Duke’s NCAA Tournament revenge tour continues. Up next: UCLA in the Elite Eight
· Yahoo Sports
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Ahead of their Sweet 16 matchup against LSU, Duke players were loath to put too much stock into their December loss to the Tigers in the ACC-SEC Challenge. The common refrain from players and coaches alike was, “We’re a better team now. They’re a better team now.”
Duke has showcased its improvement from a 3-6 start to the season throughout the NCAA Tournament. The Blue Devils lost to Baylor on opening day, blowing a fourth-quarter lead, then blew them out in the tournament’s second round. After losing by double digits to LSU in the ACC-SEC Challenge, Duke won in dramatic fashion in the Sweet 16, overcoming another blown fourth-quarter lead with an Ashlon Jackson buzzer-beating 3-pointer that whirled around the rim for two full revolutions before falling in.
Visit afsport.lat for more information.
Now, the Blue Devils have a third consecutive opportunity for a get-back against the opponent who handed them their worst loss of the season: UCLA. The Bruins beat Duke by 30 points in the consolation game of the Players’ Era championship in November, the third of four straight defeats for the Blue Devils. Even without Lauren Betts, UCLA obliterated Duke to start its 28-game winning streak leading into Sunday’s Elite Eight showdown.
The Bruins coaches who were tasked with scouting the Blue Devils on Friday night quickly dispelled the notion that the Players’ Era game tape would mean much of anything, not after Duke gave everything it had to take down a veteran-laden Tigers squad in a matchup that included seven ties and nine lead changes, two in the final 10 seconds.
Just as it was in the Sweet 16, both No. 1 seed UCLA and No. 3 seed Duke are better teams than they were the last time they met. But once again, the impetus is on the Blue Devils to prove their worth and flip the script from that 89-59 November loss — even if they won’t frame it that way.
“We’re just going to focus on just playing UCLA, not looking at it as a revenge game or anything, just playing it as a regular game,” senior Taina Mair said.
Behind Mair’s steady hand at the point guard position, Duke has become a much more potent offensive team. Mair had four points on 2-of-11 shooting in the first game against UCLA but has come a long way since. The senior guard was the ACC tournament MVP after averaging nearly 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists over three games. She was one point shy of her season-high with 22 against the Tigers and had four assists to one turnover to help the Blue Devils win the possession battle in the Sweet 16.
Duke’s offensive rating was 8.2 points per 100 possessions better in ACC play than in the nonconference schedule. Although league play looked like a respite from the murderer’s row to start the season, the ACC looks much stronger with the benefit of hindsight. Four teams are still alive in the tournament, including Notre Dame joining the Blue Devils in the Elite Eight.
Mair’s ability to take care of the ball will be critical against the Bruins, specifically in keeping Kiki Rice out of the open floor. Eight of Rice’s 21 points in UCLA’s Sweet 16 win came in transition.
Duke has also had more success of late because of its improvement on the glass. The Blue Devils were outrebounded against the Bruins in November in a game when neither Lauren nor Sienna Betts was available. In Friday’s regional semifinal, Duke had five more offensive rebounds than LSU, which was this season’s best team in the country on the offensive glass. But it was the Blue Devils who had seven more second-chance points, the last three coming on a second-chance possession that resulted in Jackson’s game-winner.
Throughout the season, UCLA coach Cori Close has harped on a few details that her team hasn’t always executed well; among them are giving up too many 3-pointers and not securing out-of-area rebounds. That Duke has gotten better in those specific facets bodes well for this matchup.
The Blue Devils also have a different rotation than the last time they saw the Bruins. In November, Jadyn Donovan was still in the starting lineup. Although Donovan’s defense was critical for the 2024-25 Duke roster, her lack of spacing made this season’s Blue Devils too easy to guard because Donovan’s defender helped off of her and made the rest of the team play 4-on-5.
Riley Nelson’s addition to the starting lineup gives Duke shooting threats at every position. The redshirt sophomore hadn’t quite figured out her role against UCLA, only taking two shots off the bench; in the ACC tournament final, she hit the dagger 3-pointer to save the Blue Devils against Louisville. Against LSU, she had to defend Flau’jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams, and both shot below their normal shooting percentages.
“(Nelson’s) versatility opens up a lot for us,” Jackson said. “She’s a big, big key for us in, not just on the offensive end but on the defensive end.”
With Toby Fournier in form — she had 22 points and made 10 of 12 free throws despite entering the game shooting 56.6 percent from the line, Delaney Thomas anchoring the defense and Arianna Roberson providing shot-blocking, the Blue Devils have all the ingredients to continue their tournament run.
Earlier this week, coach Kara Lawson challenged the narrative that Duke’s loss to LSU, which spurred a 17-game winning streak, was a turning point.
“There were six of them. There were a lot of losses that changed the season,” Lawson said.
The Blue Devils need that to be true. They need to be a changed team from the one that didn’t belong on the same court as the shorthanded Bruins. They have proven it against lesser opponents. Now comes the biggest test of them all.
Duke was one shot away from having its season end. It earned the right to be here, but it could have easily been LSU in its place.
Nothing will come easy against UCLA. Nothing is meant to be easy at this time of the year. That’s the beauty and the heartbreak of the sport. The Blue Devils have lived through the pain. They have put in the work to get past that, to hope that something better awaits.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Duke Blue Devils, UCLA Bruins, Women's College Basketball
2026 The Athletic Media Company