HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Ashlon Jackson scored a career-high 30 points and No. 13 Duke defeated No. 9 Kansas State, 73-62 on Monday, in the semifinals of the Ball Dawgs Classic.
The Blue Devils (6-1) overcame an early 11-point deficit behind Jackon’s shooting hand to advance to Wednesday’s championship game against the winner of the game between No. 8 Oklahoma and DePaul.
Jackson, who has scored in double figures in all six of Duke’s games, shot 12 of 19 (63.1%) from the floor, including 6 of 9 (66.7%) from 3-point range.
Reigan Richardson added 16 points for the Blue Devils.
Kansas State (5-1) was led by Ayoka Lee, who had 16 points. Serena Sundell scored 15 and Kennedy Taylor came off the bench to add 11 for the Wildcats.
Takeaways
Kansas State: With her 16-point performance, Lee needs 48 points to pass Kendra Wecker (2001-05) for the Kansas State career scoring record. Wecker scored 2,333 points. Lee, the 2024-25 Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year, is averaging 15.3 points.
Duke: Jackson hit her season average of 13.3 points by the 3:54 mark of the second quarter when her pull-up jumper gave her 14. The junior guard was 8 of 11 from the floor, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range, and had 20 points by halftime.
Key moment
With the Blue Devils trailing by six midway through the second quarter, Jackson triggered a 15-0 run with 13 of the team’s points to help Duke take a lead they’d never relinquish.
Up next
Duke will face the winner of No. 8 Oklahoma-DePaul on Wednesday in the championship game, while Kansas State will face the loser in the consolation game.
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