Duke relied on two clutch buckets from Jade Williams to silence Alabama, taking a come-from-behind 74-71 win in the Maggie Dixon Classic, played at Ed and Rae Schollmeier Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, Monday morning (Manila time).
The Blue Devils trailed by six, 69-63, with 2:19 left, but hit 7-of-9 field goals down the stretch and received back-to-back lead-changing buckets from Williams.
With 30 seconds remaining, Williams grabbed an offensive rebound and put back the layup to give Duke a 70-69 lead. Alabama’s Megan Abrams came back with a layup of her own to give the Crimson Tide the 71-70 advantage with 18 seconds left on the clock.
Celeste Taylor found Williams for a layup with six seconds remaining to put the Blue Devils ahead for good.
Hometown hero Williams scored all 14 of her points in the second half while Taylor also added a season-high 21 points.
De Jesus also added six points and five assists in 26 minutes of action.
Duke went to 4-0 for the season.
Megan Abrams scored a game-high 27 points for the Crimson Tide.
The Maggie Dixon Classic has been played since 2006 to honor the late Army head coach.
Duke returns to Durham on Thursday to face Appalachian State.
