Duke downs NC State, extends ACC win streak. Observations from the rivalry game
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Duke extended ACC streak to 17 games and leads conference standings.
- Blue Devils dominated glass 41-25, fueling offense and limiting Wolfpack.
- NC State’s thin roster and missing bigs exposed depth issues in loss.
Duke’s locker room was eerily quiet last March as sadness and disappointment began to sink in. The Blue Devils had been minutes away from upsetting South Carolina for a trip to the Final Four. Instead, they were headed back to Durham.
Eleven months later, on their home court, the Blue Devils looked like a potential final weekend team.
Ashlon Jackson hit a 3-pointer with 41 seconds remaining — she didn’t need to; the Blue Devils were up plenty — to drive the dagger in more deeply as Duke polished off an 83-65 win over N.C. State on Thursday at Cameron Indoor Stadium to remain atop the ACC standings and extend its winning streak to 17 games.
Jackson’s basket, while maybe not necessary, drove home the point: Duke isn’t backing down.
The Blue Devils (20-6, 15-0 ACC) already held the team’s best start under head coach Kara Lawson, but now this year’s squad has the most conference wins in a single season during Lawson’s tenure, and the Devils have won 17 consecutive games. Duke’s last loss was on Dec. 4, against LSU in the ACC-SEC Challenge.
This is not the same team that started the season 3-6 and lost to a five-person West Virginia team in November.
“I think that our team is growing to a place where I thought we could get to,” Lawson said. “At the start of the year, even before we played a game, I felt like if we grew and continued to work through the year that we could get to a place where we were equally as competitive on the defensive end and the offensive end. ... We’re growing to that we are not there yet, and they know we’re not there yet. I think that’s probably the best part about them.”
With the exception of an 11-0 Wolfpack run in the third quarter, Duke controlled virtually the entire game. The Blue Devils shut down passing lanes on defense while moving the ball well on offense. It limited N.C. State’s ability to get open shots on the perimeter, blocked shots and was aggressive in the press.
Duke’s aggressive play allowed the Blue Devils to build a 20-point first-half lead, which provided plenty of cushion when N.C. State made its run and cut its deficit to six points. Lawson’s crew responded with its own run to start the fourth quarter and regain a double-digit lead. It out-scored the Wolfpack, 27-17, in the fourth.
“I thought the way we started, the competitiveness we started with, the pace that we started with was great,” Lawson said. “Obviously got bogged down the third quarter a little bit. I thought we lost our pace, and as a result, we lost our rhythm and our momentum on the offensive end. They did a great job of taking that away from us. So really pleased with the fourth because we were able to get back to that.”
Toby Fournier led Duke with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Jackson added 17 points, four assists and seven steals.
Four players finished in double figures.
“Several [ACC teams] played really tough nonconference schedules, and Duke was right there with us,” N.C. State head coach Wes Moore said. “We did, as well, and they took a couple of hits, but it made them better. Now they’re playing with a whole lot of confidence. That’s what’s tough right now. We’re used to being in that conversation. We’re not quite there right now.”
The Wolfpack (17-9, 10-5) was paced by Khamil Pierre’s 24 points, five rebounds and two steals.
Zoe Brooks finished with 21 points, all in the second half.
N.C. State, however, struggled to find its footing. It played too much 1-on-1 offensively, unable to fully move the ball, finishing with five assists and 13 turnovers.
The Pack forced 18 turnovers, nine of which were steals, so it had a few bright spots. But it didn’t have the necessary urgency to keep up with the Blue Devils.
“You’re going to have to really be mentally and physically tough, and I think that’s an area we got to get better in,” Moore said. “When things don’t go well, we got to be able to fight through it.”
Duke cleans the glass
Much of Duke’s offensive success can be directly attributed to its aggressive rebounding. The Blue Devils dominated the glass — it wasn’t close — limiting N.C. State’s chances on both ends of the floor.
Duke jumped out to a 6-0 rebounding margin in the first five minutes of play. It widened that margin to 21-8 at halftime. Five were offensive rebounds for eight second-chance points.
At one point, N.C. State had four rebounds as a team. Mair, listed at 5-9, had four on her own.
By the end of the third quarter, Duke was plus-16 on the boards.
The Blue Devils finished with a 41-25 advantage. They pulled down 14 offensive rebounds for 18 second-chance points. Mair and Fournier combined for 23 rebounds, nearly matching the Wolfpack’s total. The Duke guards finished with more rebounds than the Pack’s post players.
N.C. State and Duke entered the game as two of the best rebounding teams in the nation. The Wolfpack averaged 44.2 boards per game this season, including 41.1 per ACC game to rank third in the league.
Duke, meanwhile, came into the rivalry matchup averaging 40.8 rebounds per game and 41.4 against ACC opponents.
Mair building case for All-ACC
Fournier will once again be a contender for ACC Player of the Year, but Taina Mair continues to make her case for ACC First Team honors.
Mair directed traffic on both ends of the floor with confidence. She knew when to take shots, when to distribute and played with an elite level of toughness.
The senior finished with seven points, 11 rebounds, nine assists, one block and a pair of steals.
Mair entered the game averaging 11.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.4 assists.
Lawson doesn’t think Mair played her best game, getting beat on a few defensive plays and missing shots she typically makes, but the senior still impacted winning.
After being part of some of the youngest teams in the ACC, Mair is now one of the team’s and conference’s leaders. She looked every bit of it.
Pack’s depth struggles against Devils
Moore worried last summer about his team’s roster construction after muffing the recruitment of several players in the transfer portal. Moore said he felt much better after landing Qadence Samuels (Connecticut) and Khamil Pierre (Vanderbilt), bringing the roster to 11.
The team still wasn’t very deep, though. It couldn’t afford any injuries or anything that would cost a player. N.C. State wasn’t that lucky, and its limited numbers showed against the Blue Devils.
Tilda Trygger played 12 minutes in the first half and struggled to keep up with Duke’s physicality. The sophomore forward looked gassed in the second quarter. She picked up her third foul two minutes into the third quarter.
Trygger ultimately finished with six points, two rebounds and four fouls in 20 minutes played.
The Wolfpack didn’t have another true big available.
Adelaide Jernigan and Mallory Collier were unavailable. Though the two typically come off the bench and play limited minutes, they could have provided a different look to the lineup. The team has been without Lorena Awou — its would-be third big — after she was dismissed from the program earlier this season.
Instead, the Pack went with a small lineup and played Pierre at the five alongside Maddie Cox at the four. While both have been effective on the defensive end, Duke had the height advantage.
Moore said after the game many teams have only 11- or 12-player rosters due to NIL. He played eight against Duke.
“We’ll be alright,” Moore said. “I’m not worried about the roster numbers. I’m worried about us getting it done.”
This isn’t the first time N.C. State has played with a limited roster under Moore’s leadership. Despite the NCAA allowing 15 players, he typically doesn’t use every roster spot.
Last year, N.C. State went into the season with 13 and finished with 12 after Caitlin Weimar’s injury and subsequent departure. N.C. State went to the Final Four in the 2023-24 season with 13 players — 11 on scholarship and a pair of walk-ons.
N.C. State’s smallest roster in the past five years came in 2022-23, when the Pack only had nine players.
This story was originally published February 19, 2026 at 9:18 PM with the headline "Duke downs NC State, extends ACC win streak. Observations from the rivalry game."
