For the first three and a half minutes of No. 13 Duke women’s basketball’s 73-62 win over No. 9 Kansas State, the Blue Devils seemed thoroughly incapable of competing against the Wildcats.
Head coach Kara Lawson’s squad looked outmatched defensively, as Kansas State abused its superior size, particularly through 6-foot-6 center Ayoka Lee, to bully Duke in the paint en route to several easy buckets. Meanwhile, the Blue Devils missed their first five shots, as Duke’s offense struggled against the Wildcats’ bigger defenders.
Down 11-0 in the blink of an eye, Lawson called a timeout, red in the face and visibly furious at her team’s lack of fight during arguably their biggest game of this young season.
“I felt we were too passive,” Lawson said after the game. “We weren’t as aggressive as we needed to be, and that’s not how we play. So it was more of just saying to them, ‘Hey let’s turn up the heat, let’s turn up the pressure. We know they’re good if there’s no pressure, let’s see if they’re good with pressure.’”
Lawson’s message clearly made an impact; the Blue Devils came out of the timeout with ferocious energy, taking the game back into their hands through sheer willpower on both ends of the court. Sophomore guard Jadyn Donovan attacked the basket and converted on a contested layup to open Duke’s account, and then blocked Lee’s layup attempt on the ensuing possession.
Suddenly, the Blue Devils were seizing nearly every loose ball, out-jumping their opponents for countless offensive rebounds and forcing Kansas State into several shot-clock violations. Veteran guards Ashlon Jackson and Reigan Richardson started to settle in offensively, terrorizing Kansas State with crafty moves in the paint and with superb shooting from the outside. As the first quarter came to a close, Duke trailed by just one point.
Jackson took over from there, delivering the most impressive performance of her collegiate career. Combining a deadly mid-range ability with a deep-range 3-point shot reminiscent of Steph Curry and Caitlyn Clark, Jackson scored an outstanding 20 first-half points on 8-of-11 shooting. It seemed that every time Jackson received the ball, no matter who was in front of her or the distance to the basket, the Blue Devil bench celebrated as the ball swished through the net.
“Ashlon was the best player on the floor today, offensively and defensively,” Lawson said. “Her shot-making in that first half caught us out of that hole, which was critical [as we] started to get a bit of momentum.”
Despite the earlier 11-point deficit against a better-ranked foe, Duke went into the half with a 37-31 lead, which it never relinquished. While many Blue Devil fans may rightly focus on Jackson’s career-high 30-point performance as the story of Monday’s victory, Duke’s collective intensity and energy throughout the encounter played arguably just as big of a role.
Much has been said this season about the Blue Devils’ lack of a true center after freshman Arianna Roberson’s season-ending injury. However, against a much taller Wildcat squad, Duke more than made up for its lack of height with the type of tenacious play Lawson’s team’s are known for. The Blue Devils not only outrebounded their opponents, but also forced a staggering 18 turnovers through their havoc-inducing defense.
“We were small out there against those guys, so we had to fight [and] we had to scrap,” Lawson said. “You saw so many times, we didn’t get the stop full away, but we tipped it out and then we were able to reset. We just knew it would be that kind of scramble game. That’s how you have to play against size like theirs. And it took everybody to get the job done.”
As Duke looks ahead to face No. 8 Oklahoma Wednesday, Blue Devils should rightfully be excited about the dynamic team-basketball Lawson’s squad is playing. When Duke channels the type ferocity that downed the Wildcats, the size or skill of its opponents suddenly doesn’t seem to matter.
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Rodrigo Amare is a Trinity sophomore and assistant Blue Zone editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.