Duke Upsets #6 Notre Dame, Will Play #7 NC State For The ACC Championship

Duke pulled off a nice upset in the women’s tournament Saturday, beating #6 Notre Dame, 61-56. Coach Kara Lawson says it was her team’s defense that did it:

“Our pressure is part of our DNA. It’s part of who we are, and I love it. It speaks to our togetherness as a group and everyone being bought in to win.”

What has amazed us about this team is how many turnovers it forces. This game wasn’t like that numerically - Notre Dame had 16 and Duke has forced many more than that at times this season - but the Irish are better than most teams.

And pressure isn’t just about turnovers of course. It’s about dictating pace and forcing decisions, among other things and Duke held the Irish to 20 percent on threes and 37.5 percent overall.

ACC Player of the Year Hannah Hidalgo scored 23 on 9-22 from the floor. The other four starters combined to shoot 6-26.

That’s pretty solid pressure.

Duke didn’t shoot spectacularly well, with 20 percent on threes and 40.4 percent overall, but they hit 14-16 from the line which was a three point advantage over Notre Dame’s 11-14 and Duke also controlled the boards, 38-26 overall and 12-8 offensively.

Oluchi Okananwa led the Blue Devils with 14 points and Ashlon Jackson had 12.

Duke will play #7 NC State for the ACC Championship on Sunday at 1:00 pm. ESPN has the broadcast.

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