Total domination: Duke women’s basketball wallops Lehigh to open NCAA Tournament at home
Kara Lawson felt like she saw the eighth Wonder of the World on Friday night.
The vision came to her in the second quarter of Duke’s NCAA Tournament opener against Lehigh, when sophomore guard Oluchi Okananwa took a charge.
Lawson, typically stoic, clinched her fists, turned her head to the ceiling and let out a yell. She donned a big smile — one that, even freshman forward Toby Fournier admitted, is rare for Lawson to display in games — and kept beaming as she stalked the sideline. Lawson applauded the defensive play, which she later joked increased Okananwa’s season-high from zero charges to one.
“Oluchi took a charge [and] I’d never seen that before in my life,” Lawson said. “I was excited… it was exhilarating.”
The moment was emblematic of the game as a whole, in which No. 2-seed Duke’s blend of stifling defense propelled the Blue Devils to a commanding 86-25 victory over No. 15-seed Lehigh in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Lehigh’s 25 points are the second-fewest points scored in a single women’s NCAA Tournament game.
“We’ve done an excellent job building a culture around understanding that our defensive standard never drops,” Okananwa said. “So although we hadn’t played since March 9, we know what we need to go and put out on that floor defensively every time.”
Okananwa led Duke (26-7) with 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including two 3-pointers, and added seven rebounds, two assists and three steals.
The sophomore guard has found her offensive rhythm since December. Despite coming off the bench, she’s averaged 11.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and nearly two assists and steals per game since Duke played South Carolina on Dec. 5. Friday night marked her 16th double-figure performance during that stretch.
“I could talk for days about Luchi… I’m really proud of the progress that she’s made,” Fournier said. “I knew that she could do the things that she’s doing right now. This is not a surprise to me. She’s always been a spark.”
And while Okananwa, the ACC Tournament MVP, picked up right where she left off in Greensboro, the Blue Devils knew they couldn’t make the mistake of riding high after their conference title.
“It’s not like we’re going to start the game up 10-0 because we won an ACC title,” coach Kara Lawson said Thursday. “Nobody in this tournament cares that we won the conference tournament. You just have to be prepared to play your best.”
Duke was, in fact, prepared.
The Blue Devils built a 33-10 halftime lead thanks to their relentless defensive pressure and commitment to, as Lawson emphasized on Thursday, “be disruptive.” Duke forced 17 turnovers in the opening half, scoring 16 points off of those Lehigh (27-6) mistakes. All but one of the Mountain Hawks’ possessions in the first half ended in a turnover or contested shot.
The Blue Devils have relied on their defensive prowess all season. In ACC play, Duke routinely held its opponents well below their scoring averages and ranked atop the conference in scoring defense, steals and turnover margin. On Friday night, it was more of the same: constant communication, heavy on-ball pressure and stifling help defense.
Even as Duke’s offense sputtered at first, the team found its rhythm. The Blue Devils ended the first half on a 14-0 run and outscored the Mountain Hawks 20-2 in the second quarter.
The momentum didn’t wane in the second half. Three minutes into the third quarter, Fournier powered through a wall of defenders for a tough layup that pushed Duke’s lead to 30 points. Shortly after, she fired a pinpoint pass to sophomore Jadyn Donovan, who cut baseline for a reverse layup. On the next possession, after recording a steal on the other end, Fournier attacked the rim for an and-one bucket.
The freshman phenom flexed and roared. The Blue Devils would go on to outscore Lehigh 24-7 in the third quarter and 29-8 in the fourth.
With Friday night’s dominant showing, Duke advances to face No. 10 seed Oregon on Sunday, who defeated No. 7 seed Vanderbilt, 77-73, in an overtime thriller at Cameron Indoor just before the Blue Devils took the court. That time for that Round of 32 game is yet to be announced.
“We’re both playing for a lot on the line,” Lawson said of Oregon. “We’re playing for a chance to get to the second weekend. I think it’s going to be a great game and hopefully we bring our best.”
This story was originally published March 21, 2025 at 10:43 PM with the headline "Total domination: Duke women’s basketball wallops Lehigh to open NCAA Tournament at home."