Duke basketball: Kara Lawson releases non-conference schedule

The non-conference schedule for Kara Lawson’s second season with Duke basketball is revealed. 

It will be the second year Kara Lawson is patrolling the sidelines for the Duke basketball program, but she is hoping to complete her first full season with the Blue Devils.

The Duke women’s basketball players made the decision to cancel the 2020-21 season after a handful of games over health and safety concerns relating to COVID-19, quickly halting the first season of Kara Lawson in Durham.

However, Lawson still had a productive year after coaching the Women’s Basketball 3×3 Team to a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

Duke will begin the season on November 4 with an exhibition game against Wingate before the regular season begins against Winthrop inside Cameron Indoor Stadium on November 9.

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It will be a short stay in Durham for the Lady Blue Devils as the team will head to Dayton for a road game on November 12 followed by a return home to face UNC-Wilmington on November 14.

Duke will then hit the road once again for a neutral site game against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Maggie Dixon Classic, hosted by the TCU Horned Frogs on November 21.

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The Lady Blue Devils will then have three straight home games against Appalachian State on November 24, Troy on November 28, and then Iowa on December 2 in the ACC vs. Big Ten Challenge.

Lawson and her team will head back on the road to play the University of Pennsylvania on December 5 before returning home to face National Championship contender South Carolina on December 15.

Duke will close its non-conference schedule with a road game against Charleston Southern on December 21.

Duke basketball hoping to improve on nearly a year’s worth of workouts

Even after the team canceled the remainder of its season last year following a 3-1 start to the year, the Lady Blue Devils still gathered as a team for practices and workouts.

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Those workouts continued into the summer and fall as Duke will look to lean on an experienced and transfer-heavy roster this year.

Kara Lawson will be looking to make her first NCAA Tournament as a head coach as well as bringing Duke back to the Big Dance for the first time since 2018.