Duke is embracing challenging early-season schedule

“It’s always fun to play competition like this,” Richardson said following 11th-ranked Duke’s 85-80 loss to 18th-ranked and unbeaten Maryland in an early-season, non-conference showdown between former Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) rivals. “We have a lot of great players on this team who welcome these challenges and, you know, especially with the women’s game growing, being able to play tough competition is going to be good for us.”

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Duke’s challenging schedule is no surprise, as it’s the best way for fifth-year head coach Kara Lawson to measure her team. Lawson’s schedule is intentional, aiming to build a battle-tested team. Last season, Duke’s strength of schedule was third nationally, seven spots higher than its No. 10 ranking at the end of the 2022-23 campaign.

Fortunately, with four returning starters from last season’s second straight 20-win team that advanced to the Sweet 16, the Blue Devils are more than capable of exceeding expectations this season. However, the road to greatness is still under construction after three games.

After rubbing her hands through her hair before delivering her postgame remarks, Lawson understands the necessary and sometimes painful process of building a team during the season.

“I told my team you play these games for a reason,” Lawson said. “You play them because you want to learn about yourself. You want to have things revealed. You play games where you win 50 or 60, you don’t learn a ton about yourself other than you just learn you can blow people out. In these types of games, man, you learn about each player. How do they handle a top matchup? How do they handle a really good team? … Those are things I think you need to know about your group as early as possible so that you can work to fix it. Just because you know it doesn’t mean we’ll fix it by Monday. Might take us longer than that.”

November and December will test the Blue Devils before they battle ACC heavyweights Notre Dame, North Carolina State, Louisville and North Carolina. The Blue Devils’ schedule comprises five true road games and six contests against teams that played in the 2024 NCAA Tournament or WNIT.

Duke still has road games at South Dakota State (Nov. 17), reigning national champion South Carolina (Dec. 5) and South Florida (Dec. 21). Duke also hosts Belmont on Nov. 21 before heading to Vegas to play Kansas State (Nov. 25) in the opening game of the Ball Dawgs Classic.

Lawson is using the same formula that worked last season for the Blue Devils, and she reflects on that experience.

“One thing I hope we can take from last year to this year is that our team really improved through the season,” Lawson said. “If you watched us play a year ago, we had eight of 11 freshmen and sophomores. We played an ambitious schedule — just like we are again this year — and we took our hits. I mean, we got beat in the non-conference quite a bit, and then as the conference play got along, we lost some of those games too; but we figured out what our identity was and how we could win, and by the end of the year, we were a tough out and we were a team that was able to make it to that second weekend in the NCAA Tournament.

“So, if I could take one thing from last year’s team to this year’s team … can we stay a team that’s hungry for growth regardless of the result? Can we stay hungry for growth, focus better on the things in the film that we need to do and keep that big picture in mind? My big picture is different from other people’s big picture. My big picture is just us overall improving — not like a destination, not like a certain game or a certain win — just can we continue to rise as a good team through the year?”

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DMV return

This game was also strategic for Lawson, who is a DMV native (District of Columbia, Maryland and northern Virginia). Recruiting this area is critical to her program, as the current Blue Devil roster features five players from the talented hoops hotbed: sophomore Jadyn Donovan (Upper Marlboro, Md.), sophomore Riley Nelson (Clarksburg, Md.), freshman Ella Moore (Poolesville, Md.) and junior Olivia Martin (Gaithersburg, Md.). Sophomore forward Delaney Thomas played at St. John’s College High in Washington, D.C.

Reviving the storied Maryland-Duke rivalry wasn’t Lawson’s primary focus. Although she recognized the game’s significance for women’s basketball and the region, her larger goal was to support her program’s broader mission.

Maryland, however, gleefully leaned into the rivalry’s legacy. During pregame, a highlight montage repeatedly played Kristi Toliver‘s iconic game-winning 3-pointer from the 2006 national championship game that defeated Duke. Alumnae Day also brought back many former players who contributed to memorable games against Duke, and Maryland’s 2015 Final Four team — whose Sweet 16 victory over Duke featured on the Jumbotron — was honored as well.

“I’ve been trying to play here since I got the job,” Lawson said. “I’m DMV, I’m from here; by the way, what’s the Commander’s score? I grew up in Alexandria … I’ll play up in this area every year. So, I was just waiting for somebody to say yes. I called every school for four years. So, I’m thankful Maryland finally said yes … That was not because of the rivalry but because I was trying to play up in the DMV. We recruit this area really hard … So, it’s a great opportunity for our players to come back and play in front of their coaches and their families and their friends.

“That’s why we played the game. I know that’s probably not the answer you’re looking for because you probably wanted the rivalry thing. But I wasn’t here the last time they played. My players were three or four years old. Obviously, [Maryland head coach] Brenda [Frese] was here and a part of that. I’m just new here, so I wasn’t into all that. We were just happy to be up here. This game will serve as a great learning experience for us. We’re grateful to play up here.”

Richardson leading experienced Blue Devils

With 81.5% of their scoring, 66.6% of their rebounding and 85.2% of their assist production returning from last season, it’s easy to understand why expectations are sky-high for the Blue Devils, both inside and outside of the program.

In addition to Richardson — who was selected to the 2025 John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top-50 and Naismith Women’s College Player of the Year watch lists — sophomore Jadyn Donovan and juniors Ashlon Jackson and Taina Mair are returning starters.

Overall, the Blue Devils brought back 11 letter winners from a season ago and added Nelson, a Maryland transfer, in the offseason. Toby Fournier, Arianna Roberson and Jenessa Cotton headline Lawson’s second consecutive top 10 recruiting class. Unfortunately, Roberson and Nelson will miss the 2024-25 season because of injuries. Roberson, a five-star recruit, injured her knee while competing at the 2014 FIBA 3×3 under-18 World Cup in Debrecen, Hungary.

Taina Mair was selected as one of 20 candidates named to the 2025 Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Watch List. Richardson and Fournier also earned preseason ACC recognition, with Richardson earning a spot on the All-ACC Team while Fournier headlined the Newcomer Watch List. Additional optimism comes from the fact that the Blue Devils posted the ACC’s top defense for the second consecutive season under Lawson.

“We don’t really look at the outside noise,” said Richardson, a Charlotte, N.C., native who transferred to Duke after playing her freshman season at Georgia. “You kind of just stay within us, within the program, and we just move like that. We don’t look at the rankings or anything like that. So, when it comes to us, we’re just taking it one game at a time. Coach Lawson wants me to be more of a leader on the court … Just being able to lead by example from this team, and they expect a lot from me, so I just got to uphold that.”

Richardson, who, along with Jackson, has started 63 career games, embodies the Blue Devils’ sisterhood core values of hard work, resilience, accountability, discipline, selflessness and confidence. These values have helped Richardson develop into a strong, resilient leader whom her teammates trusted during challenging circumstances.

Richardson, who led Duke in scoring with a 12.4 point-per-game average last season, shined during the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament, becoming the first Duke women’s basketball player since Alana Beard to register back-to-back NCAA Tournament games of 25-plus points.

During Duke’s media day in October, Richardson smiled when she thought about how she’s growing into a leader

“It’s definitely been a journey,” Richardson said. “I’m not really one to talk much on the floor but I’ve definitely improved that skill over the years. I feel like the biggest thing for me is to help our younger players and let them know that I’m someone they can count on whenever they need help or someone they can look to when they need advice.”

Reasons for optimism

Duke never led against Maryland. After falling behind 9-0, the Blue Devils closed to within four points in each of the first three quarters, but that was it.

Overall, the experienced Blue Devils return to Durham with valuable lessons learned that they believe will make them successful. Lawson knows the basketball season is a marathon and not a sprint. She knows the goal is to be playing your best in March. As a No. 7 seed in last season’s NCAA Tournament, Duke was one of three programs seeded fifth or lower last season that made the Sweet 16.

According to postgame notes, Duke has scored at least 80 points in all three games this season, the longest streak of 80-point games to open the season since the 2014-15 campaign. Another encouraging sign for the Blue Devils this season is that they have registered assists on 55% of their baskets (49 assists, 89 baskets). Duke has also forced at least 20 turnovers in its first three games.

“Our discipline needs to be a little bit better,” Lawson said. “I thought we fouled too much, and that put us in some weird rotations. We had some players and combinations for long stretches we don’t normally have. And that’s okay because that means we’ll be better the next time we have to play an unusual lineup for long stretches. So again, like I said, all of this is just learning and growing.

“I’m so excited to be with this group at this moment. I am not excited that we lost, don’t get me wrong, but I’m encouraged by what I saw and by the different moments of success that each of them had. So, what you try to do as a coach is … expand those moments of success the next time we’re in this situation.”

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