COLUMBUS, Ohio — Reigan Richardson scored 28 factors and added seven rebounds as No. 7 seed Duke rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit to beat No. 2 Ohio State 75-63 on Sunday and earn a spot within the Candy 16 of the ladies’s NCAA event for the primary time since 2018.
Richardson hit a 3-pointer from the wing to place Duke up 59-57 with 5:21 left. That sparked a 13-2 run by the Blue Devils that put the sport out of attain.
Ashlon Jackson scored 13 factors and Taina Mair added 11 for the Blue Devils (22-11), who advance to play the Syracuse-UConn winner subsequent in Portland, Oregon.
“We’re tremendous proud, simply how the crew performed at present,” mentioned Richardson, who averaged 11.9 factors per recreation in the course of the season. “I feel we had been down by 16, and we did not let it faze us. We stayed with one another and we had been in a position to climb again.”
Duke’s upset win was solely the second time within the event {that a} decrease seeded crew had gained. The higher seeds had been 31-1 within the opening spherical.
Cotie McMahon paced the Buckeyes with 27 factors. Most of these had been within the paint. Ohio State tried simply 9 3-pointers and did not make one till there have been 12.2 seconds left within the recreation.
Celeste Taylor, who transferred to Ohio State from Duke earlier than the season, scored simply six factors earlier than fouling out with 6:38 left within the recreation.
“They performed higher,” Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff mentioned. “They deserved to win. We did not play properly at present.”
Ohio State’s urgent protection brought about issues for Duke early because the Buckeyes constructed a 16-point lead. However the Blue Devils got here roaring again. A 12-2 run reduce the Buckeyes’ result in 36-32 at halftime.
“These guys by no means flinched,” Duke coach Kara Lawson mentioned. “Within the huddles, they had been locked in. They stored their perception, although it felt like we had been getting run out of the health club originally of the sport. Possession by possession we labored our means again.”
McGuff mentioned the Buckeyes simply form of fell aside.
“We had been actually producing good pictures early within the recreation within the first quarter and we had been rebounding the ball with power and self-discipline,” McGuff mentioned. “Then as the sport wore on, we actually obtained out of sync on offense, and Duke was taking part in actually good protection, so they’d a hand in that. Then we actually broke down with our rebounding.”