Sweet 16 surprise! Duke women’s basketball upsets Ohio State in NCAA Tournament shocker
Down but not out, the Duke Blue Devils women’s basketball team stared a 16-point deficit in the face and still found a way to advance in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.
Behind junior Reigan Richardson’s 28 points, Duke rallied to beat Ohio State, 75-63, in an NCAA Tournament second-round game at Columbus, Ohio.
“We got down 16, and these guys never flinched,” Duke coach Kara Lawson said. “In the huddles, they were locked in. They kept their belief, even though it felt like we were getting run out, we didn’t feel like it, we were getting run out of the gym at the beginning of the game and we just possession by possession worked our way back.”
In Lawson’s fourth season at the school, Duke (22-11) advances to the program’s first Sweet 16 since 2018. The Blue Devils will play Saturday in the Regional 3 semifinals in Portland, Oregon, against the winner of Monday night’s Syracuse-Connecticut game.
“It’s awesome,” Richardson said, “just between the team and I and the coaches. We’re super proud, just how the team played today. Like coach said, I think we were down by 16 and we didn’t let it faze us. We stayed with each other and we were able to climb back.”
Duke limited the Big 10 regular-season champion Buckeyes (26-6) to 40.7% shooting, including 29.6% in the second half. Ohio State made just 1 of 11 3-point attempts. That’s a big reason why the Blue Devils were able to come back from a 36-32 halftime deficit.
Duke shot 51%, which helped it overcome 16 turnovers.
Duke made just two field goals in the first quarter and trailed by 12 points at one point in the period. The deficit swelled to 16 midway through the second quarter before the Blue Devils closed the period on an 18-6 run, capped with a jumper by Richardson.
“I thought it was huge for us to go into the half only down four,” Lawson said, “to knock into some of that lead, the lion’s share of that lead, before we went into the break, and then obviously in the second half, we kept our composure in a possession game and had a final spurt to be able to win it.”
Duke did not take its first lead until the late third quarter, then seized control midway through the fourth behind Richardson.
She scored 16 points in the second half, including 10 points in the fourth quarter. Her 3-pointer with 5:21 to play gave Duke a 59-57 lead and the Blue Devils never trailed again. She added baskets on Duke’s next two possessions as the Blue Devils pushed their lead to 63-57 and they never led by fewer than four points the rest of the game.
“Once I hit my first shot,” Richardson said, “I was kind of feeling it already. Then my teammates did a great job of setting screens or doing whatever it took to get me open and I was just able to knock down the shot.”
Duke’s Ashlon Jackson went 4-of-6 from the field en route to 13 points, while teammate Taina Mair overcame 1-of-9 shooting from the floor to notch 11 points thanks to 8-of-9 foul shooting.
Cotie McMahon led Ohio State with 27 points while Jacy Sheldon added 13.
Field Level Media contributed to this report
This story was originally published March 24, 2024 at 1:14 PM with the headline "Sweet 16 surprise! Duke women’s basketball upsets Ohio State in NCAA Tournament shocker."