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Duke Blue Devils women's basketball
Duke Blue Devils women's basketball
	2024–25 Duke Blue Devils women's basketball team
University	Duke University
All-time record	1008–455 (.689)
Head coach	Kara Lawson (5th season)
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Location	Durham, North Carolina
Arena	Cameron Indoor Stadium ; (capacity: 9,314)
Nickname	Blue Devils
Student section	Cameron Crazies
Colors	Duke blue and white;
Uniforms
NCAA tournament runner-up
	1999, 2006
NCAA tournament Final Four
	1999, 2002, 2003, 2006
NCAA tournament Elite Eight
	1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
	1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2024
NCAA tournament appearances
	1987, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2023, 2024
Conference tournament champions
	2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2013
Conference regular season champions
	1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013

The Duke Blue Devils women's basketball team is the college basketball program representing Duke University in the Atlantic Coast Conference of NCAA Division I.

Team history

In 1974, Duke hired Emma Jean Howard to teach physical education, and to serve as the head coach of the women's basketball and volleyball teams. Initially, women's basketball was played as a club sport. In the first season, 1974–75, the team played locally, finishing second in the state with a 6–7 record.

The women's athletic department merged with the men's athletics in 1975, and the second year is considered as the first official season of the program as a varsity sport. Howard remained as the head coach for the next two years. In 1977, Howard remained as the volleyball coach, while Duke moved up to Division I and hired Debbie Leonard to be the head coach of the women's basketball program.^[2]

Duke in the WNBA

Many Duke Women's Basketball players have continued their basketball careers professionally through the WNBA and overseas. As of 2016, 10 former Blue Devils were represented on WNBA Teams. Among those Duke alums include, Mistie Bass ('06, Phoenix Mercury), Alana Beard (‘04, Los Angeles Sparks), Karima Christmas-Kelly (‘11, Minnesota Lynx), Monique Currie ('06, Washington Mystics), Chelsea Gray ('14, Los Angeles Sparks), Lindsey Harding (‘07, Phoenix Mercury), Tricia Liston ('14, Minnesota Lynx), Haley Peters ('14, Atlanta Dream), Jasmine Thomas (‘11, Connecticut Sun), Krystal Thomas (‘11, Washington Mystics), and Elizabeth Williams ('15, Atlanta Dream).^[3]

The Minnesota Lynx were crowned WNBA champs in 2015 with Tricia Liston on the roster.^[4] In 2016, the Los Angeles Sparks won the WNBA championship with Alana Beard and Chelsea Gray on the roster.^[5]

Duke Women's Basketball Overseas

Duke Women's Basketball has 14 former players playing professionally overseas in the 2016–2017 season. The former Blue Devils playing overseas include, Alana Beard (Duke ‘04, Avenida, Spain), Chante Black (Duke '09, Ramat Hasharon, Israel), Karima Christmas (Duke ‘11, Winnus, South Korea), Monique Currie (Duke ‘06, Woori Bank, South Korea), Chelsea Gray (Duke '14, Abdullah Gul, Turkey), Lindsey Harding (Duke ‘07, Besiktas, Turkey), Haley Peters (Duke ‘14, Girona, Spain), Angela Salvadores (Duke '16, Avenida, Spain), Kathleen Scheer (Duke '12, Hobart Chargers, Australia), Shay Selby (Duke '12, Bodrum, Turkey), Jasmine Thomas (Duke ‘11, Ramat Hasharon), Allison Vernerey (Duke '13, A.S.V. Basket, France), Chloe Wells (Duke ‘14, Araski, Spain), and Elizabeth Williams (Duke '15, Nadezhda Orenburg, Russia).^[3]

Year by year

Source:^[6]^[7]^[8]

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason	Coaches' poll	AP poll
Emma Jean Howard (Independent) (1975–1978)
1975–76	Emma Jean Howard	0–14	–
1976–77	Emma Jean Howard	2–12	–		NCAIAW Tournament
Emma Jean Howard:		2–26 (.071)
Debbie Leonard (Atlantic Coast Conference) (1977–1992)
1977–78	Debbie Leonard	1–19	0–8	7th	NCAIAW Tournament
1978–79	Debbie Leonard	11–11	3–6	5th	NCAIAW Tournament
1979–80	Debbie Leonard	14–13	5–5	T-4th	NCAIAW Tournament
1980–81	Debbie Leonard	11–14	3–6	6th	NCAIAW Tournament
1981–82	Debbie Leonard	14–15	3–8	6th	AIAW Region II Tournament
1982–83	Debbie Leonard	15–10	6–7	4th
1983–84	Debbie Leonard	13–14	5–9	6th
1984–85	Debbie Leonard	19–8	7–7	5th
1985–86	Debbie Leonard	21–9	9–5	3rd	NWIT Fourth Place
1986–87	Debbie Leonard	19–10	7–7	4th	NCAA Second Round (Play-In)
1987–88	Debbie Leonard	17–11	5–9	5th
1988–89	Debbie Leonard	12–16	2–12	7th
1989–90	Debbie Leonard	15–13	4–10	T-6th
1990–91	Debbie Leonard	16–12	6–8	5th
1991–92	Debbie Leonard	14–15	4–12	8th
Debbie Leonard:		212–190 (.527)	69–119 (.367)
Gail Goestenkors (Atlantic Coast Conference) (1992–2007)
1992–93	Gail Goestenkors	12–15	3–13	9th
1993–94	Gail Goestenkors	16–11	7–9	5th
1994–95	Gail Goestenkors	22–9	10–6	4th	NCAA Second Round	17	20
1995–96	Gail Goestenkors	26–7	12–4	2nd	NCAA Second Round	19	13
1996–97	Gail Goestenkors	19–11	9–7	T-3rd	NCAA Second Round
1997–98	Gail Goestenkors	24–8	13–3	1st	NCAA Elite Eight	7	8
1998–99	Gail Goestenkors	29–7	15–1	1st	NCAA Runner-Up	10	10
1999–2000	Gail Goestenkors	28–6	12–4	2nd#	NCAA Sweet Sixteen	11	10
2000–01	Gail Goestenkors	30–4	13–3	1st#	NCAA Sweet Sixteen	8	5
2001–02	Gail Goestenkors	31–4	16–0	1st#	NCAA Final Four	4	3
2002–03	Gail Goestenkors	35–2	16–0	1st#	NCAA Final Four	4	2
2003–04	Gail Goestenkors	30–4	15–1	1st#	NCAA Elite Eight	5	1
2004–05	Gail Goestenkors	31–5	12–2	T-1st	NCAA Elite Eight	8	7
2005–06	Gail Goestenkors	31–4	12–2	T-2nd	NCAA Runner-Up	2	4
2006–07	Gail Goestenkors	32–2	14–0	1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen	6	1
Gail Goestenkors:		396–99 (.800)	179–55 (.765)
Joanne P. McCallie (Atlantic Coast Conference) (2007–2020)
2007–08	Joanne P. McCallie	25–10	10–4	T-3rd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen	9	9
2008–09	Joanne P. McCallie	27–6	11–3	3rd	NCAA Second Round	14	6
2009–10	Joanne P. McCallie	30–6	12–2	T-1st#	NCAA Elite Eight	6	6
2010–11	Joanne P. McCallie	32–4	12–2	T-1st#	NCAA Elite Eight	7	6
2011–12	Joanne P. McCallie	27–6	15–1	1st	NCAA Elite Eight	6	6
2012–13	Joanne P. McCallie	33–3	17–1	1st#	NCAA Elite Eight	5	5
2013–14	Joanne P. McCallie	28–7	12–4	T-2nd	NCAA Second Round	9	10
2014–15	Joanne P. McCallie	23–11	11–5	T-4th	NCAA Sweet Sixteen	16	12
2015–16	Joanne P. McCallie	20–12	8–8	T-7th
2016–17	Joanne P. McCallie	28–6	13–3	T-2nd	NCAA Second Round	9	9
2017–18	Joanne P. McCallie	24–9	11–5	T-4th	NCAA Sweet Sixteen	20	12
2018–19	Joanne P. McCallie	15–15	6–10	T-10th
2019–20	Joanne P. McCallie	18–12	12–6	3rd	Postseason cancelled^[a]	RV	RV
Joanne P. McCallie:		330–107 (.755)	150–56 (.728)
Kara Lawson (Atlantic Coast Conference) (2020–present)
2020–21	Kara Lawson	3–1	0–1		Opted out due to COVID-19^[9]
2021–22	Kara Lawson	17–13	7–11	10th
2022–23	Kara Lawson	26–7	14–4	T-2nd	NCAA Second Round
2023–24	Kara Lawson	22–12	11–7	7th	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
Kara Lawson:		68–33 (.673)	32–23 (.582)
Total:		1008–455 (.689)
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

NCAA tournament results

Duke has appeared in 26 NCAA tournaments with a record of 61-26.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
1987	#7	First Round Second Round	#10 Manhattan #2 Rutgers	W 70-55 L 78-64
1995	#5	First Round Second Round	#12 Oklahoma State #4 Alabama	W 76-64 L 121-120 (4OT)
1996	#4	First Round Second Round	#13 James Madison #12 San Francisco	W 85-53 L 64-60
1997	#5	First Round Second Round	#12 DePaul #4 Illinois	W 70-56 L 67-65
1998	#2	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#15 Middle Tennessee State #10 Louisville #3 Florida #9 Arkansas	W 92-67 W 69-53 W 71-58 L 77-72
1999	#3	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Championship	#14 Holy Cross #11 St. Joseph's #2 Old Dominion #1 Tennessee #3 Georgia #1 Purdue	W 79-51 W 66-60 W 76-63 W 69-63 W 81-69 L 62-45
2000	#2	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#15 Campbell #10 Western Kentucky #3 LSU	W 71-42 W 90-70 L 79-66
2001	#1	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#16 Milwaukee #9 Arkansas #5 SW Missouri State	W 95-63 W 75-54 L 81-71
2002	#1	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four	#16 Norfolk State #8 TCU #4 Texas #3 USC #1 Oklahoma	W 95-48 W 76-66 W 62-46 W 77-68 L 86-71
2003	#1	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four	#16 Georgia State #8 Utah #5 Georgia #2 Texas Tech #1 Tennessee	W 66-48 W 65-54 W 66-63 W 80-79 L 56-66
2004	#1	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#16 Northwestern State #9 Marquette #5 Louisiana Tech #7 Minnesota	W 103-51 W 76-67 W 63-49 L 82-75
2005	#2	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#15 Canisius #7 Boston College #6 Georgia #1 LSU	W 80-48 W 70-65 W 63-57 L 59-49
2006	#1	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Championship	#16 Southern #8 USC #4 Michigan State #2 Connecticut #1 LSU #1 Maryland	W 96-27 W 85-51 W 86-61 W 63-61 (OT) W 64-45 L 78-75 (OT)
2007	#1	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#16 Holy Cross #8 Temple #4 Rutgers	W 81-44 W 62-52 L 53-52
2008	#3	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#14 Murray State #6 Arizona State #3 Texas A&M	W 78-57 W 67-59 L 77-63
2009	#1	First Round Second Round	#16 Austin Peay #9 Michigan State	W 83-42 L 63-49
2010	#2	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#15 Hampton #7 LSU #11 San Diego State #4 Baylor	W 72-37 W 60-52 W 66-58 L 51-48
2011	#2	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#15 Tennessee-Martin #10 Marist #3 DePaul #1 Connecticut	W 90-45 W 71-66 W 70-63 L 75-40
2012	#2	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#15 Samford #7 Vanderbilt #3 St. John's #1 Stanford	W 82-47 W 96-80 W 74-47 L 81-69
2013	#2	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#15 Hampton #7 Oklahoma State #6 Nebraska #1 Notre Dame	W 67-51 W 68-59 W 53-45 L 87-76
2014	#2	First Round Second Round	#15 Winthrop #7 DePaul	W 87-45 L 74-65
2015	#4	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#13 Albany #5 Mississippi State #1 Maryland	W 54-52 W 64-56 L 65-55
2017	#2	First Round Second Round	#15 Hampton #10 Oregon	W 94-31 L 74-65
2018	#5	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#12 Belmont #4 Georgia #1 Connecticut	W 72-58 W 66-40 L 72-59
2023	#3	First Round Second Round	#14 Iona #6 Colorado	W 89-49 L 61-53 (OT)
2024	#7	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#10 Richmond #2 Ohio State #3 Connecticut	W 72-61 W 75-63 L 53-45