Duke is coming off of a major weekend for the women's basketball program: for the first time since 2017 (and the first time under Coach Kara Lawson's tenure), the Blue Devils won the ACC Tournament — and the team has junior guard Ashlon Jackson to thank.
Coach Lawson praised the team's second half as a "championship performance" in a postgame interview, and she certainly wasn't wrong. Duke's performance in the second half of the game as astonishing, with the Blue Devils leading NC State by at least 10 points for most of the rest of the game.
Jackson in particular shone on the floor. She proved yet again that her shot is lethal with a 22-point performance against the Wolfpack and reminded the rest of us that she's truly one of a kind.
Ashlon Jackson has one of the most lethal shots in college basketball
The minute Jackson steps up to the arc her opponents know she means business, and at that point, it's usually too late to stop her. In her three years with Duke Jackson has proven she can be counted upon to turn a game around when needed, and that's exactly what she did Sunday afternoon in Greensboro, North Carolina.
That reputation for hitting beyond the arc was something Jackson brought with her to Duke. Though her freshman season wasn't as impressive as anticipated (she averaged 3.2 points and 1.0 rebounds for the Blue Devils in 2022-23), she came back for her sophomore season ready to hit hard and fast. She easily tripled her stats and in particular, majorly improved her defensive rebounds up from 32 in her first season to 81 in her second.
Jackson has continued her trend of improvement this season. She's so far averaged 12.4 points and 2.4 rebounds for Duke, and her 3-point percentage in Sunday's game was 42.9%.
Jackson has a strong future ahead of her
The performance in Sunday's game earned Jackson a spot on the ACC All-Tournament First Team, a distinction she more than earned. The game marked her fifth 20-plus-point game of the season. The 6'0" guard has absolutely shone each time Lawson has played her a point guard, and there is little doubt WNBA teams will be paying close attention to how she performs next year. Her ability to make quick and intelligent decisions in the face of overwhelming pressure is admirable, and not something that can, or will, be easily replicated.