one.
Quarter number two was much of the same with three more ties and two more lead changes with one point separating the teams in the scoring column. The Fighting Irish finished with a 14-13 edge and took a 31-29 lead into the half.
Okananwa (5) and de Jesus (4) paced four different Blue Devils in the second stanza. Duke led by as many as four during the period, using an 8-1 run to turn a three-point deficit into a 24-20 advantage at the 6:40 mark.
The Blue Devils powered in front, parlaying a 9-2 spurt featuring buckets by Jackson, Taina Mair and Thomas into a four-point lead at the 4:18 mark. The Blue Devils regained the lead on Thomas' putback before Jackson drilled a triple from the top of the key to give Duke a 41-37 edge with 4:18 to play.
Notre Dame regained a 42-41 edge at the 3:17 mark on Olivia Miles' three, but that would be short-lived, as the Blue Devils closed the quarter with six unanswered to take a 47-42 lead into the final period.
Duke carried its momentum into the last 10 minutes as Okananwa knocked down a three to start the quarter, extending the Blue Devil lead to eight, 50-42.
The Irish, held without a point for 5:22, pulled within three on a pair of Duke turnovers, but the Blue Devils' defense accepted the challenge presented and kept Notre Dame to just nine points in the final 7:41.
While the Blue Devils struggled offensively, scoring just four points over a five-minute span, the Irish were unable to solve the puzzle that was Duke's defense. Holding Notre Dame to just seven points through nine minutes, the Blue Devils pushed the lead back to six with a fastbreak layup from Okananwa with 1:14 remaining.
Holding onto a four-point lead, Duke iced the victory thanks to an offensive rebound from Mair. Jackson knocked down one of two free throws to make it a five-point game and Okananwa drained two from the charity stripe to secure the five-point win.

NOTES:

Duke advances to the ACC Tournament championship game for the first time since 2017 and the 16th time overall.
Duke shot 21-of-52 (40%) from the floor, 14-of-16 (87.5%) at the charity stripe and knocked down five triples.
The Blue Devils finished with a plus-12 margin on the glass, outrebounding the Fighting Irish 38-26 for the game, including a 12-8 advantage on the offensive boards.
Seventy-one percent of Duke's points were assisted with the Blue Devils dropping 15 dimes on 21 field goals.
Duke held Notre Dame to season lows in points (56), field goals (21), assists (10), rebounds (26) and blocks (2). The Blue Devils also kept the Fighting Irish nearly 30 points below their average points per game.
ND, which entered the matchup putting up 85.7 points per game, marks the 27th opponent this season the Blue Devils have held below their respective scoring average.
Duke won the superlative stats battle, finishing with the advantage in three of the five categories - bench scoring (28-14), second chance points (14-4) and points in the paint (30-28).
Oluchi Okananwa finished in double figures for the 17th time this season, pacing the Blue Devils with a team-high 14 points on a 100-percent clip from the field (3-of-3) and the free throw line (6-of-6). Okananwa also led the way on the glass with seven rebounds and dished out three assists as well.
Ashlon Jackson posted her 21st double-digit outing of the season as she finished with 12 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Delaney Thomas turned in a solid all-around performance with eight points, seven caroms and three steals.
Vanessa de Jesus provided a spark off the Blue Devil bench and finished her afternoon with seven points.
Taina Mair snagged six rebounds while chipping in four points and two dimes.
Jadyn Donovan had her hand in a little bit of everything against the Fighting Irish, contributing four points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.

UP NEXT:
Duke advances to the Ally ACC Tournament title game against No. 1 seed NC State. Tipoff is set for March 9 at 1 p.m., on ESPN.

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