Brown, Okanawa lead Duke women to 70-58 win over Georgia Tech in ACC Tournament second round

Updated: Mar 8, 2024, 11:31 am

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- — Kennedy Brown scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half, after Duke used a big run in the second quarter to take control, and the seventh-seeded Blue Devils defeated 10th-seeded Georgia Tech 70-58 in the second round of the ACC Tournament on Thursday night.

Brown made her only shot of the first half but her teammates helped build a 38-26 lead. Behind Brown, the Blue Devils led by double figures for all but 54 seconds of the second half.

Duke advances to play 10th-ranked North Carolina State, the second seed, in the quarterfinals on Friday night.

Freshman Oluchi Okanawa, Duke's first-ever ACC sixth player of the year, led the Blue Devils (20-10) with 15 points. Ashlon Jackson added 11 points, all in the pivotal second quarter, and Jadyn Donovan had 10 on 5-for-5 shooting. Brown and Donovan had eight rebounds apiece to help hold a 42-27 rebounding advantage and 20-point difference in paint points.

Tonie Morgan had 19 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and two steals for the Yellow Jackets (17-15), who lost 83-46 at Duke in their only meeting in the regular season. Kara Dunn added 14 points and Rusne Augustinaite 11.

Duke's defense, which allows an ACC low 57.8 points a game and 36.6% shooting was right on target. The Yellow Jackets were 3 of 12 on 3-pointers and shot 37.7% overall (20 of 53). Georgia Tech was 15 of 25 from the foul line to 3 of 5 for Duke.

Duke used two runs to take a 38-26 halftime lead. Okananwa had five points and Reigan Richardson four as the Blue Devils scored the last 11 points of the first quarter for a 17-8 lead. The Yellow Jackets opened the second quarter with a 12-3 run to tie the game at 20 but then Duke had an 18-1 blitz.

Jackson had a pair of 3s and a layup before Donovan made it 30-20. After a Georgia Tech free throw, Richardson hit a jumper, Taina Mair hit a 3 and Camilla Emsbo had a three-point play to make it 38-21. The Yellow Jackets had the last five points of the half.

------ Get alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. Sign up here ------ AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball