For The First Time In The Kara Lawson Era, Kara Era As They Refer To It The Duke Women's Basketball Program Is Ranked In The AP Top 25 Poll Because They're Ranked 19th This Week!
Kara Lawson has many titles to her name!
What are they?
WNBA Player, Broadcaster, Assistant Coach!
She played 13 seasons in the WNBA where she she averaged 9.8 points (41.4% FG, 39.0% 3-PT), 2.6 rebounds, and 2.5 assists over 377 career games with the Sacramento Monarchs, Connecticut Sun, and Washington Mystics from 2003 to 2015. In addition to her WNBA career, which included a championship with the Monarchs in 2005 and an All-Star appearance in 2007, Lawson was a member of the Team USA roster that captured the gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. “according to https://www.nba.com/celtics/roster/coaches/kara-lawson
She was an analyst for Washington as well as working for ESPN as a game and studio analyst for both Men’s and Women’s College Basketball as well as the NBA.
On July 11, 2020 Kara Lawson added another title to her name!
What was it?
Head Coach!
Though her first season as Head Coach of the Duke Women’s Basketball Program in 2020-2021 was brief!
Why?
Because the Duke Women’s Women’s Basketball Program had a record of 3-1 before they decided as a team to shutdown the season because of coronavirus concerns.
This season in 2021-2022 the Duke Women’s Basketball Program for the time in the Kara Lawson Era, Kara Era as they refer to it the Duke Women’s Basketball Program has an 8-0 record and is ranked in the AP Top 25 poll.
Where are they ranked!
19th!
There most recent game?
A 77-55 win over Penn on Sunday in Philadelphia Pennsylvania!
In that game A total of 12 different Blue Devils scored on Sunday as the Duke women's basketball team collected a 77-55 victory on the road at Penn in The Palestra in Philadelphia, Pa.
Duke (8-0) was led by freshman Shayeann Day-Wilson with a team-high 14 points, while Elizabeth Balogun added 13 points on the afternoon. Junior Celeste Taylor added eight points, nine rebounds, two assists, two steals and one blocked shot in only 25 minutes.
The Blue Devils got off to a hot start in the first quarter, hitting 66.7 percent from the field to grab a 22-5 lead. The Duke defense was solid and held the Quakers without a field goal until the 4:30 mark, while the Blue Devil offense jumped out to an 8-0 advantage. Eight different Duke players scored in the period, led by Jade Williams and Lexi Gordon with four each.
Once again, Day-Wilson came off the bench on fire for the Blue Devils. The rookie hit her first three 3-point attempts as Duke went ahead, 38-15, with 2:49 remaining in the second quarter. The Blue Devils cooled off for the remainder of the period and went 1-of-8 from the field to close the quarter, while Penn went on a 10-2 run to cut the halftime lead to 40-25, in favor of Duke.
Day-Wilson paced the Blue Devils with nine points, while Taylor and senior Miela Goodchild added five each. Duke hit 50.0 percent from the field over the first 20 minutes.
Penn kept cutting into the Blue Devil lead in the third quarter and got the Duke advantage down to 11 a couple of times. The Blue Devils closed the third on a 13-1 run and limited Penn to 1-of-8 from the floor to hold a 59-36 lead heading into the final frame.
Duke closed strong in the fourth quarter and played several players off the bench on its way to securing the victory.
Day-Wilson, a native of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, continued her hot streak hitting 4-of-6 treys, while dishing three assists and grabbing three rebounds in 25 minutes.
Before that game though the Duke Women’s Basketball Program knocked then 9th ranked Iowa in the ACC/ Big Ten Challenge on Thursday December 2, 2021 by a of 79-64!
In that win he Duke women's basketball team grabbed a win against its first ranked opponent of the season, as the Blue Devils earned a 79-64 victory over the ninth-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes in front of a raucous crowd Thursday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
For the second consecutive game, freshman Shayeann Day-Wilson led the charge for the Blue Devils (7-0). The rookie totaled 19 points to go with four rebounds and team high four assists. Junior Celeste Taylor scored 17 points and grabbed a team-high 13 boards to collect her second straight and sixth career double-double.
Offensively, Duke controlled the pace of play for most of the game. The Blue Devils led for 33 of the 40 minutes and outscored the Hawkeyes in each quarter. On the defensive end, Duke made Iowa work for every shot and held the visitors to its lowest point total of the season.
Iowa struck first and reached an 8-2 apex, but a 7-0 response by the Blue Devils put them ahead, 10-8. Jade Williams started the run with an old fashioned three-point play and a layup off a nice feed from Lexi Gordon before Day-Wilson capped off the sequence with a deep triple. The teams traded buckets through the remainder of the period, with Duke holding a four-point lead at the end of one.
The Blue Devil defense tightened up in the second and held Iowa to 5-of-12 shooting from the floor, while forcing six turnovers. On the offensive end, Duke steadily built its lead with baskets from Day-Wilson, Taylor and Gordon. The nine-point lead forced Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder to call a timeout. Day-Wilson gave the Blue Devils their first double-digit lead of the game, 34-24, after burying another from distance. The Hawkeyes pulled within six following back-to-back baskets by Caitlin Clark and Kate Martin, but a strong drive and finish in the paint by Gordon gave Duke a 36-28 lead at the break.
Day-Wilson led the Blue Devils after 20 minutes with 10 first half points and three assists, while Taylor added six points and four boards. Gordon and Williams also chipped in four points apiece.
Duke continued to play stifling defense in the third as it held the visitors to 26 percent (5-of-19) shooting and began to create more separation between itself and Iowa. Gordon's offensive rebound and putback keyed an 8-0 run early in third that extended the lead to 14 and forced another Hawkeye timeout. The Blue Devils led by as many as 18 in the third and maintained a 13-point lead heading into the final frame.
Iowa made a couple attempts at a fourth quarter rally, pulling within 11 and 10 points on two occasions. That would be the closest it would get as each time, Duke had an answer. The Hawkeyes began to play the foul game as they attempted to prolong the game, but the Blue Devils sunk nine free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.
“according to an article on goduke.com”
Next Wednesday that ranking will be put to the test when the Duke Women’s Basketball welcomes topped South Carolina to Durham.
Though,
Duke’s ranking could change or stay the same in between now and then because the new poll comes out every Monday!