Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus #2 UCLA on March 29, 2026 , Loss , 58, to, 70
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Final
Women's Basketball
58
vs #2 UCLA
70
Photo by: Duke Athletics
The Boykin Beat
11/27/2020 9:23:00 AM | Women's Basketball
By Daniela Schneider, GoDuke The Magazine
DURHAM, N.C.-- Basketball was her first love. But music is her newest love.
Duke women's basketball point guard Mikayla Boykin has been involved with music since high school. But over the course of the pandemic, Boykin leaned on music as a way to find her voice and pass the time.
"Music has changed my life so so much," said Boykin. "Over these past six months, it helped me find myself as a person outside of basketball. I'm able to express myself in different ways and that takes a lot off of my shoulders."
The redshirt junior from Clinton, N.C., is a leader for the Blue Devils on the court, but has spent most of her Duke career watching from the bench. After starting eight of 10 contests in her freshman campaign, Boykin was sidelined with a left ACL tear.
Her recovery kept her out of the first seven games of the next season.
And eight games into her return, she reinjured her knee and was out yet again.
"Music helps me with everything that I've been through as far as basketball and my injuries," said Boykin "I can come home and do something else that I love, which is music."
Boykin had never shared her music publicly until May. With support from one of her closest friends, Boykin posted her rap about basketball's greats, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant, to her Twitter — and it got over 14,000 views.
The support from friends and strangers gave Boykin the confidence to keep sharing her raps with the world. And it soon became more than a passion for Boykin. It became a way of expressing her emotions about the fight for racial equality.
After the killing of George Floyd, Boykin took to music again to support the Black Lives Matter movement and call for action. Her rap got over 50,000 views.
"I literally couldn't sleep that night when I was writing that song," said Boykin. "It took about 45 minutes to write, and the hardest thing about that was recording it. There were a lot of emotions flowing through my head."
To Boykin, it's easier to share her thoughts through lyrics than through a one-on-one conversation. She hopes that those listening pay attention to her words and her message — and not just the catchy tune.
"Whenever I rap about a social injustice, everything I say is real," said Boykin. "A lot of people are able to actually know what I feel, know what I'm talking about. And they're able to learn from what I'm saying."
After several months without basketball, Boykin and the Blue Devils are set to start the 2020-21 season. But during this time off, music has helped Boykin find her identity outside of basketball. And she hopes to continue making music well after her basketball days are over.
"It's something that I really have the passion and motivation to do, it's something that I really love and it's something that gets my mind off of a lot of different things that could be bothering me."
#GoDuke
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DURHAM, N.C.-- Basketball was her first love. But music is her newest love.
Duke women's basketball point guard Mikayla Boykin has been involved with music since high school. But over the course of the pandemic, Boykin leaned on music as a way to find her voice and pass the time.
"Music has changed my life so so much," said Boykin. "Over these past six months, it helped me find myself as a person outside of basketball. I'm able to express myself in different ways and that takes a lot off of my shoulders."
The redshirt junior from Clinton, N.C., is a leader for the Blue Devils on the court, but has spent most of her Duke career watching from the bench. After starting eight of 10 contests in her freshman campaign, Boykin was sidelined with a left ACL tear.
Her recovery kept her out of the first seven games of the next season.
And eight games into her return, she reinjured her knee and was out yet again.
"Music helps me with everything that I've been through as far as basketball and my injuries," said Boykin "I can come home and do something else that I love, which is music."
Boykin had never shared her music publicly until May. With support from one of her closest friends, Boykin posted her rap about basketball's greats, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant, to her Twitter — and it got over 14,000 views.
The support from friends and strangers gave Boykin the confidence to keep sharing her raps with the world. And it soon became more than a passion for Boykin. It became a way of expressing her emotions about the fight for racial equality.
After the killing of George Floyd, Boykin took to music again to support the Black Lives Matter movement and call for action. Her rap got over 50,000 views.
This isn't a call for help, this a call for ACTION
— Mikayla ?? (@mikayla_niyel) May 29, 2020
Black Lives Matter!!! pic.twitter.com/L1MmJjZqMI
"I literally couldn't sleep that night when I was writing that song," said Boykin. "It took about 45 minutes to write, and the hardest thing about that was recording it. There were a lot of emotions flowing through my head."
To Boykin, it's easier to share her thoughts through lyrics than through a one-on-one conversation. She hopes that those listening pay attention to her words and her message — and not just the catchy tune.
"Whenever I rap about a social injustice, everything I say is real," said Boykin. "A lot of people are able to actually know what I feel, know what I'm talking about. And they're able to learn from what I'm saying."
After several months without basketball, Boykin and the Blue Devils are set to start the 2020-21 season. But during this time off, music has helped Boykin find her identity outside of basketball. And she hopes to continue making music well after her basketball days are over.
"It's something that I really have the passion and motivation to do, it's something that I really love and it's something that gets my mind off of a lot of different things that could be bothering me."
#GoDuke
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