SACRAMENTO – No. 3 seed Duke’s Ashlon (*16*) knocked down a three-pointer as time expired to elevate the Blue Devils to an 87-85 victory over the No. 2 seed LSU ladies’s basketball crew Friday night time at Golden 1 Center within the Sweet 16 spherical of the NCAA Tournament.
With the victory, Duke superior to the Elite Eight, bettering its total file to 27-8, whereas the Tigers dropped to 29-6 on the 12 months and their season got here to an in depth with fourth-straight Sweet 16 look.
LSU juniors MiLaysia Fulwiley and Mikaylah Williams paced the LSU offense, accounting for over 50 p.c of the Tigers’ offense with 28 and 22 factors, respectively. Fulwiley’s 28 factors was a profession excessive, and he or she completed with 4 rebounds, 4 assists, one steal and one block. Williams additionally tallied 5 rebounds.
Fulwiley completed third all-time at LSU in profession steals with 98 within the 2025-26 season.
LSU obtained the scoring began with two made free throws from Williams. Following that, Duke went on a 9-0 scoring run forcing the Tigers to make use of a timeout with 6:07 left within the first quarter. Coming out of the primary break, LSU responded by making it a 13-9 ballgame by the interval’s media timeout at 4:09. In the subsequent 4 minutes, Duke saved LSU at arm’s size with the Tigers chopping the deficit to a few 3 times.
The Blue Devils led the Tigers 24-19 on the shut of the primary quarter.
Duke started the second quarter outscoring the Tigers, 10-4, pushing its lead out to 11 on a three-pointer from guard Taina Mair. LSU battled with the double-digit deficit and obtained it to 5 with an and-one from senior Amiya Joyner. Both groups would commerce buckets down the stretch of the primary half and Duke would take the 47-40 lead into the locker room.
Fulwiley carried the lion’s share of the Tigers’ scoring output, tallying 18 within the first 20 minutes with one rebound, and two assists.
In the third quarter, LSU recovered from its powerful begin happening an 11-5 scoring run to offer the Tigers a 53-52 benefit on a Williams bucket and free throw following a foul. Both squads went back-and-forth after that lead change with Duke holding a 61-59 lead on the media timeout. Duke would have the 67-65 benefit over LSU on the finish of the quarter.
The Blue Devils kicked off the fourth quarter on an 11-4 scoring run to offer themselves a 78-67 lead. LSU slowly labored on climbing again into the ballgame, and it was in a position to get by way of to the tip on an 18-7 run to take the lead on free throws from Williams. Duke’s (*16*) made a game-winning three-pointer as zeroes flashed on the sport clock.
