Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus Baylor on November 3, 2025 at 12 p.m.
Women's Basketball
vs Baylor
Sunday, February 26
Durham, N.C.
12 p.m.
Duke University
vs
North Carolina
Photo by: Duke Athletics
Blue Devils Primed for Senior Day at Cameron Indoor Stadium
2/25/2023 6:57:00 PM | Women's Basketball
THE OPENING TIP
DUKE SUPER SENIORS TO BE CELEBRATED ON SUNDAY
WINNING TIMES - THE WIN DIFFERENTIAL IN ACC PLAY
SHARING THE WEALTH
DISRUPTING THE PEACE – ELITE BLUE DEVIL DEFENSE
UPTICK IN EFFICIENCY
DUKE IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
IN ELITE COMPANY
LAST TIME OUT
A QUICK LOOK AT THE TAR HEELS
UP NEXT
Duke turns its attention to the post season, beginning with the ACC Tournament set for March 1-5 in Greensboro, N.C. The tournament bracket will be released Sunday evening.
To stay up to date with Duke women's basketball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWBB."
#GoDuke
- Duke will honor its senior class this weekend as the Blue Devils put a bow on the regular season, playing host to in-state rival North Carolina Sunday, Feb. 26, at 12 p.m., live on RSN.
- Evan Lepler and Tabitha Turner will call the action for RSN while Chris Edwards calls the game on the radio on the Blue Devil Sports Network from Learfield.
- Duke head coach Kara Lawson was named to the 2023 Werner Ladder Naismith Women's Coach of the Year Late Season Watch List.
- Following Sunday's game, Duke women's basketball will celebrate its eight member senior class.
- Duke is the only Division I school to have both men's and women's basketball teams undefeated at home, combining for a 27-0 record at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
- Boasting a 24-4 overall record and a 14-3 record in ACC play, the Blue Devils are having their best overall season since 2016-17 while the 14 ACC wins are the most since 2012-13.
- With 14 wins through 17 ACC game's this year, the Blue Devils currently own the ACC's highest win differential in league play of +7.
- Duke is slotted No. 11 in the Week 16 Associated Press (AP) and No. 12 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
- Defense has been the calling card for the Blue Devils this season as the team has won each of its games by an average of 19.4 points and held each of its opponents below their season scoring average, including 14 of them to 50 points or less.
- Duke has held its foes to 51.1 points per game on 34.8 percent shooting from the floor, marks that currently rank third and eighth in the NCAA, respectively, as well as first in the ACC (as of Feb. 25).
- In the latest NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings, Duke is slotted eighth (as of Feb. 25).
- Elizabeth Balogun was one of 10 players selected to the Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year Mid-Season Top-10 list while Celeste Taylor was named to the 2023 Naismith Women's Defensive Player of the Year 2023 Watch List.
- The Blue Devils have received a huge lift from their reserves, averaging 23.6 points off the bench.
- Sunday's game marks the 104th all-time meeting between Duke and North Carolina at the varsity level, with the Tar Heels holding a slim, 53-51, lead in the series.
- North Carolina took the first matchup of the season back on Jan. 19, (61-56), as the Blue Devils' late fourth-quarter rally came up just short.
DUKE SUPER SENIORS TO BE CELEBRATED ON SUNDAY
- Following Sunday's game, Duke women's basketball will celebrate its eight member senior class.
- Elizabeth Balogun, Taya Corosdale, Mia Heide, Imani Lewis, Jordyn Oliver, Celeste Taylor, Emma Schmidt and Bo Shaffer will all be recognized for their contributions to the Sisterhood.
- An instrumental part in helping to lead the resurgence of the Duke women's basketball program, the group has combined for 41 Blue Devil victories and helped Duke produce its best overall season in recent history.
WINNING TIMES - THE WIN DIFFERENTIAL IN ACC PLAY
- Oh, what a difference a year makes. Currently in the final week of ACC regular season action, Duke women's basketball boasts the conference's highest win differential in league play.
- After winning just seven conference games during the 2021-22 campaign, the Blue Devils have posted 14 wins through 17 league games this season - currently tied for first in the ACC - for a win differential of +7.
- The other five ACC teams currently sporting a positive win differential through conference play are Syracuse (+5), Clemson (+3), Florida State (+2), Virginia (+2) and Pitt (+1).
SHARING THE WEALTH
- Duke's starting five of senior Elizabeth Balogun, junior Kennedy Brown, sophomores Shayeann Day-Wilson and Reigan Richardson and senior Celeste Taylor has provided a steady hand for the Blue Devils this season, combining for 67.8 percent (44.4 points) of the team's 65.5 points per game.
- Taylor has reached double digits in 19 of the 28 games this season followed by Balogun with 13 and Day-Wilson with 12. Richardson has tallied nine double-digit scoring efforts, followed by Brown with seven.
- Taylor leads the offensive charge for Duke, averaging 12.0 points per game with Balogun (9.9) and Day-Wilson (8.7) right behind in second and third. Richardson and Brown round out the group with 7.1 and 6.7 points a contest, respectively.
- Duke's depth has been on full display as the Blue Devils have featured seven different leading scorers through 28 games this season, with Taylor (10), Balogun (6), Day-Wilson (6), Richardson (3) and Vanessa de Jesus (2) finishing with the team-high on multiple occasions.
- The squad features 10 players averaging at least 13 minutes per game with four of them logging 20-plus minutes a contest -- Taylor (28.7), Day-Wilson (24.0), Brown (23.8) and Balogun (22.7).
- Duke has assisted on 404 of its 692 made field goals (.584) for an average of 14.4 dimes per game.
- As a team, the Blue Devils rank second in the ACC in turnover margin (+3.43) and fourth in both scoring margin (+14.43) and three-point field goal percentage (.333).
DISRUPTING THE PEACE – ELITE BLUE DEVIL DEFENSE
- Disruptive defense has been the calling card for the Blue Devils early in the season as the team ranks among the nation's elite, having held its opponents to 51.1 points per game on a 34.8-percent clip from the field.
- Those marks check in at third and eighth in the NCAA, respectively, as well as first in the ACC (as of Feb. 25).
- Duke is also tied for fourth in Defensive Rating, allowing its opponents just 0.669 points per possession.
- The Blue Devils have won each of their games by an average of 19.4 points and held each of their opponents below their season scoring average, including 14 of them to 50 points or less.
- Duke held its opponents to single digits in seven straight quarters, a stretch spanning from the 4th quarter at Notre Dame (Feb. 5) all the way through the first half against Miami (Feb. 12).
- In addition to leading the league in scoring defense and field goal percentage defense, the Blue Devils are also second in the ACC in blocks (5.18), defensive rebounding percentage (.741), rebounding defense (31.43), rebound margin (6.71) and three-point defense (.275).
UPTICK IN EFFICIENCY
- Duke's duo of Shayeann Day-Wilson and Celeste Taylor have seen an uptick in their efficiency, particularly on the offensive end.
- The team's leading scorer this season, Taylor is averaging 12.5 points on 40.1 percent from the floor and 34.6 percent from distance since the start of ACC play.
- She has scored double figures in 12-of-17 games, including a pair of 20-plus point outings against NC State (Dec. 29 - 23 pts, Feb. 23 - 21 pts) to help the Blue Devils sweep the season series against the Wolfpack.
- In non-conference play, Taylor put up 11.2 points on 44.0 percent from the floor and 29.4 percent from three.
- Day-Wilson has raised her play since the schedule transitioned to conference action, improving her scoring average as well as her shooting percentage.
- After putting up 8.8 ppg on 38.1 percent and 35.7 percent shooting splits in non-conference play, the sophomore has averaged 9.9 points on 39.5 percent from the field and 38.6 percent from deep.
DUKE IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
- Duke checks in at No. 11 in the Week 16 Associated Press (AP) and No. 12 in the USA Today Coaches Polls.
- The Blue Devils are also ranked 12th in the ESPN Women's Basketball Power Rankings.
- The latest NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings has the Blue Devils slotted eighth nationally (as of Feb. 25), second in the ACC, with an undefeated record at home (13-0), a 10-3 mark in true road contests and a 1-1 record in neutral site games.
- With an average opponent NET ranking of six, the Blue Devils are 7-4 this season against teams ranked in the top 50 of the NET Rankings and 17-4 against the top 100, including wins over Notre Dame (No. 6), Virginia Tech (No. 11), NC State (No. 19), Louisville (No. 28), FGCU (No. 47) and Miami (No. 49). Duke's four losses have come against UConn, Florida State, North Carolina and Virginia Tech - the first three checking in at No. 2, No. 17 and No. 26, respectively, in the NET.
IN ELITE COMPANY
- The Blue Devils are the only women's basketball team so far this season to shoot 100 percent from the charity stripe and 64 percent or higher from beyond the arc in the same game, according to HerHoopStats.
- Duke cashed in nine of its 14 three-point attempts and went 15-of-15 from the foul line in the win over the Wolfpack.
- After tallying 15 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals against Syracuse, Celeste Taylor joined Chelsea Gray (3X), Haley Gorecki (4X), and Lexie Brown (4X) as the only Duke women's basketball players since 2009-2010 to post multiple career games of 15+ Points, 5+ Rebounds, 4+ Assists, and 4+ Steals, according to HerHoopStats.
LAST TIME OUT
- Celeste Taylor notched her second 20-plus point outing of the season while Elizabeth Balogun tallied her third double-double of the year to lead No. 11 Duke to a convincing, 77-62, victory over NC State Thursday evening at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
- Taylor scored 10 of her game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter to pace the Blue Devil offense, also filling up the stat sheet with six rebounds, five assists and two steals. Balogun led the charge for Duke in the first half with 10 points and finished the game with 16, pairing that with a season-high 12 rebounds.
- Duke also got solid contributions from Kennedy Brown, Shayeann Day-Wilson and Reigan Richardson.
- Richardson tallied nine points, two rebounds and a block, while Brown added eight points and three boards of her own. Day-Wilson rounded out the group with seven points, five assists and three rebounds.
- Check out the full recap here.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE TAR HEELS
- No. 22 North Carolina (19-9, 10-7 ACC) enters Sunday's game following a 61-59 setback against No. 9 Virginia Tech on Thursday.
- The Tar Heels check in at No. 22 in the AP Poll and 21st in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
- North Carolina features three double-figure scorers on the squad led by Deja Kelly at 16.8 points per game. Kennedy Todd-Williams is next with 13.7 while Alyssa Ustby rounds out the trio at 13.4 points.
- Ustby paces the rebounding efforts with 8.8 boards per game while Kelly dishes out a team-leading 3.4 assists.
UP NEXT
Duke turns its attention to the post season, beginning with the ACC Tournament set for March 1-5 in Greensboro, N.C. The tournament bracket will be released Sunday evening.
To stay up to date with Duke women's basketball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWBB."
#GoDuke
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