HENDERSON, Nev. - The Ball Dawgs Classic saw 13th-ranked Duke, ninth-ranked Kansas State, eighth-ranked Oklahoma, and unranked DePaul battle it out in Sin City. The Blue Devils and Sooners were victorious in their matchups, however, there is much to be desired from the teams who fell to them.

Duke faced Kansas State in the first matchup, which saw the Blue Devils upset the Wildcats, 73-62. For K-State, Ayoka Lee (A-YOAK-uh) was a big luxury in the paint, finishing with 16 points, and four rebounds. However, she was plagued by foul trouble, finishing the game with three fouls. Her presence on the floor frustrated Duke early, as she aided in an 11-0 run to start the contest. Lee has established herself as one of the best bigs in the country and has earned the respect of her opposing coach, Kara Lawson. “(Lee)’s got great strength and great size, and her presence demands that you bring an extra defender. She’s one of the best players in the country, and she has been for seven years.” After struggling to start the contest, the Blue Devils ended the first quarter on a 17-7 run. They went into halftime with a 37-21 lead, which was led by their junior sharpshooter, Ashlon Jackson. She finished with 30 points, two steals, and made a career-high six threes at a 66.7% clip. The Blue Devils faced a test in a talented Kansas State team, but one Freshman had her hands full dealing with a well-respected big. Toby Fournier (FOUR-Nee-YAY) only played eight minutes off the bench, due to her assignment to guard Lee. She got into foul trouble while guarding her, but Lawson loved her productivity in the minutes she played. “You can see she’s productive when she plays. (Fournier) can score, rebound, and can guard one through five. She’s playing against these fourth and fifth years, and gaining much experience.” Her production has already been rewarded, as she was voted the ACC Freshman of the Week for November 18-24. Duke will match up against Oklahoma, who soundly defeated DePaul in the game that followed.

The Sooners beat the DePaul Blue Demons in a wire-to-wire, 85-62 victory. For Oklahoma, they were led by both Payton Verhulst and Raegan Beers (RAY-gun). Beers feasted in the paint, finishing with 17 points, and eight rebounds, and made all six of her shots from the field. Verhulst had a near triple-double, finishing with 18 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds. When asked about what led to her stellar performance, Sooners Head Coach Jennie Baranczyk (Bah-RON-Check) mentioned her desire to step up. “(Verhulst) is the middle child, so she steps up when you need her. She has this cool feel for the game and she wants everyone to play well and when she needs to step up, she does.” Before the contest, Verhulst averaged 9.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.6 assists, so there was no question she saw a matchup to take advantage of. When asked what she saw differently against DePaul, she credited her teammates for helping her get the looks she wanted. “Having the addition of someone like (Beers), and people who are so dominant and versatile, that allows for our guards to get more open shots, or even in transition when they have to collapse in the paint.” Although Oklahoma ran away with the win, the Demons made a run in the second half that was quickly extinguished. Coach Baranczyk mentioned how they used the flow of energy in the game to their advantage. “When energy gets created in a game everybody can go, and I think there was an expectation that we’re going to call a timeout and I want us to feed off that flow of energy.” The Sooners will bring their flow of energy on Wednesday, November 27th, when they face Duke in the championship game.

DePaul will face Kansas State in the consolation game, as both teams look to get back in the win column.