Duke Pulls Off A Major Upset Of #6 NC State

Big, big night for Kara Lawson’s young team

Duke pulled off a major upset in Cameron Sunday evening, beating #6 NC State 68-59.

The key for the Blue Devils was defense as Duke held the Wolfpack to 33.3 percent and limited State to just 12 three point attempts, of which the Wuffies hit only three. Duke also dominated the paint, 32-20 and won every quarter except for the third, which NC State outscored the Devils 18-17. Taina Mair, Reigan Richardson and Kennedy Brown led the way with 20, 15 and 15 points respectively.

Duke also forced 14 turnovers.

Any way you look at it, it was an impressive performance, not least of all because the Pack is the #6 team in the country and has been elite for some time now.

After the game, coach Kara Lawson said this about her young and improving team: “They have just grown right before our eyes and they have been able to through the course of a really challenging schedule. It is not easy to grow in the midst of the ACC because you are getting your head beat in almost every night, and it is hard to navigate [even] when you are a senior. I mean, it is hard to win in this league when you are experienced, let alone young.

“We are playing a lot of freshmen, we are playing a lot of underclassmen: eight of my 11 are underclassmen. So, what they have been able to navigate, I am just really proud of them and how they have continued to chase growth through the year. Even when we would lose a game, they would come in [to] practice the next day as fired up and ready to go, ready to learn.

They are very coachable and so they are reaping some of those rewards of just staying coachable and playing hard. You get better and I felt like if we could stay positive, keep improving, that we would be a team in the postseason that would be hard to play against. I do not know that we are there yet, but I think every week they keep showing signs of growth.”

• SENT PACKING: Duke women’s basketball blasts No. 6 N.C. State, secures second-straight ranked upset
• Duke tops No. 6 North Carolina State 69-58 for 2nd victory over ranked foe in 4 days
• BOX SCORE (PDF)
• POSTGAME NOTES (PDF)
• COACH LAWSON QUOTES (PDF)
• DUKE PLAYER QUOTES (PDF)
• OPPONENT QUOTES (PDF)
• COACH LAWSON PRESSER
• BROWN POSTGAME AVAILABILITY
• HIGHLIGHTS
• PHOTO GALLERY