Duke women’s basketball (27-8) is headed back to the Elite Eight for the second straight year. And they might have what it takes to go all the way, after watching the way they crushed an uncrushable on Friday night in 2-seed LSU.
“When the shot went in, yeah, I’m not a big reactor in that way,” Kara Lawson said. “I just wanted to shake Kim’s hand and express what a great season they had. In moments of victory or defeat, I think it’s really important to be respectful. And it’s something we try to do all the time. Whether we win or we lose, we’re going to have respectful interaction.”
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The Blue Devils took a hot lead, fast, and held that lead until MiKaylah Williams hit a free throw with 6:37 to go in the third quarter. Over 20 minutes, Duke had LSU’s head underwater as Arianna Roberson, Toby Fournier and Delaney Thomas took turns hitting buckets.
LSU tried to keep the lead, but Taina Mair hit a pullup jumper to make it 67-65 headed into the final 10 minutes, and that’s where the real madness of March occurred.
Back-and-forth, round-and-round the score went until Mi’Laysia Fulwiley had something to say about it. She scored a layup in the paint, then two free throws and a jumper in the paint off an opponent turnover in the span of 2 minutes and 24 seconds to bring the game within one point.
Mikaylah Williams tied and took the lead on second-chance free throws, and the Tigers thought they were in the clear with nine seconds remaining. But an appeal in Kara Lawson’s favor allowed Duke one more possession, and it was all they needed. Was all Ashlon Jackson needed, even though she’d just missed two free throws.
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“We had squandered away a little bit of a lead there late and luckily got another opportunity with two and a half seconds left. And there was no doubt who I was going to in that situation,” Lawson said. “It was 3. And just made an unbelievable play. I’m so proud of our team’s resilience.
“It can weigh on you mentally late in the game when you squander a lead and the other team takes it. And it can weigh on you. And we stayed so strong in those huddles. And all their eyes were on me, and we were very purposeful in what we wanted to do and our execution on that last play was great.”
WATCH: Duke women’s basketball buzzer-beater to end LSU’s season
Jackson was 1-for-7 from deep before the big shot.
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“My teammates and my coaches, they trust me and they believe in me,” Jackson said. “And 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.”
Duke has now been to 13 Elite Eights, and this is the second consecutive appearance under Kara Lawson. Previous to 2025, they hadn’t been since 2013.
The 3-seeded Blue Devils will play 1-seed UCLA on Sunday at 3 p.m. on ESPN.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: How Duke women’s basketball beat LSU to punch ticket to NCAA Elite 8
