No. 8 Duke Faces No. 5 LSU in Sweet 16 Friday Night

Friday, March 27

Sacramento, Calif.

10 p.m.

Duke University

LSU

Photo by: Duke Athletics

No. 8 Duke Faces No. 5 LSU in Sweet 16 Friday Night

3/26/2026 3:37:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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The Opening Tip

Duke is making its 20th appearance in the Sweet 16. The Blue Devils defeated Charleston in the first round and cruised past No. 6 seed Baylor, 69-46, in second-round action. The Blue Devils finished their home slate with a 14-1 record inside Cameron Indoor Stadium, with the lone loss coming to the Tigers in December.
The Blue Devils are 66-27 all-time in NCAA postseason action and are making their third consecutive appearance in the Sweet 16. Duke has moved on to the Elite Eight 12 times. Duke is 8-3 in the NCAA Tournament under head coach Kara Lawson.
The Blue Devils are 26-8 overall and ranked eighth in the AP poll. Duke is 23-2 after starting the year 3-6 overall. This will be Duke's fourth matchup against LSU in NCAA Tournament history with the most recent meeting coming in the second round in 2010. The Blue Devils are 2-1 against the Tigers overall in postseason play.
The Blue Devils are led on offense by All-ACC First Team selection Toby Fournier's 17.4 points per game. Taina Mair is averaging 11.0 points, 5.6 assists and 5.9 rebounds per game. Ashlon Jackson is playing both ends of the court at an elite level, dropping 11.3 points per game, a team-best 71 three-pointers and 4.5 assists per game, while drawing the toughest perimeter defensive matchup for Duke's elite defense. Fournier, Delaney Thomas, Mair and Arianna Roberson lead the charge on the glass, averaging 8.0, 6.4, 5.9 and 5.7 rebounds per game, respectively. Thomas also contributes 11.1 points per game on a team-high 61 percent shooting, while Roberson adds 8.3 points and 1.1 blocks per game. Fournier is the top rim protector, averaging 2.3 blocks per game.

NCAA Tournament Notes

Duke is making its 28th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and the fourth straight under head coach Kara Lawson. The Blue Devils earned a top four seed for the 22nd time and third under Lawson.
Head coach Kara Lawson is 8-3 in NCAA Tournament action, advancing to the Sweet 16 in 2024 and the Elite Eight in 2025.
Only five of Duke's seven active players had seen NCAA Tournament action prior to this season. Ashlon Jackson leads the way with 11 games, while Delaney Thomas and Taina Mair have played in nine. Toby Fournier has five under her belt.

Duke in NCAA Tournament History
Overall NCAA Tournament Record: 66-27 (.710)
As an at-large bid: 37-19 (661)
As an automatic bid: 29-8 (.784)
In California: 3-3 (.500)
NCAA Record under Lawson: 8-3 (.727)
First Round: 28-0 (1.000)
Second Round: 20-8 (.714)
Times as Number Three Seed: 3rd, last in 2023 (10-3, .769)
In Durham: 28-4
1st and 2nd Round Tidbits

Ashlon Jackson dished nine assists and Taina Mair had eight dimes in the first-round win to become the first duo in Duke history to register eight-plus assists in the same NCAA Tournament game. They are two of seven Blue Devils who have registered at least eight assists in a game in NCAA Tournament play. Jackson is the eighth Duke player to have nine assists in an NCAA Tournament game, while Mair is one of 10 to have at least eight assists.
Mair added eight assists in the second round to become the first Duke player in history to record at least eight assists in two NCAA Tournament games in the same tournament and in a career.
Jordan Wood went 5-of-5 from distance against Charleston to become the fifth Blue Devil to record at least five three-pointers in an NCAA Tournament game. Wood is the only player in Duke history to hit 100 percent of her shots from long range when attempting at least five threes.

Last Time We Met

LSU shot 60 percent from the field (37-of-62) and outscored Duke 31-19 in the second quarter en route to a 93-77 victory in the ACC/SEC Challenge in December.
Flau'jae Johnson led all scorers with 18 points. Ashlon Jackson paced Duke with 16 points, while Taina Mair and Toby Fournier both had 14 apiece. Delaney Thomas added 12. Duke turned the ball over 19 times, but forced the Tigers into 18 miscues.
LSU held a 34-25 edge on the glass and dominated the paint with 52 points to Duke's 36.

Postseason Play Is DT Time

Junior Delaney Thomas has shined in postseason play. She is averaging a team-best 15.6 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game in the five wins. She is shooting 65 percent from the field and 84 percent from the free throw line.
Thomas has registered double digits in four of the games and has averaged an impressive 4.8 offensive rebounds per game.
Thomas has been consistent force throughout her career. Averaging 7.7 points per game over three seasons, Thomas has shot at least 50 percent in 64 of her 104 career games. She owns 38 double-digit scoring games, 20 of which have come in the past 29 games. She is averaging 11.1 points per game this season, up 4.0 from last season.
On the defensive end of the floor, Thomas averages 4.8 rebounds per game for her career and has collected five-plus rebounds in 46 contests. She is second on the team this season, averaging 6.4 rebounds per game, and is second with 61 steals and leads the team with eight drawn charges.

Chart Climbers

The trio of Toby Fournier, Ashlon Jackson and Taina Mair are peppered throughout the Duke and ACC record books.
Fournier hit the 1,000-point benchmark in her 66th career game, making her the fifth fastest Blue Devil to reach 1,000 career points. She sits behind Chris Moreland (50), Lexie Brown (53), Alana Beard (56) and Katie Meier (62). Fournier sits in ninth in Duke single-season history with 77 blocks. She is just the fifth different Blue Devil to post 70 denials in a season.
Fournier has shot 198 free throws this season to rank seventh in Duke single-season history. A Blue Devil has shot at least 200 free throws in a season six times and not since 2004-05. Chris Moreland has three of the six on the list.
Duke senior point guard Taina Mair is climbing her way up both the Duke and ACC assists charts. With eight assists against Charleston, Mair took over sole possession of seventh on the ACC career assists chart. Her 665 helpers rank seventh on the ACC career list.
In three seasons at Duke, Mair has 448 assists to sit in seventh in Duke career history and two from passing Jasmine Thomas for sixth.
Mair has 191 assists on the season to sit second in Duke single-season history. Chelsea Gray (2010-14) holds the record at 201 in 2011-12.
Ashlon Jackson hit five threes at North Carolina to pass Abby Waner for third in career history and has 233 overall. Jackson has 71 threes this season, becoming the third Blue Devil to record at least 70 trifectas in multiple seasons. The 71 are 10th in Duke single-season history.
Jackson and Mair are two of Duke's best free throw shooters. In three seasons, Mair is 114-of-135 (.844), which stands at fourth in Duke history. Jackson is 184-of-224 (.821), which would rank sixth in Duke history. Only six Blue Devils have finished their career shooting at least 80 percent from the line with a minimum of 100 attempts. Mair and Jackson will be the seventh and eighth.