Duke women’s basketball rallies late against UConn but falls in NCAA Tournament Sweet 16

Duke coach Kara Lawson stood on the sideline in the second quarter, emphatically waving her hands up and down. Settle down, she told her team. Settle down.

It looked more comfortable, especially in the fourth quarter, cutting the UConn lead to five points, but Duke dug too big of a hole. The Huskies led the entire game and went up by as many as 20 points.

No. 7 seed Duke (22-12) ended its season against No. 3 seed UConn (32-5), 53-45, on Saturday in the NCAA Tournament regional semifinal. It finished with more turnovers (23), including 13 in the first half, than field goals (18).

“I think us coming back was proving to everyone what we already knew, which was that we’re fighters and we’re competitors,” ACC Sixth Player of the Year Oluchi Okananwa said. “It’s never over for us until the time has run out completely.”

The Huskies entered the game as an 8.5-point favorite, according to U.S. sports books, and were given an 80.7% chance of winning. That was for good reason, too. UConn is one of the best overall teams in the nation, ranking in the top 50 for scoring offense and defense.

Despite the disappointing performance, Duke deserves credit for its defense and effort. It fought for loose balls and wasn’t afraid to go one-on-one with anyone in the Husky rotation. Its defense held the Huskies to their lowest offensive output of the season, which was previously 58 points. Lawson said the defense played well enough to win, but its offense came too late.

Freshman Delaney Thomas entered the game early in the first quarter. Her defensive effort led to a block on KK Arnold’s shot — it was her first block since Feb. 11 against North Carolina — and a UConn turnover on the baseline.

“She obviously beat me and I needed to get that ball back,” Thomas said. “I just hoped I could get that block. I ended up getting it, and it was a good little passion play that we can move forward with.”

Duke finished with six blocks, six steals and forced 13 turnovers. Duke scored six points from the Huskies’ turnovers.

That was something UConn head coach Geno Auriemma knew his team would need to account for.

“They play with a tremendously high level of energy. To me, a lot of times, really young teams are the most dangerous teams,” Auriemma said Friday. “They haven’t experienced a crushing loss in the NCAA Tournament that they’re carrying around with them. They’re just free and clear, letting it rip.”

Duke’s high level of energy manifested in positive and negative ways. The Blue Devils out-rebounded the Huskies 43-28. Of those rebounds, 16 came on the offensive glass and led to 11 second-chance points.

The early deficit, however, was too big to overcome.

Duke went 18-55 (32.7%) from the field compared to UConn’s 22-55 (40.0%). It finished 8-18 on layups. Plus, it was called for 20 fouls in addition to the turnovers. The Huskies scored 23 on the mistakes and added six points from the line.

“I think almost all of our turnovers were [our own mistakes],” Thomas said. “We were very skittish; almost playing afraid. We were traveling, dribbling the ball off our foot, just giving it right to them. I think those were mainly self-inflicted.”

Okananwa led the Blue Devils with 15 points, 11 of which came in the second half. Kennedy Brown contributed 10 rebounds.

Paige Bueckers led UConn with 24 points on 9-of-21 shooting. She added five rebounds. Nika Muhl notched eight assists — Duke’s entire assist total — and pulled down six boards.

The loss stings, especially with Brown and Camilla Emsbo’s careers ending, but the younger players hope this can be a building block. Duke wasn’t expected to be in this position. It was the youngest team in the ACC, and no one on the roster had ever been to a Sweet 16. Yet they made it.

“All I feel right now is hunger. Not only do I want it again, but I want more, and we’re coming back for more,” Okananwa said. “We’re going to use this as fuel for next season. I mean, the majority of our team is, of course, very young underclassmen. Truly so blessed to have learned the lessons that we needed to this year to help us for next season. I’m so excited for that.”

“I have emotions right now but, honestly, they’re positive emotions more than negative ones,” Lawson added. “Just the type of year it was; how great of a group they were to coach. Our future is really bright.”