Duke chews up Baylor in NCAA Women’s Tournament second round
No. 3-seeded Duke women’s basketball (26-8, 16-2 ACC) survived and advanced from the second round of the NCAA Women’s Tournament, demolishing Baylor 69-46 on March 22.
The Blue Devils and Bears played each other to kickstart the 2025-26 regular season in Paris, France, at the Adidas Arena. Baylor walked away victorious from that one in a 58-52 game from the city of love on Nov. 3.
It’s safe to say Sunday, March 22, was revenge for Duke.
The Blue Devils came out of the gate hot, capitalizing on Baylor’s 9 turnovers in 10 minutes to go up 16-8 at the end of the first quarter. Baylor didn’t make a basket until 6 minutes into the quarter (4:04), while junior forward Delaney Thomas had 6 points, going 3-for-3 from the field, with 3 rebounds, 2 blocks and 1 steal for Duke.
Thomas finished the second quarter in double digits as the Blue Devils held the Bears to another 8-point quarter, equivalent to the number of turnovers Baylor also recorded. Duke captured 13 points off Baylor’s 17 total turnovers.
Things got a little bit stronger for the Bears in the third quarter, a halftime break and a speech under their belt, but not by much. They managed to get 13 points in the third quarter, still struggling to see much production against a team they defeated previously.
