It’s not called March Madness for nothing—and the Duke Blue Devils proved that all weekend long in Greensboro, NC.
The No. 3-seed Blue Devils first took out No. 6-seed Louisville on Friday, Mar. 7. That victory advanced the squad to Saturday’s match against No. 2-seed Notre Dame, who Duke defeated 61-56, landing themselves in Sunday’s final against No. 1-seed NC State.
At the beginning of the game, it was immediately clear that fans at First Horizon Coliseum were ready for a battle, and both teams were more than happy to deliver. The Wolfpack came out strong and fast, with Saniya Rivers setting a defensive energy that Duke’s Ashlon Jackson was only too happy to match. Rivers hit the first bucket of the game at the 8:30 mark of the first quarter, and throughout the first half it seemed that NC State had the game in the bag.
But then with 43 seconds until the half, Aziaha James was hit and carried off the court after she attempted to put weight on her foot, a shift that appeared to throw off the team’s energy. And though James returned to the court after the half without any apparent problem, it was clear the basketball gods’ favor had swung to Duke.
By the end of the third, Duke had a comfortable 56-46 lead that NC State just couldn’t cut into. With minutes…
