# 1998–99 Duke Blue Devils women's basketball team

The 1998–99 Duke Blue Devils women's basketball team represented Duke University during the 1998–99 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. Returning as head coach was Gail Goestenkors for her 7th season at the school. The team played its home games at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They finished the season 29–7, 15–1 in ACC play to finish as regular season conference champions. They were defeated in the ACC tournament but received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Playing as No. 3 seed in the East region, the Blue Devils reached the first Final Four in program history. They advanced to the National championship game where they were beaten by No. 1 overall seed Purdue.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 13, 1998* | No. 4 | vs. No. 3 UConn Nike Four in the Fall | L 74–104 | 0–1 | San Jose Arena San Jose, California |
| Nov 14, 1998* | No. 4 | vs. No. 19 Stanford Nike Four in the Fall | W 77–57 | 1–1 | San Jose Arena San Jose, California |
| Dec 6, 1998* | No. 16 | vs. No. 3 Tennessee | L 60–74 | 5–4 | Orlando, Florida |
| Feb 14, 1999 | No. 7 | at No. 19 Clemson | L 75–80 | 21–5 (13–1) | Littlejohn Coliseum Clemson, South Carolina |
| Feb 18, 1999 | No. 8 | NC State | W 75–67 | 22–5 (14–1) | Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, North Carolina |
| Feb 21, 1999 | No. 8 | No. 12 North Carolina | W 88–78 | 23–5 (15–1) | Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, North Carolina |
| ACC tournament ||||||
| Feb 26, 1999* | (1) No. 10 | vs. (8) Florida State Semifinals | W 90–57 | 24–5 | Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Feb 28, 1999* | (1) No. 10 | vs. (3) No. 13 Clemson Championship game | L 71–76 | 24–6 | Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 13, 1999* | (3 E) No. 10 | (14 E) Holy Cross First round | W 79–51 | 25–6 | Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, North Carolina |
| March 15, 1999* | (3 E) No. 10 | (6 E) Saint Joseph's Second round | W 66–60 | 26–6 | Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, North Carolina |
| March 20, 1999* | (3 E) No. 10 | vs. (2 E) No. 5 Old Dominion Regional Semifinal – Sweet Sixteen | W 76–63 | 27–6 | Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, North Carolina |
| March 22, 1999* | (3 E) No. 10 | vs. (1 E) No. 2 Tennessee Regional Final – Elite Eight | W 69–63 | 28–6 | Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, North Carolina |
| March 26, 1999* | (3 E) No. 10 | vs. (3 ME) No. 12 Georgia National Semifinal – Final Four | W 81–69 | 29–6 | San Jose Arena (17,773) San Jose, California |
| March 28, 1999* | (3 E) No. 10 | vs. (1 MW) No. 1 Purdue National Championship Game | L 45–62 | 29–7 | San Jose Arena (17,773) San Jose, California |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll,. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||
Source

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking т = Tied with team above or below :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Final |
| AP | 4 | 6 | 20 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 т | Not released |
| Coaches | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 |
^Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll.