‘She can be one of the greatest at Duke’: Inside Toby Fournier’s freshman season

“At the beginning of the year, I was just a freshman,” Fournier told The Next. “So with South Carolina coming off an amazing season last season, I was definitely nervous, and I think the nerves got to me.”

Nearly four months later, in an Elite Eight matchup against top-seeded South Carolina, Fournier’s confidence had soared.

“[Heading into the game], I felt confident based on my recent performances,” Fournier said. “Playing numerous games in the ACC against high-caliber competition really boosted my self-belief.”

After South Carolina took a 10-2 lead midway through the first quarter, Fournier scored seven consecutive points to keep the Gamecocks from pulling away early. She had scored 9 of Duke’s first 10 points through the 8-minute mark of the second quarter.

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“Slow starts happen, and with teams like this, you have to hurry up and catch up quickly because you don’t want them to go on a run,” Fournier said. “We know the team we are, and we know we’d have a run eventually against South Carolina.”

With 5:05 left in the fourth quarter and South Carolina leading 46-44, Fournier rotated over in help defense to block guard Raven Johnson‘s shot at the rim. On the next offensive possession, Duke used Fournier as a roller off a ball screen to tie the game.

“She has a relentlessness that you can’t teach,” guard Vaneesa de Jesus told The Next. “The way she drives, the way she goes after the ball, and her athletic ability overall. It’s God-given stuff, but when you match that with her work ethic, it’s an unmatched paring.”

After Fournier’s layup, Duke struggled to find offensive rhythm down the stretch, managing just four points in crunch time. The Blue Devils ultimately fell short, 54-50.

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Fournier finished with a game-high 18 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the field, along with five offensive rebounds.

“Her energy hasn’t wavered at all throughout the season,” forward Jadyn Donovan told The Next. “It’s extremely special to see from a freshman.”

Fournier capped off an impressive freshman season, leading Duke in scoring with 13.2 points per game while coming off the bench. She became the first Blue Devil to win ACC Freshman of the Year since Elizabeth Williams in 2012 and just the third freshman to earn a spot on the All-ACC first team.

“Toby’s grown so much; I’m so proud of her,” de Jesus said. “Coming in as a freshman, I think she took in the role and took every day to get better… I [also] think she has so much more in her, and I’m excited to see how she grows because I think she can be one of the greatest [at Duke].”

Fournier is one of the best vertical athletes in college basketball, using her length and athleticism to convert 67.7% of her shots at the rim (83rd percentile in Division 1), per CBB Analytics.

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Reflecting on her freshman season, Fournier, who committed to Duke after her junior year of high school, feels her experience under head coach Kara Lawson has matched her expectations.

“She didn’t tell any lies, and that’s a big reason why I committed to Duke,” Fournier said. “She’s a truthful person, and I knew she wouldn’t lie to me, so she told me how it would be. I think that’s why we made it so far: because of the level of trust that she has with her players.”

Lawson said postgame that Duke only has one player out of eligibility: guard Reigan Richardson. Next season, the Blue Devils, led by guards Ashlon Jackson and Oluchi Okananwa and Fournier, will have an opportunity to build on the program’s first Elite Eight since 2013.