Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus Countdown to Craziness on October 3, 2025 at 7 p.m.
/
7 p.m.
Women's Basketball
vs Countdown to Craziness
Friday, March 3
Greensboro, N.C.
6:00 PM
Duke University
vs
North Carolina
Photo by: Duke Athletics
No. 2 Seed Duke to Open 2023 Ally ACC Tournament Against No. 7 Seed UNC
3/2/2023 11:35:00 PM | Women's Basketball
THE OPENING TIP
BALLIN' LIKE ITS MARCH MADNESS
TAYLOR CROWNED ACC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
SHARING THE WEALTH
DISRUPTING THE PEACE – ELITE BLUE DEVIL DEFENSE
UPTICK IN EFFICIENCY
DUKE IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
UP NEXT
Should the Blue Devils win, they will face the winner of No. 3 Virginia Tech and No. 6 Miami on Saturday, March 4 at 2:30 p.m., live on ACC Network.
To stay up to date with Duke women's basketball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWBB."
#GoDuke
- With the regular season in the rearview mirror, Duke turns its attention to the post season, beginning with the ACC Tournament this week in Greensboro, N.C.
- Having earned the No. 2 seed in the ACC Tournament, the Blue Devils open tournament play against No. 7 seed North Carolina on Friday, March 3 at 6 p.m., live on ACC Network.
- Senior Celeste Taylor was crowned the 2023 ACC Defensive Player of the Year, while also earning nods to the All-ACC First Team and All-Defensive Team.
- Taylor becomes the fifth Blue Devil (nine honors) to earn ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors, joining Lindsey Harding (2006, '07), Chante Black (2008), Elizabeth Williams (2012-15) and Lexie Brown (2018).
- Duke head coach Kara Lawson was named to the 2023 Werner Ladder Naismith Women's Coach of the Year Late Season Watch List.
- Duke finished the regular season with a 24-5 overall record and a 14-4 mark in ACC play, good for second place in the league.
- The 24 wins are a program-best dating back to the 2017-18 season while the 14 conference victories are the most since 2012-13.
- Duke is slotted No. 13 in the Week 17 Associated Press (AP) and No. 12 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. In the latest NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings, Duke is slotted ninth (as of March 2).
- 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 15 of them to 50 points or less.
- Duke has held its foes to 50.9 points per game on 34.8 percent shooting from the floor, marks that currently rank third and seventh in the NCAA, respectively, as well as first in the ACC (as of March 2).
- The Blue Devils have received a huge lift from their reserves, averaging 23.6 points off the bench.
- Friday's game marks the 106th all-time meeting between Duke and North Carolina at the varsity level, with the Tar Heels holding a slim, 54-51, lead in the series after winning both regular season matchups this season.
- The Tobacco Road rivals will square off for the 15th time in the ACC Tournament with Duke holding a 7-6 advantage all times. The Blue Devils took the last matchup back in 2014 - a 66-61 win in the semifinals.
BALLIN' LIKE ITS MARCH MADNESS
- With the regular season in the rearview mirror, Duke turns its attention to the post season, beginning with the ACC Tournament this weekend at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C.
- The Blue Devils own a 49-36 overall record in the ACC Tournament and have won at least one game in 24 out of the last 27 appearances.
- When the ACC Tournament shifted to Greensboro in 2000, Duke's luck in the postseason changed greatly as the Blue Devils won 17 consecutive games to claim the ACC Tournament crowns from 2000-04 before losing to North Carolina in the championship in 2005.
- Duke has recorded a 40-14 ledger playing at the Greensboro Coliseum, which has been nicknamed Duke's "Home Away From Home."
- The first two victories came in 1999 in the NCAA East Regional against Old Dominion and Tennessee. The victories advanced Duke to its first NCAA Final Four and National Championship game appearance.
- In ACC Tournament games, the Blue Devils have posted a 38-13 overall record in Greensboro.
TAYLOR CROWNED ACC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
- Celeste Taylor was crowned the 2023 ACC Defensive Player of the Year, while also earning nods to the All-ACC First Team and All-Defensive Team.
- Taylor becomes the fifth Blue Devil (nine honors) to earn ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors, joining Lindsey Harding (2006, '07), Chante Black (2008), Elizabeth Williams (2012-15) and Lexie Brown (2018). Her nod to the all-conference first team and all-defensive team gives Duke 37 All-ACC First Team selections and 26 ACC All-Defense Team accolades, respectively.
- An instrumental part in helping the Duke women's basketball team boast one of the nation's top defenses throughout the season, Taylor leads the squad in total steals (58) and steals per game (2.0) – both marks that check in at fifth in the ACC.
- A Naismith Women's Basketball Defensive Player of the Year Semifinalist, Taylor has tallied two-plus steals in 16 games this season, including eight games with three or more thefts and three games with at least five takeaways.
- The Valley Stream, N.Y., product is seventh nationally in defensive win shares with an average of 3.5 per 40 minutes while her player defensive rating of 73.0 is good for 32nd in the country out of 3,469 players.
- Along with Taylor, the ACC All-Defensive Team includes Dyaisha Fair (Syracuse), Elizabeth Kitley (Virginia Tech), Mykasa Robinson (Louisville) and Makayla Timpson (Florida State).
- Taylor joined the ranks of 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.
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 67.7 percent (43.8 points) of the team's 64.7 points per game.
- Taylor has reached double digits in 19 of the 29 games this season followed by Balogun with 14 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 11.8 points per game with Balogun (10.0) and Day-Wilson (8.6) right behind in second and third. Richardson and Brown round out the group with 6.8 and 6.6 points a contest, respectively.
- Duke's depth has been on full display as the Blue Devils have featured seven different leading scorers through 29 games this season, with Taylor (10), Balogun (7), 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 (24.1), Brown (24.0) and Balogun (22.8).
- Duke has assisted on 410 of its 708 made field goals (.579) for an average of 14.1 dimes per game.
- As a team, the Blue Devils rank second in the ACC in turnover margin (+3.17), third in three-point field goal percentage (.329) and fourth in scoring margin (+13.79).
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 50.9 points per game on a 34.8-percent clip from the field.
- Those marks check in at third and seventh in the NCAA, respectively, as well as first in the ACC (as of March 2).
- Duke is also tied for fourth in Defensive Rating, allowing its opponents just 0.668 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 15 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 (5.14), defensive rebounding percentage (.744), rebounding defense (31.38), rebound margin (6.76) 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 averaged 12.2 points on 39.1 percent from the floor and 34.5 percent from distance during ACC play.
- She scored double figures in 12-of-18 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 raised her play once 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 averaged 9.7 points on 39.0 percent from the field and 36.7 percent from deep.
DUKE IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
- Duke checks in at No. 13 in the Week 17 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 ninth nationally (as of March 2), second in the ACC, with a home record of 13-1, a 10-3 mark in true road contests and a 1-1 record in neutral site games.
- With an average opponent NET ranking of five, the Blue Devils are 7-5 this season against teams ranked in the top 50 of the NET Rankings and 17-5 against the top 100, including wins over Notre Dame (No. 6), Virginia Tech (No. 12), NC State (No. 18), Louisville (No. 27), FGCU (No. 37) and Miami (No. 49). Duke's five losses have come against UConn, Florida State, North Carolina and Virginia Tech - the first three checking in at No. 5, No. 20 and No. 23, respectively, in the NET.
UP NEXT
Should the Blue Devils win, they will face the winner of No. 3 Virginia Tech and No. 6 Miami on Saturday, March 4 at 2:30 p.m., live on ACC Network.
To stay up to date with Duke women's basketball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWBB."
#GoDuke
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Women's Basketball
C
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballWomen's Basketball Season Ticket Holder Tailgate
Sunday, September 07
Duke WBB: Kara Lawson - 13 Gold Medals. One Standard
Thursday, August 14
Duke WBB Postgame: NCAA Tournament Elite Eight
Sunday, March 30
Duke WBB Postgame: NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen
Friday, March 28
