Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus Countdown to Craziness on October 3, 2025 at 7 p.m.
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7 p.m.
Women's Basketball
vs Countdown to Craziness
Thursday, November 7
Lynchburg, Va.
7 p.m.
Duke University
at
Liberty
Photo by: Duke Athletics
Blue Devils Open Two-Game Road Swing at Liberty
11/6/2024 6:40:00 PM | Women's Basketball
DURHAM, N.C. – No. 11 Duke gets set to embark on a two-game road trip, starting with a trip to Lynchburg, Virginia for a date with the Liberty Flames Thursday, Nov. 7. The action is set to tip off at 7 p.m., live on ESPN+.
THE OPENING TIP:
50 SEASONS OF DUKE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL:
STARTING OFF WITH A BANG:
ROLES REVERSED:
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED:
UP NEXT:
No. 11 Duke makes the trek to College Park for its first ranked contest of the year, taking on No. 18 Maryland Sunday, Nov. 10 at XFINITY Center. The game is slated for a 1 p.m. tip, live on FS1.
To stay up to date with Duke women's basketball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWBB."
Duke Centennial
In 2024, Duke celebrates its Centennial, marking one hundred years since Trinity College became Duke University. Duke will use this historic milestone to deepen the understanding of its history, inspire pride and strengthen bonds and partnerships, and prepare for a second century of continued excellence and impactful leadership. To learn more, please visit 100.duke.edu
#GoDuke
THE OPENING TIP:
- This week's matchup marks the Blue Devils' seventh game against Liberty all-time. Duke owns a 6-0 record against the Flames and sports an average margin of victory of 35.5 points.
- Duke and Liberty have squared off once previously in the Old Dominion State - Nov. 11, 2016, with the Blue Devils posting a 98-38 win.
- The Blue Devils come in fresh off a resounding, 89-36, dub over Radford in Monday's season opener. Duke was extremely balanced offensively, finishing the game with six players in double figures - Jordan Wood (13), Delaney Thomas (12), Reigan Richardson (11), Jadyn Donovan (10), Toby Fournier (10), Oluchi Okananwa (10).
- Duke's stalwart defense picked up right where it left off last season, collecting 19 steals, scoring 41 points off 34 Radford turnovers while holding the Highlanders to just 23-percent shooting for the game.
- Duke returns four starters and 11 letterwinners from its 2023-24 squad that posted a 22-12 record and advanced to the program's 18th NCAA Sweet 16, including All-ACC Second Team pick Reigan Richardson and ACC Sixth Player of the Year Oluchi Okananwa.
- The Blue Devils also welcome the nation's seventh-ranked recruiting class per espnW, headlined by 6-2 forward Toby Fournier.
- Three Duke players earned preseason honors ahead of the 2024-25 campaign - Fournier, Taina Mair and Richardson.
- Richardson was tapped to the 2025 Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Women's College Player of the Year Watch List presented by AXIA Time while also receiving a nod to the Preseason All-ACC Team.
- Mair was named to the 2025 Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Preseason Watch List, while Fournier earned a spot on the ACC Newcomer Watch List.
50 SEASONS OF DUKE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL:
- Duke is celebrating its 50th season of women's basketball in 2024-25. Dating back to its first varsity season in 1975-76, Duke has grown from its early beginnings into a national powerhouse, with each decade seeing its defining moments, standout players and historic achievements that have helped shape the program's illustrious women's basketball legacy.
- Over the past five decades, Duke has amassed over 1,000 program victories, 38 winning seasons, 20 ACC Championships (12 regular season, eight tournament), 26 NCAA Tournament Appearances, 18 Sweet 16's, 11 Elite Eights, four Final Fours, two NCAA Runner-up finishes, 21 All-Americans, two National Players of the Year and 35 1,000-point scorers, among numerous other accomplishments and accolades. From first varsity wins to NCAA Final Fours and All-Americans, Duke's story is one of resilience, innovation and excellence.
STARTING OFF WITH A BANG:
- The No. 11 Duke women's basketball team opened the 2024-25 with a bang as the Blue Devils parlayed an extremely balanced offensive attack and a stalwart defensive performance into a resounding, 89-36, victory over Radford Monday morning.
- Duke improved to 41-9 all-time in season openers and notched its 26th consecutive victory dating back to 1998-99 when opening the season at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
- The Blue Devils (1-0) finished the game with six players in double figures, led by Jordan Wood's 13 points and eight rebounds – both career bests. Delaney Thomas netted 12 points in her first-career start, with Reigan Richardson next in line scoring 11 of her own.
- Jadyn Donovan, Toby Fournier and Oluchi Okananwa rounded out Duke's double-digit scorers with 10 points each. Donovan paced Duke on the glass with nine boards, finishing with a near double-double.
- Emma Koabel also turned in a solid outing, tallying eight points and a career-high eight caroms in 21 minutes off the bench.
- Graduate student Vanessa de Jesus made her return to the court after missing the 2023-24 season due to injury, scoring four points and dishing two assists.
- Duke's stalwart defense picked up right where it left off last season, collecting 19 steals, scoring 41 points off 34 Radford turnovers while holding the Highlanders to just 23-percent shooting for the game.
ROLES REVERSED:
- After being one of the youngest teams in the ACC last season, Duke comes into the 2024-25 season as one of the more veteran-laden teams in terms of returning production, with the Blue Devils featuring nine rotation players back in the fold from their 2023-24 squad - tied for No. 2 with ACC newcomer Stanford.
- Statistically, the Blue Devils retained 81.5% of their scoring, 66.6% of their rebounding and 85.2% of their assist production from a season ago - No. 3, No. 4 and No. 3, respectively, among ACC teams.
- Duke's 2023-24 roster was one of the youngest in the country, with eight of the Blue Devils' 11 players underclassmen. In ACC play, Duke led the league in average total team freshmen minutes played during the season, with the Blue Devils' rookie quintet averaging 61.8 minutes per contest (of a possible 200 minutes).
- When looking at the average total number of minutes logged between freshman and sophomores combined compared to the rest of the league, Duke checked in at No. 2 in that metric with an average of 132.9 minutes, trailing only Georgia Tech (137.3 minutes). Duke also ranked third in the league in percentage of scoring by freshmen (30.7 %) and second in percentage of scoring by freshmen and sophomores combined (64.1 %).
- The only schools with better production than the Blue Devils in those respective metrics were Virginia -- 37.0 percent and Notre Dame -- 31.1 percent (freshmen only), and Georgia Tech -- 78.0 percent (freshmen + sophomores).
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED:
- The Blue Devils face another challenging non-conference slate this season in preparation for ACC play, the schedule comprised of five true road games and six contests against teams that played in the 2024 NCAA Tournament or WNIT.
- Duke hits the road for tilts at Liberty (11.7), Maryland (11.10), South Dakota State (11.17), South Carolina (12.5) and South Florida (12.21). Duke also hosts Belmont Nov. 21 before heading to Vegas to play Kansas State (11.25) in the opening game of the Ball Dawgs Classic.
- The challenging schedule is no surprise for Duke, as the squad's out-of-conference slate has gotten progressively tougher each year under Coach Lawson. The Blue Devils' 2023-24 Strength of Schedule (SOS) checked in at No. 3 nationally, seven spots higher than their No. 10-ranking at the end of the 2022-23 campaign.
UP NEXT:
No. 11 Duke makes the trek to College Park for its first ranked contest of the year, taking on No. 18 Maryland Sunday, Nov. 10 at XFINITY Center. The game is slated for a 1 p.m. tip, live on FS1.
To stay up to date with Duke women's basketball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWBB."
Duke Centennial
In 2024, Duke celebrates its Centennial, marking one hundred years since Trinity College became Duke University. Duke will use this historic milestone to deepen the understanding of its history, inspire pride and strengthen bonds and partnerships, and prepare for a second century of continued excellence and impactful leadership. To learn more, please visit 100.duke.edu
#GoDuke
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