Kara Lawson evaluates Duke's first half in ACC Tournament vs. Georgia Tech

The 2024 Ally ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament is underway this week in the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina. The second-round games are being played on Thursday and the No. 7 seed Duke Blue Devils are handling the No. 10 seed Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Duke used some stingy defense to fuel a 18-1 run to jump out to a 38-26 halftime lead. At the break, Blue Devils head coach Kara Lawson shared her thoughts with the ACC Network.

Kara Lawson on Duke’s first half in ACC Tournament vs. GT

“I felt like we were able to get some stops. And when we were able to get those stops, we had pretty good pace pushing the ball up the floor. We have a number of players that can trigger our fast break. I thought Ashlon Jackson really opened up the game for us,” Lawson noted.

Did she feel like her team improved on limiting Georgia Tech’s offensive rebounds?

“Yeah, I thought early in the game. They had four offensive rebounds. And that kinda got their offense started. We still gotta do a better job, but I thought by and large in that second quarter. Really in the first half, 26 points. That’s a solid effort for us. Hopefully we can keep them down,” Lawson said.

Duke ended up having no problems in the second half, pulling away for a 70-58 win. Kennedy Brown stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points and eight rebounds in fueling her team to a victory.

Oluchi Okanawa also had a great performance for Duke, stuffing the stat sheet with 15 points and four rebounds. Duke dominated Georgia Tech on the glass, outrebounding them 42-27. The Blue Devils also shot 50.8% from the field, connecting on 31 of 61 shots. Duke had a balanced scoring effort, getting double digit scoring from four different players.

Both teams struggled from three-point range on Thursday night, with Duke and Georgia Tech shooting under 30% for the game. The Blue Devils moved to 20-10 overall and 11-7 in the ACC.

Next up for the No. 7 seed Duke Blue Devils, they’ll face off against the No. 2 seed N.C. State Wolfpack in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals. That one will be played on Friday, March 8th at 5:00 PM EST. The game will be televised on the ACC Network.