# 2021–22 Duke Blue Devils women's basketball team

The 2021–22 Duke Blue Devils women's basketball team represented Duke University during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Blue Devils were led by second year head coach Kara Lawson and played their home games at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Blue Devils finished the season 17–13 overall and 7–11 in ACC play to finish in tenth place. As the tenth seed in the ACC tournament, they defeated Pittsburgh in the First Round before losing to seventh seed Miami in the Second Round. They were not invited to the NCAA tournament or the WNIT despite being ranked as high as No. 15 during the regular season.

## Previous season

On December 25, 2020, it was announced that the team would end their season due to COVID-19 concerns.
The Blue Devils finished the season 3–1, and 0–1 in ACC play. Due to their season cancellation they did not participate in the ACC tournament, NCAA tournament or WNIT.

## Off-season
### Departures

Departures :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Jaida Patrick | 0 | G/F | 5'10" | Sophomore | West Haverstraw, New York | Transferred to Columbia |
| Jada Claude | 4 | G/F | 6'0" | Sophomore | Fayetteville, Georgia | Transferred to Morehead State |
| Sara Anastasieska | 11 | G | 5'11" | Graduate Student | Sydney, Australia | Transferred to Illinois |
| Mikayla Boykin | 12 | G | 5'9" | Senior | Clinton, North Carolina | Transferred to Charlotte |
| Uchenna Nwoke | 13 | C | 6'6" | Junior | Grand Prairie, Texas | Left team |
| Jennifer Ezeh | 22 | F | 6'3" | Sophomore | Nibo, Nigeria | Transferred to Missouri State |
| Jayda Adams | 32 | G | 6'0" | Senior | Irvine, California | Transferred to Cal State Northridge |

### Incoming transfers

Incoming Transfers :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Celeste Taylor | 0 | G | 5'11" | Junior | Valley Stream, New York | Texas |
| Elizabeth Balogun | 4 | G/F | 6'1" | Senior | Chattanooga, Tennessee | Louisville |
| Jordyn Oliver | 11 | G | 5'10" | Junior | Prosper, Texas | Baylor |
| Amaya Finklea-Guity | 22 | C | 6'4" | Graduate Student | Dorchester, Massachusetts | Syracuse |
| Imani Lewis | 23 | F | 6'1" | Senior | Willingboro, New Jersey | Wisconsin |
| Nyah Green | 31 | G | 6'1" | Junior | Allen, Texas | Louisville |
| Lexi Gordon | 34 | G/F | 6'0" | Graduate Student | Fort Worth, Texas | Texas Tech |
| Emma Schmidt | 45 | G | 5'9" | Graduate Student | Waukee, Iowa | TCU |

### Recruiting Class

Source:
US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Shayeann Day-Wilson G | Toronto, Canada | Crestwood Prep | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 93 ||||||
| Lee Volker G | Purcellville, Virginia | St. Paul VI | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: ||||||

## Schedule

Source
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 4, 2021* 7:00 p.m. | | Wingate | W 86–50 | – | Cameron Indoor Stadium (0) Durham, NC |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 9, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Wintrhop | W 95–39 | 1–0 | Cameron Indoor Stadium (2,473) Durham, NC |
| November 12, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Dayton | W 70–56 | 2–0 | University of Dayton Arena (2,570) Dayton, OH |
| November 14, 2021* :00 p.m., ACCNX | | UNC Wilmington | W 87–45 | 3–0 | Cameron Indoor Stadium (2,649) Durham, NC |
| November 21, 2021* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | vs. Alabama Maggie Dixon Classic | W 74–71 | 4–0 | Schollmaier Arena (2,146) Fort Worth, TX |
| November 24, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Appalachian State | W 73–65 | 5–0 | Cameron Indoor Stadium (2,533) Durham, NC |
| November 28, 2021* 2:00 p.m., ACCN | | Troy | W 91–75 | 6–0 | Cameron Indoor Stadium (2,516) Durham, NC |
| December 2, 2021* 9:00 p.m., ESPN | | No. 9 Iowa ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge | W 79–64 | 7–0 | Cameron Indoor Stadium (3,064) Durham, NC |
| December 5, 2021* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Pennsylvania | W 77–55 | 8–0 | The Palestra (450) Philadelphia, PA |
| December 15, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 15 | No. 1 South Carolina | L 46–55 | 8–1 | Cameron Indoor Stadium (5,451) Durham, NC |
| December 19, 2021 Noon, ACCN | No. 15 | at Miami (FL) | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Watsco Center Coral Gables, FL |
| December 21, 2021* Noon, ESPN+ | No. 16 | at Charleston Southern | W 78–35 | 9–1 | Buccaneer Field House (602) North Charleston, SC |
| December 30, 2021 8:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 15 | at Virginia Tech | L 55–77 | 9–2 (0–1) | Cassell Coliseum (1,664) Blacksburg, VA |
| January 2, 2022 2:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 15 | No. 17 Notre Dame | W 72–70 | 10–2 (1–1) | Cameron Indoor Stadium (3,354) Durham, NC |
| January 6, 2022 2:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 17 | No. 16 Georgia Tech | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, NC |
| January 9, 2022 2:00 p.m., ACCRSN | No. 17 | at Syracuse | W 74–65 | 11–2 (2–1) | Carrier Dome (1,133) Syracuse, NY |
| January 13, 2022 6:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 16 | Virginia Tech | L 54–65 | 11–3 (2–2) | Cameron Indoor Stadium (2,209) Durham, NC |
| January 16, 2022 4:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 16 | at No. 4 NC State Rivalry | L 60–84 | 11–4 (2–3) | Reynolds Coliseum (5,500) Raleigh, NC |
| January 18, 2022 2:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 21 | at Miami (FL) Rescheduled from Dec. 19, 2021 | W 58–49 | 12–4 (3–3) | Watsco Center (1,443) Coral Gables, FL |
| January 23, 2022 6:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 21 | Virginia | W 57–48 | 13–4 (4–3) | Cameron Indoor Stadium (2,126) Durham, NC |
| January 27, 2022 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 21 | North Carolina Rivalry | L 62–78 | 13–5 (4–4) | Cameron Indoor Stadium (4,954) Durham, NC |
| January 30, 2022 3:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 21 | at No. 5 Louisville | L 65–77 | 13–6 (4–5) | KFC Yum! Center (9,001) Louisville, KY |
| February 1, 2022 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | No. 12 Georgia Tech Rescheduled from Jan. 6 | L 46–59 | 13–7 (4–6) | Cameron Indoor Stadium (1,582) Durham, NC |
| February 3, 2022 6:00 p.m., ACCNX | | at Pittsburgh | W 54–39 | 14–7 (5–6) | Peterson Events Center (1,031) Pittsburgh, PA |
| February 6, 2022 6:00 p.m., ACCN | | Wake Forest | W 81–76 | 15–7 (6–6) | Cameron Indoor Stadium (2,487) Durham, NC |
| February 10, 2022 6:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Florida State | L 56–59 | 15–8 (6–7) | Cameron Indoor Stadium (2,327) Durham, NC |
| February 13, 2022 2:00 p.m., ACCRSN | | No. 5 NC State Rivalry | L 62–77 | 15–9 (6–8) | Cameron Indoor Stadium (4,956) Durham, NC |
| February 17, 2022 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | at Virginia | L 54–67 | 15–10 (6–9) | John Paul Jones Arena (1,695) Charlottesville, VA |
| February 20, 2022 2:00 p.m., ACCNX | | at Clemson | W 64–61 | 16–10 (7–9) | Littlejohn Coliseum (1,338) Clemson, SC |
| February 24, 2022 8:00 p.m., ACCRSN | | Boston College | L 51–67 | 16–11 (7–10) | Cameron Indoor Stadium (2,582) Durham, NC |
| February 27, 2022 4:00 p.m., ACCN | | at No. 18 North Carolina Rivalry | L 46–74 | 16–12 (7–11) | Carmichael Arena (5,230) Chapel Hill, NC |
| ACC Women's Tournament ||||||
| March 2, 2022 3:30 p.m., ACCRSN | (10) | vs. (15) Pittsburgh First Round | W 55–52 | 17–12 | Greensboro Coliseum (3,619) Greensboro, NC |
| March 3, 2022 6:00 p.m., ACCRSN | (10) | vs. (7) Miami (FL) Second Round | L 55–61 | 17–13 | Greensboro Coliseum (5,648) Greensboro, NC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll,. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Rankings

2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings
Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | Not ranked in previous week |
| (RV) | Received Votes |
| (NR) | Not Ranked |
Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll and AP does not release a final poll.