2021–22 Duke Blue Devils women's basketball team

2021–22 Duke Blue Devils women's basketball
2021–22 Duke Blue Devils women's basketball
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Record	17–13 (7–11 ACC)
Head coach	Kara Lawson (2nd season);
Assistant coaches	Beth Cunningham; Winston Gandy; Tia Jackson;
Home arena	Cameron Indoor Stadium
	Seasons ← 2020–21 2022–23 →

2021–22 ACC women's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 3 NC State †	17	–	1	.944	32	–	4	.889
No. 4 Louisville	16	–	2	.889	29	–	5	.853
No. 17 North Carolina	13	–	5	.722	25	–	7	.781
No. 21 Notre Dame	13	–	5	.722	24	–	9	.727
No. 16 Virginia Tech	13	–	5	.722	23	–	10	.697
Georgia Tech	11	–	7	.611	21	–	11	.656
Boston College	10	–	8	.556	21	–	12	.636
Miami (FL)	10	–	8	.556	21	–	13	.618
Florida State	10	–	8	.556	17	–	14	.548
Duke	7	–	11	.389	17	–	13	.567
Wake Forest	4	–	14	.222	16	–	17	.485
Syracuse	4	–	14	.222	11	–	18	.379
Clemson	3	–	15	.167	10	–	21	.323
Pittsburgh	2	–	16	.111	11	–	19	.367
Virginia	2	–	16	.111	5	–	22	.185

† 2022 ACC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

The 2021–22 Duke Blue Devils women's basketball team represented Duke University during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Blue Devils were led by second year head coach Kara Lawson and played their home games at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Blue Devils finished the season 17–13 overall and 7–11 in ACC play to finish in tenth place. As the tenth seed in the ACC tournament, they defeated Pittsburgh in the First Round before losing to seventh seed Miami in the Second Round. They were not invited to the NCAA tournament or the WNIT despite being ranked as high as No. 15 during the regular season.

Previous season

On December 25, 2020, it was announced that the team would end their season due to COVID-19 concerns.^[1]^[2]

The Blue Devils finished the season 3–1, and 0–1 in ACC play. Due to their season cancellation they did not participate in the ACC tournament, NCAA tournament or WNIT.

Off-season

Departures

Departures
Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Reason for Departure
Jaida Patrick	0	G/F	5'10"	Sophomore	West Haverstraw, New York	Transferred to Columbia^[3]
Jada Claude	4	G/F	6'0"	Sophomore	Fayetteville, Georgia	Transferred to Morehead State^[4]
Sara Anastasieska	11	G	5'11"	Graduate Student	Sydney, Australia	Transferred to Illinois^[5]
Mikayla Boykin	12	G	5'9"	Senior	Clinton, North Carolina	Transferred to Charlotte^[6]
Uchenna Nwoke	13	C	6'6"	Junior	Grand Prairie, Texas	Left team^[7]
Jennifer Ezeh	22	F	6'3"	Sophomore	Nibo, Nigeria	Transferred to Missouri State^[8]
Jayda Adams	32	G	6'0"	Senior	Irvine, California	Transferred to Cal State Northridge^[9]

Incoming transfers

Incoming Transfers
Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Celeste Taylor	0	G	5'11"	Junior	Valley Stream, New York	Texas
Elizabeth Balogun	4	G/F	6'1"	Senior	Chattanooga, Tennessee	Louisville
Jordyn Oliver	11	G	5'10"	Junior	Prosper, Texas	Baylor
Amaya Finklea-Guity	22	C	6'4"	Graduate Student	Dorchester, Massachusetts	Syracuse
Imani Lewis	23	F	6'1"	Senior	Willingboro, New Jersey	Wisconsin
Nyah Green	31	G	6'1"	Junior	Allen, Texas	Louisville
Lexi Gordon	34	G/F	6'0"	Graduate Student	Fort Worth, Texas	Texas Tech
Emma Schmidt	45	G	5'9"	Graduate Student	Waukee, Iowa	TCU

Recruiting Class

Source:^[10]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight
Shayeann Day-Wilson G	Toronto, Canada	Crestwood Prep	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)	N/A
Shayeann Day-Wilson G	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 93
Lee Volker G	Purcellville, Virginia	St. Paul VI	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	N/A
Lee Volker G	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources:

Roster

2021–22 Duke Blue Devils women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Celeste Taylor	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	Jr	Long Island Lutheran Texas	Valley Stream, NY
G	2	Vanessa de Jesus	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	So	Sierra Canyon	Valencia, CA
G	3	Miela Goodchild	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Sr	Moreton Bay College	Queensland, Australia
G/F	4	Elizabeth Balogun	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Sr	Hamilton Heights Christian Academy Georgia Tech Louisville	Chattanooga, TN
G	11	Jordyn Oliver	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Jr	Prosper Baylor	Prosper, TX
G	13	Lee Volker	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	Fr	St. Paul VI	Purcellville, VA
C	22	Amaya Finklea–Guity	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	GS	Noble & Greenough Syracuse	Dorchester, MA
F/C	23	Imani Lewis	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Sr	Life Center Academy Wisconsin	Willingboro, NJ
F/C	24	Onome Akinbode-James	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Sr	Blair Academy	Blairstown, NJ
F/C	25	Jade Williams	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	GS	The Colony	The Colony, TX
G	30	Shayeann Day-Wilson	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)	Fr	Crestwood Prep	Toronto, Canada
G	31	Nyah Green	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Jr	Allen	Allen, TX
G	33	Jiselle Havas	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Sr	Lake Highland Prep Lafayette	Windermere, FL
G/F	34	Lexi Gordon	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	GS	L. D. Bell Texas Tech	Fort Worth, TX
G	45	Emma Schmidt	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	GS	Waukee TCU	Waukee, IA

Head coach

Kara Lawson (Tennessee)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: October 22, 2021

Schedule

Source^[11]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
November 4, 2021* 7:00 p.m.		Wingate	W 86–50	–	Cameron Indoor Stadium (0) Durham, NC
Regular season
November 9, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX		Wintrhop	W 95–39	1–0	Cameron Indoor Stadium (2,473) Durham, NC
November 12, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Dayton	W 70–56	2–0	University of Dayton Arena (2,570) Dayton, OH
November 14, 2021* :00 p.m., ACCNX		UNC Wilmington	W 87–45	3–0	Cameron Indoor Stadium (2,649) Durham, NC
November 21, 2021* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		vs. Alabama Maggie Dixon Classic	W 74–71	4–0	Schollmaier Arena (2,146) Fort Worth, TX
November 24, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX		Appalachian State	W 73–65	5–0	Cameron Indoor Stadium (2,533) Durham, NC
November 28, 2021* 2:00 p.m., ACCN		Troy	W 91–75	6–0	Cameron Indoor Stadium (2,516) Durham, NC
December 2, 2021* 9:00 p.m., ESPN		No. 9 Iowa ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge	W 79–64	7–0	Cameron Indoor Stadium (3,064) Durham, NC
December 5, 2021* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Pennsylvania	W 77–55	8–0	The Palestra (450) Philadelphia, PA
December 15, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ACCN	No. 15	No. 1 South Carolina	L 46–55	8–1	Cameron Indoor Stadium (5,451) Durham, NC
December 19, 2021 Noon, ACCN	No. 15	at Miami (FL)	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues^[12]		Watsco Center Coral Gables, FL
December 21, 2021* Noon, ESPN+	No. 16	at Charleston Southern	W 78–35	9–1	Buccaneer Field House (602) North Charleston, SC
December 30, 2021 8:00 p.m., ACCN	No. 15	at Virginia Tech	L 55–77	9–2 (0–1)	Cassell Coliseum (1,664) Blacksburg, VA
January 2, 2022 2:00 p.m., ACCN	No. 15	No. 17 Notre Dame	W 72–70	10–2 (1–1)	Cameron Indoor Stadium (3,354) Durham, NC
January 6, 2022 2:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 17	No. 16 Georgia Tech	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues^[13]		Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, NC
January 9, 2022 2:00 p.m., ACCRSN	No. 17	at Syracuse	W 74–65	11–2 (2–1)	Carrier Dome (1,133) Syracuse, NY
January 13, 2022 6:00 p.m., ACCN	No. 16	Virginia Tech	L 54–65	11–3 (2–2)	Cameron Indoor Stadium (2,209) Durham, NC
January 16, 2022 4:00 p.m., ACCN	No. 16	at No. 4 NC State Rivalry	L 60–84	11–4 (2–3)	Reynolds Coliseum (5,500) Raleigh, NC
January 18, 2022 2:00 p.m., ACCN	No. 21	at Miami (FL) Rescheduled from Dec. 19, 2021	W 58–49	12–4 (3–3)	Watsco Center (1,443) Coral Gables, FL
January 23, 2022 6:00 p.m., ACCN	No. 21	Virginia	W 57–48	13–4 (4–3)	Cameron Indoor Stadium (2,126) Durham, NC
January 27, 2022 7:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 21	North Carolina Rivalry	L 62–78	13–5 (4–4)	Cameron Indoor Stadium (4,954) Durham, NC
January 30, 2022 3:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 21	at No. 5 Louisville	L 65–77	13–6 (4–5)	KFC Yum! Center (9,001) Louisville, KY
February 1, 2022 7:00 p.m., ACCNX		No. 12 Georgia Tech Rescheduled from Jan. 6	L 46–59	13–7 (4–6)	Cameron Indoor Stadium (1,582) Durham, NC
February 3, 2022 6:00 p.m., ACCNX		at Pittsburgh	W 54–39	14–7 (5–6)	Peterson Events Center (1,031) Pittsburgh, PA
February 6, 2022 6:00 p.m., ACCN		Wake Forest	W 81–76	15–7 (6–6)	Cameron Indoor Stadium (2,487) Durham, NC
February 10, 2022 6:00 p.m., ACCNX		Florida State	L 56–59	15–8 (6–7)	Cameron Indoor Stadium (2,327) Durham, NC
February 13, 2022 2:00 p.m., ACCRSN		No. 5 NC State Rivalry	L 62–77	15–9 (6–8)	Cameron Indoor Stadium (4,956) Durham, NC
February 17, 2022 7:00 p.m., ACCNX		at Virginia	L 54–67	15–10 (6–9)	John Paul Jones Arena (1,695) Charlottesville, VA
February 20, 2022 2:00 p.m., ACCNX		at Clemson	W 64–61	16–10 (7–9)	Littlejohn Coliseum (1,338) Clemson, SC
February 24, 2022 8:00 p.m., ACCRSN		Boston College	L 51–67	16–11 (7–10)	Cameron Indoor Stadium (2,582) Durham, NC
February 27, 2022 4:00 p.m., ACCN		at No. 18 North Carolina Rivalry	L 46–74	16–12 (7–11)	Carmichael Arena (5,230) Chapel Hill, NC
ACC Women's Tournament
March 2, 2022 3:30 p.m., ACCRSN	(10)	vs. (15) Pittsburgh First Round	W 55–52	17–12	Greensboro Coliseum (3,619) Greensboro, NC
March 3, 2022 6:00 p.m., ACCRSN	(10)	vs. (7) Miami (FL) Second Round	L 55–61	17–13	Greensboro Coliseum (5,648) Greensboro, NC
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll,. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings

2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings

Regular Season Polls
Poll	Pre- Season	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8	Week 9	Week 10	Week 11	Week 12	Week 13	Week 14	Week 15	Week 16	Week 17	Week 18	Final
AP			RV	RV	19	15	16	15	17	16	21	21	RV	RV
Coaches				RV	25	23	22	22	21	24	23	RV	RV

**Legend**
		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		Not ranked in previous week
(RV)		Received Votes
(NR)		Not Ranked

Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll and AP does not release a final poll.

References

^ Feinberg, Doug (December 25, 2020). "AP source: Duke women end basketball season amid virus". Springfield News-Sun. Retrieved December 25, 2020.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "Duke Blue Devils end women's basketball season amid coronavirus concerns". espn.com. ESPN. December 25, 2020. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
^ "Columbia Officially Welcomes 2021 Women's Basketball Recruiting Class". gocolumbialions.com. Columbia University. July 9, 2021. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
^ "Women's Basketball Adds Talented Duo of Semaj Adams and Jada Claude for 2021-22". msueagles.com. Morehead State Athletics. July 22, 2021. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
^ "Fighting Illini Add Anastasieska, Bostic". fightinillini.com. University of Illinois. April 14, 2021. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
^ "Charlotte Adds Boykin as Transfer from Duke". charlotte49ers.com. Charlotte 49ers Athletics. March 31, 2021. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
^ Summer, Jim (May 4, 2021). "It's May, But Kara Lawson's Rebuild Is Looking Solid". dukebasketballreport.com. SB Nation. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
^ "Lady Bears Land Duke Transfer Jennifer Ezeh". missouristatebears.com. Missouri State Athletics. April 14, 2021. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
^ "CSUN Women's Basketball Adds 4 In Spring Signing Period". gomatadors.com. CSUN Athletics. April 23, 2021. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
^ "Duke Blue Devils". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
^ "Women's Basketball 2021-22 Schedule/Results". Duke Athletics. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
^ "Duke at Miami Women's Basketball Game Canceled". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. December 17, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
^ "ACC Women's Basketball Announces Schedule Changes". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. January 5, 2022. Retrieved January 6, 2022.

[1] Feinberg, Doug (December 25, 2020). "AP source: Duke women end basketball season amid virus". Springfield News-Sun. Retrieved December 25, 2020.^{[permanent dead link]}

[2] "Duke Blue Devils end women's basketball season amid coronavirus concerns". espn.com. ESPN. December 25, 2020. Retrieved December 28, 2020.

[3] "Columbia Officially Welcomes 2021 Women's Basketball Recruiting Class". gocolumbialions.com. Columbia University. July 9, 2021. Retrieved October 22, 2021.

[4] "Women's Basketball Adds Talented Duo of Semaj Adams and Jada Claude for 2021-22". msueagles.com. Morehead State Athletics. July 22, 2021. Retrieved October 22, 2021.

[5] "Fighting Illini Add Anastasieska, Bostic". fightinillini.com. University of Illinois. April 14, 2021. Retrieved October 22, 2021.

[6] "Charlotte Adds Boykin as Transfer from Duke". charlotte49ers.com. Charlotte 49ers Athletics. March 31, 2021. Retrieved October 22, 2021.

[7] Summer, Jim (May 4, 2021). "It's May, But Kara Lawson's Rebuild Is Looking Solid". dukebasketballreport.com. SB Nation. Retrieved October 22, 2021.

[8] "Lady Bears Land Duke Transfer Jennifer Ezeh". missouristatebears.com. Missouri State Athletics. April 14, 2021. Retrieved October 22, 2021.

[9] "CSUN Women's Basketball Adds 4 In Spring Signing Period". gomatadors.com. CSUN Athletics. April 23, 2021. Retrieved October 22, 2021.

[10] "Duke Blue Devils". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved October 22, 2021.

[11] "Women's Basketball 2021-22 Schedule/Results". Duke Athletics. Retrieved October 22, 2021.

[12] "Duke at Miami Women's Basketball Game Canceled". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. December 17, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2021.

[13] "ACC Women's Basketball Announces Schedule Changes". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. January 5, 2022. Retrieved January 6, 2022.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

v t e Duke Blue Devils women's basketball
Venues	Cameron Indoor Stadium (1975–present)
Rivalries	North Carolina (Carlyle Cup)
Culture & lore	"Blue and White" "Fight! Blue Devils, Fight!"
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics