Duke's Ashlon Jackson calm in the clutch as team prepares for Elite Eight
Duke's Ashlon Jackson calm in the clutch as team prepares for Elite Eight
Dylan Clearfield, Special to USA TODAYSun, March 29, 2026 at 10:03 AM UTC
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Duke's Ashlon Jackson calm in the clutch as team prepares for Elite Eight
SACRAMENTO, CA – Ashlon Jackson is no stranger to clutch moments.
The buzzer-beating 3-pointer that propelled the No. 3 seeded Duke Blue Devils past No. 2 LSU and into the Elite Eight etched her name into March Madness history.
However, it wasn’t the first time Jackson delivered a victory in crunch time.
During her senior year at Hardin-Jefferson High School in Texas, she sank a shot that propelled her team to the state championship game.
“I ended up getting this rebound and got an and-one, and, like, the whole gym exploded,” Jackson said. “It put us up five, I think. It was the fourth quarter. It was the best feeling ever. I could recall everything that happened.”
Well, maybe now it’s the second-best feeling ever.
“I used to dream about me taking a last-second shot or game-winner for a big game,” she said, “and to be able to live my dream is actually really cool.”
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The senior guard credits her upbringing around basketball, as well as countless practices in the driveway, for preparing her to perform in high-pressure situations.
Her father, Nathan, played at Rice University. Her mother, Eulalia, also played for Hardin-Jefferson High School. As Jackson has ascended into become Duke’s go-to player, she has leaned on her parents.
Her father, who began coaching her when she was in first grade, sends videos of encouragement and motivation before each game. He also texts her during games, so that she can read his live reactions when she checks her phone postgame.
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Duke was down by one point with 19 seconds remaining against LSU when Jackson missed two free throws. After that, her father sent a text that foreshadowed the game-winner.
“It's so crazy to say, but he just told me, ‘You're gonna make the next one after the free throws,’” she said. “And then, sure enough, that happens.”
As the ball circled the rim before dropping in, everyone in the arena held their breath. Nobody had a more nerve-wracking few seconds than Jackson, who joked she “grew a few gray hairs.”
She showed no nerves, though, in the timeout huddle that preceded the shot. And she never does, according to her teammates.
“Ash is not nervous,” sophomore guard Riley Nelson said.
Said junior forward Jordan Wood: “She has that cold blood in her.”
When she’s preparing to take a high-pressure shot, Jackson has just one word in her mind.
“Win,” Jackson said. “That's pretty much it.”
Now she has the Blue Devils one win away from reaching the Final Four for the first time in 20 years.
Dylan Clearfield is a student in the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Duke's Ashlon Jackson calm in the clutch as team prepares for Elite Eight
Source: “AOL Sports”
