Duke women’s basketball flips script against NC State, sets up final showdown with UNC
N.C. State has owned what No. 11 Duke seeks and the Blue Devils took a major step toward claiming it on Thursday night.
Duke pulled away from N.C. State in the third quarter and beat the reigning ACC champion Wolfpack, 77-62, in ACC women’s basketball at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Blue Devils (25-3, 14-3 ACC) are tied with No. 10 Notre Dame (23-4, 14-3) for first place in the ACC standings. Each team has one game to play and Duke has the head-to-head tie-breaker by virtue of its 57-52 win over the Irish on Feb. 5.
Duke closes the regular season by playing No. 22 North Carolina (19-9, 10-7) on Sunday at noon at Cameron Indoor Stadium, where the Blue Devils are 13-0 this season. Notre Dame plays at Louisville (21-9, 12-5) on Sunday.
Either a Duke win or a Notre Dame loss gives the Blue Devils their first ACC regular-season championship since 2013. That’s also the last season the Blue Devils won the ACC tournament.
“It’s been 10 years since Duke won it,” said Blue Devils forward Celeste Taylor, who scored 21 points against N.C. State. “We put in a lot of work. We believe in each other and we believe in ourselves. So for us it it would mean a lot but we know we still have a lot more work that needs to be done.”
Winners of the past three ACC championships, NC State (18-10, 8-9) stayed with Duke for a half on Thursday night before the Blue Devils took over in the third quarter.
While the Wolfpack went nearly four minutes without scoring, Duke reeled off 10 consecutive points on the way to leading by as many as 14 points in the quarter.
Taylor tallied 16 points in the second half to help her team build its lead. She also contributed six rebounds and five assists.
“Celeste just wins,” Duke coach Kara Lawson said. “She just does. She makes winning plays. She’s a non-traditional star on a non-traditional team.”
Elizabeth Balogun scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Blue Devils, who gained a commanding 43-24 edge in rebounding. Duke secured 16 offensive rebounds to N.C. State’s four, allowing the Blue Devils to gain a 17-4 edge in second-chance points.
“We’ve got to do better,” N.C. State coach Wes Moore said. “I mean, bottom line is second-chance points. We got outscored 17-4. We lost by 15 and there’s 13 of them right there. So it’s pretty simple math.”
N.C. State hit just 3 of 14 3-pointers while shooting 43% overall. Jada Boyd scored 19 points to lead the Wolfpack while Jakia Brown-Turner added 12 points and Saniya Rivers 11.
The Blue Devils led 39-36 when they scored 10 points in a row to take control of the game. Taylor started the run with a free throws and then added a basket in transition. Tara Corosdale sank a 3-pointer with 4:33 left in the third quarter giving Duke a 45-36 lead.
Reigan Richardson sank a jump shot and Mia Heide made two free throws giving Duke a 49-36 lead.
When Taylor swished a 3-pointer with 1:39 left in the third quarter, the Blue Devils had built a 52-38 lead.
The defense, though, keyed the run, Lawson said, as the Wolfpack hit just 3 of their first 10 shots of the second half.
“Because we were getting those stops,” Lawson said, “we were able to run like we got loose for some transition layups during that time and I think that helped us out.”
After the teams were tied 15-all after the first quarter, the Blue Devils forged ahead by clamping down on defense. The Wolfpack made just four of its first five shots of the second quarter, while also committing three turnovers. Three-pointers from Balogun and Shayeann Day-Wilson gave Duke a 21-15 lead.
Duke led 26-21 when N.C. State finally discovered a flurry of scores. Brown-Turner sank a 3-pointer before hitting a baseline jumper to tie the score. Mimi Collins’ basket with 1:46 left in the half gave the Wolfpack a 28-26 lead.
The Blue Devils had a stronger finish to the half, though, to take a 33-30 halftime lead.
Kennedy Brown hit two free throws before sinking a layup off a nice pass from Balogun in transition giving Duke a 30-28 lead with 1:06 remaining until halftime.
River Baldwin tied the game for N.C. State. But Balogun’s basket in the lane but Duke back in front with 47 seconds left in the half. Taylor sank a free throw giving Duke its three-point halftime edge.
The Blue Devils shot 40.7% in the first half while committing eight turnovers. N.C. State shot 39.3% and also had eight turnovers.
This story was originally published February 23, 2023 at 9:53 PM.