Demeara Hinds finished with 13 points and Taylor Johnson-Matthews and Mia Moore added 11 each for the Tigers (19-9, 10-6 ACC), who added a big win to strengthen their resume heading into the NCAA Tournament.
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Toby Fournier had 18 points and seven rebounds for Duke (20-7, 15-1 ACC), which lost its first conference game of the season. Fournier, an ACC player of the year candidate, was in control for most of the second half after scoring 14 before halftime.
The Blue Devils appeared to be in control entering the fourth quarter, but Clemson stepped up its defense.
The Tigers took a 44-43 lead with 3:24 left when Moore stepped up and committed a foul on a 3-point play. Johnson-Matthews then hit a three-pointer to give the Tigers their biggest lead of the game at 4.
However, Duke would fight back and Riley Nelson hit a 3-pointer in the corner to give the Blue Devils the lead with 9.3 seconds left.
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But Kohn, who had missed his previous four shots in the game, broke free and hit the 3-pointer as Clemson made four of its last five field goals.
The Blue Devils were unable to get off a final shot after an inbounds pass was rejected.
Duke got 10 points and two blocks from Fournier in the first quarter and used a 17-2 run to build a 20-8 lead before the Tigers began to fight back.
Next
Duke: Hosts Florida State on Thursday night.
Clemson: Visit California on Thursday night.
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