Before Duke’s demise in the Elite Eight Sunday, its March Madness run had been all about second chances.
After dominating its first test of redemption against Baylor in the second round, No. 3 Duke found itself on the verge of correcting another early-season hiccup late in Friday’s 87-85 Sweet 16 win over No. 2 LSU.
Up 84-83 with 18 seconds left, the Blue Devils just needed two more free throws to protect its lead, but senior Ashlon Jackson, who bore the weight of missing last year’s go-ahead three that could’ve put the Blue Devils in the Final Four, once again carried the gravity of the moment only to miss both shots at the line.
Duke fouled LSU’s Mikaylah Williams on the following possession, and she made both to give the Tigers the lead with nine seconds left.
However, Jackson got a second chance, this time, to fix two failures of the past.
Duke rebounded a missed three by Taina Mair and called timeout with two seconds left. The Blue Devils went back to Jackson on the inbound play, and with a pump fake, she created the space to fire a three that took a couple spins around the rim before dropping Duke in its second straight Elite Eight appearance.
“My teammates and my coaches, they trust me,” Jackson said. “And they believe in me. Whenever shots aren’t really falling for me, I can’t really hang my head. That’s just how the game goes. Every competitor knows that.”
Against No. 1 UCLA, Duke’s last chance at payback before what would have been its first Final Four appearance since 2006, the Blue Devils couldn’t finish the job in a 70-58 loss.
In November, the Bruins crushed Duke by 30 points and looked miles ahead as a team, but after 20 minutes on Sunday, Duke had the upper hand, holding a 39-31 lead.
The Blue Devils out performed UCLA in the little things in the first half. Despite having a one-rebound advantage on the offensive boards, Duke scored 11 second-chance points to UCLA’s four. The Blue Devils, who committed six turnovers to UCLA’s 12, also scored 16 points off turnovers, twice as many the Bruins recorded in the same stat.
UCLA also had little success slowing down Mair, Riley Nelson and Toby Fournier, who combined for 31 first half points.
But in the second half, Duke went cold while UCLA further established its dominance inside. After shooting 53% from the floor in the first two quarters, Duke shot at a 23% clip in the second half, and it didn’t help that Jackson, who finished the game scoreless for the first time this year, continued to struggle.
“We couldn’t get our offense to be able to score in that second half,” Duke coach Kara Lawson said. “Compliment them for turning up their defensive intensity. That definitely impacted us, and the quality looks we did get, we didn’t hit, whether it was layups or open threes.”
The Bruins outscored the Blue Devils 26-8 in the paint during the second half as Lauren Betts and Angela Dugalic combined for 24 points in the final two quarters and 38 for the entire game.
Duke finished the season with a 27-9 record.
For No. 4 UNC in its 63-42 loss to top-seeded UConn in the Sweet 16, offensive struggles were a reality for all four quarters.
The Tar Heels shot at a 28% clip and committed 24 turnovers, including 11 turnovers in the first quarter.
Despite that, UNC kept within reach of the rolling Huskies, even holding a 12-11 lead after the first period.
UConn went ice cold to start the game and relied on Blanca Quinonez’s 11 first half points to stay afloat. North Carolina native Sarah Strong came alive for the Huskies in the second quarter in which they created an eight-point separation before halftime.
The Tar Heels found themselves in a favorable spot entering the second half, but they continued to struggle, getting outscored 20-5 in the third quarter. Indya Nivar ended up being the only UNC player in double figures with 20 points (8 for 15 from the floor), and her none of her teammates made more than five shots nor shot above 40%.
In a game where both teams showed their worst (UNC’s worst and UConn’s second-lowest shooting percentage of the season), UNC going lower made the difference.
“I felt like we made them go to plan B and plan C and plan D,” UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. “They’re just good. They obviously were able to convert more than we were. It was a really physical game.”
The Tar Heels finished their third Sweet 16 run in the last five seasons with a 28-8 record.
