Blue Devils Welcome USA Basketball for Exhibition

Sunday, November 12

Durham, N.C.

12 p.m.

Duke University

USA Basketball

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Jadyn Donovan claps after scoring inside

Photo by: Nat LeDonne / Duke Athletics

Blue Devils Welcome USA Basketball for Exhibition

11/11/2023 7:10:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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THE OPENING TIP

Duke women's basketball takes a short hiatus from regular-season action this weekend as the Blue Devils gear up to host the USA Basketball Women's National Team in an exhibition on Sunday, Nov. 12. The game is slated for a noon tipoff live on ACCNX, with Pam Ward and Holly Warlick calling the action.
The Blue Devils are taking on USA Basketball's Women's National Team for just the second time overall and first since 1999, when the United States defeated Duke, 71-45, in Durham.
Three members of the current Duke women's basketball team share strong ties with USA Basketball -- head coach Kara Lawson and freshmen Jadyn Donovan and Delaney Thomas.
The trio has combined for 15 gold medals -- Lawson (11 - player and coach), Donovan (3), Thomas (1).
Duke (2-0) enters the game fresh off a convincing victory as the Blue Devils set a school single-game record for most three-pointers made (14) and had four players reach double figures en route to dispatching Coastal Carolina, 88-42, Thursday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Blue Devils have won their first two games by an average of 38 points and have had three players set career highs across the pair of victories -- Reigan Richardson (28 pts vs. Richmond), Ashlon Jackson (25 pts vs. Coastal Carolina), Emma Koabel (12 pts vs. Coastal Carolina).
Starting with the exhibition against USA Basketball, the Blue Devils embark on their busiest stretch of the season with four games in eight days.
Following Sunday's contest, Duke hits the road for games at Columbia (Nov. 14) and No. 15 Stanford (Nov. 19), with a midweek home tilt versus Davidson (Nov. 16) in between.

MAKIN' IT RAIN: BLUE DEVILS CASH IN PROGRAM-RECORD 14 THREES TO UPEND COASTAL CAROLINA

The Duke women's basketball team set a school single-game record for most three-pointers made and had four players reach double figures as the Blue Devils coasted to an 88-42 victory over the Chanticleers Thursday evening at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Duke knocked down 14 three-pointers in the contest, finishing the night shooting 42 percent (14-of-33) from long range.
Ashlon Jackson led all scorers as the sophomore exploded for a career-high 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting while also adding three rebounds, two assists and two steals to her statline. Kennedy Brown (16), Emma Koabel (12) and Jadyn Donovan (10) rounded out the quartet of double-digit scorers for the Blue Devils.
Jackson and Koabel combined for nine of the Blue Devils' 14 makes from deep, Jackson going 5-of-11 while Koabel hit four of her seven attempts. Both were career highs for the sophomores.
Duke has now made at least one three-pointer in 179 straight games. This season, the Blue Devils have hit their triples at a 42.9-percent clip, cashing in 21-of-49 attempts.
Defensively, the Blue Devils held Coastal Carolina to just 29 percent shooting from the floor and forced the Chanticleers into 30 turnovers. The Blue Devils scored 34 points off the takeaways.
Graduate student Camilla Emsbo and freshman Jordan Wood paced all Duke players on the defensive end in steals and blocks, respectively, with Wood collecting a career-high four steals while Emsbo notched four of Duke's 12 blocks. All 10 Blue Devils registered at least one steal in the game.

FAMILY TIES: USA BASKETBALL + THE SISTERHOOD

Three members of the Duke women's basketball team share strong ties with USA Basketball -- Head coach Kara Lawson and freshmen Jadyn Donovan and Delaney Thomas.
The trio has combined for 15 gold medals -- Lawson (11 - player and coach), Donovan (3), Thomas (1).
Most recently, Donavan earned her third career gold medal as she helped Team USA to a 7-0 record, culminated by a thrilling ,69-66, win over Spain in the FIBA U19 Women's World Cup title game, to secure the team's third consecutive gold medal and 10th overall. She also won gold as a member of the 2022 FIBA U17 Women's World Cup and 2021 FIBA U16 Americas Championship teams -- playing alongside Thomas on the latter.
Lawson picked up the 11th gold medal of her career, and eighth as a coach, in the late summer of 2022 as an assistant coach with USA Basketball at the 2022 FIBA Women's World Cup.
She has helped lead USA Basketball 3x3 teams to seven gold medals since 2017, including Olympic Gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the inaugural Olympic 3x3 tournament.
Lawson was tabbed the 2021 USA Basketball 3x3 Coach of the Year for her accomplishments at the Tokyo games, while also becoming the first individual to win an Olympic gold medal as an athlete (2008) and as a USA 3x3 coach (2020).

X'S AND O'S: LAWSON HOSTS FIRST COACHES CLINIC THIS WEEKEND

It's a busy weekend for the Duke women's basketball team. In addition to its exhibition against the USA Basketball Women's National Team, head coach Kara Lawson will hold her inaugural coaches clinic on Sunday, Nov. 12 in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Attendees will have the opportunity to learn from Coach Lawson and her coaching staff, along with guest speakers, about leadership, X's and O's and the game of basketball.
More than 225 high school and youth coaches are expected to attend the clinic.

GETTING' BACK ON THE MAP: DUKE MAKIN' WAVES ON THE RECRUITING TRAIL

Duke women's basketball unveiled its 2024 freshman class Thursday morning as the Blue Devils announced the signings of Louann Battiston, Jenessa Cotton, Toby Fournier and Arianna Roberson during the NCAA's early signing period.
The Blue Devils landed a top-10 prospect for the second consecutive year and their seventh top-30 prospect in the past three.
Battiston will enroll at Duke early and join the Blue Devils in January of 2024 to be on campus with the team. The trio of Cotton, Fournier and Roberson are slated to step foot in Durham later in 2024.
With the early signing period set to wrap up on Nov. 15, the Blue Devils have all but locked up a top-10 recruiting class nationally with the potential for the class to be ranked higher, depending on how the rest of the week shakes out.
As of Nov. 11, no team in women's college basketball has signed more players ranked in the top 30, per espnW of their respective recruiting class, over the last three seasons than Duke. The Blue Devils share the top spot with South Carolina having signed seven top-30 prospects each during this stretch, with UConn and UCLA right behind with six apiece.

UP NEXT
Duke makes the trek to the Big Apple where the Blue Devils will face Columbia Tuesday, Nov. 14 in their first road tilt of the season. The game is set for a 6 p.m. tipoff, live on ESPN+

To stay up to date with Duke women's basketball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWBB."

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