Roberson and Thomas Score 20 Apiece to Lead Duke Past California, 78-74

Thursday, January 8

Berkeley, Calif.

6 p.m.

Duke University

10-6,5-0ACC

California

9-8,0-4ACC

Duke

California

Arianna Roberson, Delaney Thomas, and Ashlon Jackson hug each other

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Roberson and Thomas Score 20 Apiece to Lead Duke Past California, 78-74

1/8/2026 8:45:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Postgame Notes Box Score Photo Gallery

BERKELEY, Calif. – Duke freshman Arianna Roberson and junior Delaney Thomas had a career afternoon, posting 20 points apiece to lead the Blue Devils to a 78-74 comeback victory at California in ACC women's basketball action Thursday afternoon in Haas Pavilion.

Roberson finished her afternoon with a career-high 20 points, seven rebounds, three steals and an assist, while Thomas had a career-best 20 points, two steals and an assist. Ashlon Jackson dropped in 17 points and dished out seven assists and Toby Fournier rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12 points, nine rebounds and four steals.

Duke (10-6, 5-0) outscored the Bears, 24-10, in the fourth quarter to overcome a 10-point deficit heading into the final 10 minutes. Jackson, Thomas and Mair each had six points apiece in the quarter.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Duke raced out to a 5-0 start with a steal and layup from Mair followed by a three-pointer from Jackson on the next possession. The Bears made it a 5-4 game before Roberson scored four straight points to bring it back to a five-point Duke lead, 9-4.
The Blue Devils and Bears continued to exchange buckets with Duke heading into the first media timeout with a narrow 13-10 lead. Duke forced five turnovers in those first seven minutes, converting them into six points.
Roberson continued to excel for the Blue Devils in the first quarter, adding seven more points to bring her total to 14 and Duke to a, 26-20, lead after 10 minutes.
The back-and-forth affair continued into the second quarter, as the Bears found success driving to the basket and forced the Blue Devils into some late turnovers to tie the game, 39-39. Jackson connected on her third three-pointer of the afternoon at the final buzzer for a 42-39 edge at the half.
Jackson shot well in the first 20 minutes, finishing with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting, including 3-of-6 from distance. The Blue Devils shot 40 percent from behind the arc in the opening half.
After Cal hit an early third-quarter basket to tie the game at 42 apiece, Fournier scored consecutive layups to push the lead back to four, 46-42. Thomas sank a pair of free throws to extend the advantage to six and force Cal into a timeout at the 7:15 mark.
The Bears stopped the 8-0 run with a pair from the charity stripe, spurring a 9-0 run to give Cal its first lead of the day, 51-50. Thomas laid in a pass from Jackson to launch the Blue Devils back in front, 52-51, but it was all Bears down the stretch of the quarter with 11 unanswered to take a, 64-54, lead into the final session.
Thomas and Fournier had all 12 of Duke's points in the third quarter, as Duke shot 26.7 percent in the frame.
Duke came out strong to start the fourth and quickly cut the lead to three, 64-61. Fournier started the run while Jackson got into the lane for a floater. Thomas finished an old-fashioned three-point play to help the Blue Devils chip away at the double-digit deficit.
With the score stuck at 68-62 in favor of the Bears for nearly three minutes, Duke got six straight points from Mair to tie the game, 68-68. Mair scored in all ways, knocking down two free throws, collecting a steal and layup and an offensive rebound and putback.
Thomas pushed Duke back in front for good, 71-70, with another old-fashioned three-point play and Jackson hit a jumper in the paint to give the Blue Devils a three-point cushion, 73-70.
Naya Ojukwu got the Bears back within one, but the Duke defense forced an 18th Cal turnover to give the Blue Devils the ball back with 35 seconds. Jordan Wood sank the first of two free throws and Roberson got the biggest rebound and layup of her young career to put the Blue Devils ahead, 76-72.
Cal converted a layup with one second left on the clock, but two made free throws by Jackson secured the 78-74 win for Duke.
Sakima Walker paced Cal with 18 points, while Gisella Maul and Ojukwu both registered double-doubles.

UP NEXT

The Blue Devils remain on the West Coast and face Stanford Sunday, at 5 p.m. (ET), on ESPN.

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