The days leading up Thanksgiving are those of rest and relaxation for many college students. Not for No. 13 Duke women’s basketball, though: After defeating Kansas State Monday, the Blue Devils extended their stay in Henderson, Nev., to take on No. 8 Oklahoma in the Ball Dawgs Women’s Championship Game.
With an intense overtime surge in Lee’s Family Forum, the Blue Devils took a 109-99 victory over the Sooners. That triple-digit score marks the most Duke has ever scored over a ranked opponent, a record broken largely thanks to senior Reigan Richardson’s 35 points, 15 of which came from downtown.
“This game pretty much had everything. I think it was one of the best games I've been a part of as a coach,” said head coach Kara Lawson on the Sooners. “You know, in order to have a great game, it takes two good teams. They're legit. I mean, they're really good.”
It started the fourth quarter down by seven, but Oklahoma (6-2) pushed back against Duke (8-1). After collecting the offensive rebound on a missed free throw, the Sooners closed their deficit to just a pair, less than two minutes having passed in the period. When Oklahoma guard Payton Verhulst drained a three, she knotted the game, at 73, for the first time in more than 20 minutes. A triple from senior Reigan Richardson — her third of an eventual five — gave Duke the advantage again, but with just over three minutes left in the game it was clear this one would come down to the wire.
Star center Raegan Beers’ and-one closed the margin to just a point, as the Sooners continued to knock on the door. Richardson answered with another one from behind the arc, and the battle continued as the close wound down to the final 30 seconds. Richardson drained a floater to extend the lead to three, and the strong Duke defense forced the Sooners to foul. Blue Devil guard Vanessa de Jesus put away both her shots at the charity stripe. Sophomore guard Taina Mair managed to slip through the defense to lay the ball up without having to go to the line, but Beers responded with her own. Then, as time ran out, Verhulst got up an off-balance shot from behind the arc and over the outstretched arms of Richardson. It went through the hoop as time expired; the Sooners were taking this one to overtime.
“I told them that the game was going to take all four quarters before the game to win,” Lawson said. “And so when I sat down, I said, I lied to you. You know, it's not going to take all four, it's going to take overtime.”
The two teams continued to slug it out in the extra minutes. Beers looked to physically dominate from down low, while Richardson found her stroke in the midrange to drain two straight from inside the arc. Verhulst stayed hot from deep, cutting the Duke lead back to just a point. Mair made a big play following a basket from Donovan, darting in front of the inbound pass to snag the ball and deflect it off a Sooner player. Richardson made another jump shot from her office, and Thomas drew an offensive foul on Beers. Richardson followed that up with another made basket from behind the arc, pushing the lead to nine points with just 35 seconds left. A Donovan steal forced a foul, finally appearing to ice the game in Duke’s favor. The elite performance from Richardson was important, but not a huge surprise for Lawson.
“It's hard to find elite two way players,” said Lawson on Richardson and Jackson. “They give you size, they give you shooting, they give you leadership, they give you defensive presence, versatility, and they both have the ability to take over games. I don't know what you'd want more in wings than those qualities.”
At the start, however, it was Oklahoma that got the ball rolling, dropping in a pair of shots down low in the post to jump out to an early lead. Beers shined for the Sooners, dominating undersized Blue Devil forward Delaney Thomas down low. Beers got the first bucket of the game, then followed it up just a few minutes later with an impressive shot from deep. Before anyone could catch their breath, it was a 14-5 lead for Oklahoma.
But Duke got its legs under it. With a blistering pace and stifling defense, the Blue Devils cracked open a 10-point run following a pair of steals, along with a quick four points from forward Jordan Wood. The sophomore also showed off her prowess defensively, recording a decisive block down low then dropping another two points in the paint on the other end.
Duke, known for its interest in pushing the pace and forcing turnovers, found itself looking in the mirror against this Sooners squad. Both were more than willing to heave the ball down the floor to open players, and both also struggled at times in half-court offense. After a tumultuous first period, it was the Blue Devils in the driver’s seat with a 27-20 lead.
As Mair drove to the paint, she found Wood open in the corner to start the second quarter. The Chicago native drained a three, improving her shooting to a perfect 5-for-5 to start the day and widening the margin to double digits. Duke continued an incredible run from deep through much of the second quarter, going 5-for-8 in the first six minutes of the period as Wood dropped in yet another shot from behind the arc.
“[Wood] was terrific as they were playing off some of our players,” Lawson said. “And she's a very talented scorer, and then her length at 6-foot-4, she's also a good passer.”
The Sooners continued to struggle to find their footing as the clock began to tick down in the first half. They found a little bit of ground to stand on with time running out, draining a pair of free throws and a jump shot to close the gap. Still though, it was the Blue Devils on top by 11 points at halftime.
Coming out of the half, the two teams once again traded attacks. The Sooners made some big shots, closing the lead back to single digits. Following four free throws after a technical call on Mair, the lead shrank to just three points. A triple from Richardson improved her team-leading point total to 17 and gave Duke a little more of a cushion, but Oklahoma continued to push as Beers picked up the and-one to close the margin back to a single score.
One thing that junior Ashlon Jackson can always be counted on for, however, is a remarkably impressive conversion rate on heaves to end a quarter. She pulled out another one as the buzzer sounded to mark the third, converting one from well behind half court to stretch the lead to seven heading into the final period.
“We don't fully have our identity yet, but for us to come out here in three days and knock off the caliber of team and player players as Kansas State and Oklahoma, it's definitely a big confidence booster for us,” Lawson said.
The Blue Devils will return home to take on Columbia Sunday at noon.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.
Martin Heintzelman is a Trinity junior and Blue Zone editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.