COLUMBUS, Ohio — Raegan Richardson had 28 points and seven rebounds as seventh-seeded Duke rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit to defeat No. 2 Ohio State 75-63 and advance to the Sweet 16 on Sunday. obtained the right to participate. Won the women's NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018.
Richardson hit a 3-pointer from the wing to put Duke up 59-57 with 5:21 left. This gave the Blue Devils a 13-2 lead and brought the game to a close.
Ashron Jackson scored 13 points and Taina Mare added 11 for the Blue Devils (22-11), who advance to play the winner of Syracuse and UW in Portland, Oregon.
“I'm very proud of the way our team played today,” said Richardson, who averaged 11.9 points per game on the season. “I think we were down by 16 points, but we didn't let that faze us. We worked hard together and were able to climb out.”
Duke's upset victory was the second time in the tournament that a lower-seeded team won. The top seeds were 31-1 in the opening round.
Coty McMahon paced the Buckeyes with 27 points. Most of them were in the paint. Ohio State attempted just nine 3-pointers and didn't make one until there were 12.2 seconds left in the game.
Celeste Taylor, who transferred from Duke to Ohio State before the season, scored just six points before fouling out with 6:38 remaining.
“They played better,” Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said. “They deserved the win. They didn't play well today.”
Ohio State's pressing defense caused problems for Duke as the Buckeyes built a 16-point lead. But the Blue Devils came roaring back. A 12-2 run cut the Buckeyes' lead to 36-32 at halftime.
“They never flinched,” Duke coach Carla Lawson said. “In the huddle, they were locked in. Even though they were almost kicked out of the gym at the start of the game, they stuck to their guns. Possession brought us back. .”
McGuff said the Buckeyes kind of fell apart.
“We made really good shots early in the game in the first quarter and rebounded the ball with energy and discipline,” McGuff said. “Then, as the game went on, we got totally out of sync on offense and Duke was playing really good defense, so they were involved in that. Then we completely collapsed in rebounds. .”
