Despite leading by eight points at halftime and looking more than capable of making UCLA uncomfortable with its defense, Duke fell to the Bruins 70-58 and ended its season. Here are some of the biggest takeaways from the loss for the Blue Devils — who lose some key talent but will look to make an even deeper run next year.
Pace of play catches up
The most obvious difference between the first half and the second one for Duke was the Blue Devils’ ability to execute in transition. In the first half, it was a not-infrequent sight to see guard Taina Mair grab the ball out of a UCLA forward’s hands in the post and break out in the other direction, dishing the ball or taking it herself for a quick bucket. This was integral to Duke’s gameplan — the Blue Devils needed to get to the cup before the taller and more capable Bruins could get set on defense.
In the second 20-minute stretch, though, Duke struggled to get things done in its own end. UCLA managed to halve its turnovers from 12 to six, while the Blue Devils appeared fatigued from the track meet they had been attempting to run in the first half. The underdogs scored 16 points off turnovers in the first and just two in the second, struggling to force Bruin turnovers and even more so to convert them into points. It was clear by the end of the game that the exhaustion had really set in — while each team ran a seven-player rotation, Duke’s pace of play and down-to-the-wire finish against LSU Friday had emptied the gas tanks. Mair and classmate Ashlon Jackson each looked particularly beat down the stretch, airballing back-to-back threes in crucial moments to seal their defeat.
“On those live-ball turnovers, we missed those layups or we made the wrong read when we had the numbers,” Lawson said. “That’s going to happen sometimes, but in a game like this, you’ve really got to convert your chances. I thought that’s what [the Bruins] did a good job of in the second half. When they got their chances and they got their opportunities, they converted.”
Stay plugged in with women’s sports
Get smart, reliable coverage delivered straight to your inbox — with the context that makes every game matter.
Betts finds her stroke
One of the other sizable changes in the second half was in how star UCLA center Lauren Betts impacted the game. In the first two quarters, the 6-foot-7 Betts was, in general, kept under control. Duke sent help to the post when she caught the ball to put pressure on her, and Betts missed a few straightforward post-up shots to keep things close. She finished the first 20 minutes with just eight points on 3-for-6 shooting from the field.
In the second half, it seemed that UCLA head coach Cori Close had made the requisite adjustments to get Betts more involved. She posted 15 points in the third and fourth quarters, going 6-of-8 from the field. Close gave Betts more space to work, clearing out whole sides of the court to let Betts and a guard work one-on-one. It made it harder for the Blue Devils to bring help down low without leaving wide-open threes on the table, and Betts ate well as a result. She also finished more consistently in the paint, using her sizable height advantage over just about the entire Duke roster to keep the ball up high and grab easy rebounds.
“Lauren is terrific. Certainly one of the top players in the country. And her size and her skill make her difficult to defend one-on-one,” Lawson said. “And then the framework of their team with the shooting around her makes it really hard to bring an extra defender, it’s kind of how they’ve built and matched the skillsets. So we toggled between bringing help and not bringing help, and it’s just really hard the whole game to defend her.”
Jackson and Mair say farewell
While Duke will only be graduating two players who get regular minutes this season, they are two integral pieces to the teams identity. Senior guards Mair and Jackson, who spent three and four years with the program respectively, have each used their last years of eligibility. Jackson is projected as a likely pick in the WNBA draft, while Mair’s fate is unknown — her relatively small 5-foot-9 frame will make a pro career in the United States more challenging (although still possible).
Each player has, in their time at Duke, had a sizable impact on the program. Jackson was one of Lawson’s earliest commitments and the best in her class, coming in as a five-star recruit to a team that had seen minimal recent success and had just hired a first-time college head coach. In a sense, though, Jackson got to take advantage of a relatively blank canvas. Her length, defensive skill and 3-point shooting helped to define the Blue Devils’ team identity. Jackson was an end-of-the-bench rotational player in her freshman season, but found success as a starter during her sophomore year and never looked back.
Mair has been similarly impactful for Duke. She transferred into the program after a highly successful freshman campaign with Boston College, and showed up ready to build on it for the Blue Devils. Mair started at point guard out the gate with Duke, replacing outbound transfer Shayeann Day-Wilson. During her time in Durham, N.C., Mair built a reputation as a shifty defender, fast-break weapon and creative passer. She averaged 5.6 assists and 2.4 steals per game in her senior year, also nearly doubling her rebound average to 5.9.
Listen now to The IX Sports Podcast and Women’s Sports Daily
We are excited to announce the launch of TWO new podcasts for all the women’s sports fans out there looking for a daily dose of women’s sports news and analysis. Stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or anywhere you listen to podcasts, and make sure to subscribe!
“[Jackson and Mair] have changed our program. They’ve been the most influential class in our program since I’ve been here. They changed the tide of our program and turned us into champions,” Lawson said postgame. “… They’ve been all about winning and they’ve sacrificed so much to be able to earn that. That example is going to reverberate in our program for a long time.”
Looking ahead
It’s certainly not all doom and gloom for the Blue Devils, who will return the rest of the rotation beyond Mair and Jackson. This marks the first year under Lawson where Duke has not improved its postseason finish — having also lost in the Elite Eight last season. According to 247 Sports, Duke is set to bring in the second-best recruiting class in the nation for the 2026-27 season, with three incoming top-50 recruits and another at the No. 52 spots. Star forward Toby Fournier, assuming she elects to stick around in Durham, will be tracking for an even better third season with the Blue Devils, while highly-touted freshman guard Emilee Skinner returns from an injury redshirt likely on the hunt for a starting role.
Lawson, as disappointed as she was by the finish today, seemed optimistic about the state of her program — and rightfully so. She has plenty of recruits coming in, an extremely solid and increasingly experienced core and a star looking to become a superstar in Fournier. Next year, she’ll look to get back on track with her record of improving finishes — this time aiming for the Final Four.
“We’ve had a really nice, steady upward trend,” Lawson said. “I love our identity. And I think our identity does win in March. We’ve just got to continue to have these types of experiences, and at some point break through. But our group, the last couple years, has put ourselves in this position. I would much rather be here and not win than be sitting at home and not have the opportunity.”