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Reigan Richardson Coverage

NC State, Duke and North Carolina are still dancing in the NCAA tournament...with the Wolfpack and Blue Devils still alive in the men's and women's bracket. We look back at all the madness and much more!

The State of Hoops, NFL rule changes and an off-the-rails game show in the sports moments of the week

Reigan Richardson scored 25 points and had seven rebounds as Duke rallied in the second half to overtake Richmond 72-61 in a first-round NCAA Tournament game.

Richardson scores 25 as Duke rallies in second half to beat Richmond 72-61 in women's March Madness

Duke's Reigan Richardson vs. Virginia

Duke's Reigan Richardson says she's feeling confident in her scoring abilities as she drops 24 points against Virginia in a win. It's the most points she's scored since the first game of the season.

Yeah. Hey, Reagan, how are you? Uh It seems like early in the year we kept talking about getting off to slow start after slow start after that right now is the exact opposite. You're just putting the hammer down early. You talk about what led to that change and, and, and just how, how it feels to look up and find yourself had by nine points at the first media time out. Yeah. Um Coach has always preached on us having bad starts. So I feel like we really emphasize that and focused on like just being more focused and locked in. So that's the game plan or just lock, locking in to like ourselves, we just really focused on that and we executed that today and clearly it starts on the defensive end. Yes, sir. We, um we've really been focusing, I mean, we really focus on defense a lot and practice. So I feel like that's something that we are very strong about and we're gonna continue, that's our game. I mean, like we're not gonna change that aspect of it, so we just gotta continue to get better with that. And that said, you seemed very efficient and cool and calm and collected on offense. It just seemed like you were able to get wherever you wanted to be and your teammates were able to get to the ball. You just, just talk about your offensive game a little bit. Oh, yeah. Um, I've really been working on just being more composed while playing. Um, I feel like I get flustered a lot while playing so, really just focus on staying calm and just relaxing while, um, while I play out there is really just something I've been focusing on. Yeah, I mean, it seems like when you see the ball go in the basket early, it, you know, it, it really helps your game. Is that a, is that an accurate assessment? Uh Reagan, this is the most points you've scored um, since the Richmond game. So, you know, very, very beginning of the season. Um Is it fair to say that this is the most confident you've felt about your scoring abilities this season? I'd say so, I feel like I've really been working with our coaches just continuing to stay confident with my shot. Um whether it's on the three or just get into the cup or shoot in the mid range, I feel like I'm getting a lot better with my confidence and just, just having the mentality to keep shooting, even if I miss a couple shots here again, kind of going off of that. What do you think helped you today specifically um to score 24 points. Uh I felt like I mentioned before, I feel like staying calm, not letting um not letting anybody like speed me up. Um I feel like just staying in rhythm and staying true to my game and just taking the open, open read and taking the open shot. All right. Um A little, little specific and less game focused on this one. I don't know if you noticed there's, uh, there have been a couple of fans that have, um, made some really artistic signs, uh, in the crowd over the course of the season. Um, what, what is your, what are your thoughts on just what those signs have looked like? And, um, what this, uh, the community of fans here at Cameron has been like for you this season? Oh, no, they're awesome. I feel like every sign that I see or even just a little like cards or pictures that the fans give us every time I feel like they're so cute and so, like, just consider it of them coming to each game and supporting us and we take the support every time. I be like, it's so inspiring and it makes us just want to get better each and every day for them. Yeah.

Richardson: "I'm getting a lot better with my confidence"

Duke women's basketball's Reigan Richardson led the way with 23 points against Notre Dame, but says team has to take care of the ball after loss to Fighting Irish.

I mean, I can speak on this personally, like I got sped up and I had a lot of turnovers. So I feel like with the defensive breakdowns that we're, that we're, that are happening in the game, I feel like this far in the year, we have to do a little bit better and pay a little bit more attention to detail to things like that. Uh uh Reagan, obviously, the, the 14 0 run was in the third period, was decisive. What was going wrong? What were they able to do during that span that, that Duke wasn't able to counter? I mean, Notre Dame is a great team. They got out and ran. Um especially in transition. I know we struggled to get back when we shut the ball and so they're able able to get um easy points like that and just defensively, we communication wise, we just didn't really talk. So I feel like going into the next game, we're really gonna have to work to improve on it. We know that, that Hannah Hidalgo is one of the best players in the country. It steals and obviously I'm sure Duke worked on keeping the ball away from her and she still came away with a bunch of steals. What just, what makes her so good at that aspect of the game? Oh, no, she's great. She had a couple of me too. I mean, she came by surprise a couple of times. I mean, she's just super quick. She's a great athlete. I mean, you gotta give all credit to her. Uh, Reagan, the, the turnovers, I mean, I think it was, I wanna say 21 turnovers and, and 23 points, um, scored off of those turnovers. Um I, I know Notre Dame, this is what they do so well, uh, like you all were just talking about but what, what specifically tonight do you feel kind of went wrong in that the ball handling department? Uh just taking care of the ball? I thought we preach about taking care of the ball each and every game and it's just something that we have to continue to work on.

Reigan Richardson: "Just taking care of the ball"

Duke basketball guard Reigan Richardson vs. Notre Dame

Duke's Reigan Richardson scored 22 points, going 10/15 from the field in what head coach Kara Lawson described as "a complete game."

<p>Reagan when you came out in the fourth quarter, it looked like you and Coach Lawson were talking for a second and you had a big smile on your face. What did she say to you? Uh I, in that moment she's basically just telling me how proud she was of me and my performance and I was just happy to hear that because I really been struggling over the past couple of games just to stay consistent. And I feel like today I just felt really good. You know, I thought Reagan was terrific. Um, you know, she, she had an unbelievable first half defensively. Um, she was disruptive and, and really wreaking havoc and then obviously in the second half offensively, um I just kept going to her because she was, she was hot. And, um, you know, I thought she just had a, a complete game. Um She is one of the best wings in this league and I thought, um one of the things that makes her special is her high level two way ability like Reagan, you can put on a top player offensively on one end and she can be your leading scorer on the other, that's rare, you know, think about it. Most people's best offensive players, you put them on weak assignments or a best defensive player. Can't, can't score 25. It's rare to find two way wings that can do it at a high level. And, and we're really fortunate to have Reagan here at Duke. She, she mentioned that when, um, she was walking off the court there at the end of the fourth quarter, you all kind of like hugged and, and said, you know, she, she told us that you were, you said you were very proud of her in that moment especially. Um And she said, you know, she's still like, she's kind of struggling a little bit in a moment like this was so big for her. Do you see how, how do you see a moment like this propel her and her confidence for the rest of the season? She's giving away my secrets. She's letting people know. I'm nice. I don't like that. I want you all to think I'm not nice. Um Yeah, I mean, she's somebody that's having to grow into um being a primary player, you know, last year, she was more of a role player for us and, you know, that's a hard jump to make where every night you're being counted on to, to be really good. And there's pressure associated with that and she's, she navigates that she's having to navigate it like we're way better when Reagan plays well when she doesn't play well. It's hard for us and that comes with being a big time player. And so I was proud of her having a performance, like when we needed a performance in a big time game, um she came through with um not just a good performance, a great performance. And so I wanted to, to let her know how proud I was of her in that moment.</p>

Reigan Richardson Coverage

The State of Hoops, NFL rule changes and an off-the-rails game show in the sports moments of the week

Richardson scores 25 as Duke rallies in second half to beat Richmond 72-61 in women's March Madness

Richardson: "I'm getting a lot better with my confidence"

Reigan Richardson: "Just taking care of the ball"

Duke junior Reigan Richardson shines, goes over 20 points for third time this season