2025–26 Duke Blue Devils women's basketball team

2025–26 Duke Blue Devils women's basketball
2025–26 Duke Blue Devils women's basketball
ACC regular season & tournament champions
NCAA tournament
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 10
AP	No. 8
Record	26–8 (16–2 ACC)
Head coach	Kara Lawson (6th season);
Associate head coach	Tia Jackson (6th season)
Assistant coaches	Kyra Elzy (2nd season); Karen Lange (4th season); Karen Middleton (3rd season); Pierre Miller (3rd season);
Home arena	Cameron Indoor Stadium

2025–26 ACC women's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 8 Duke †	16	–	2	.889	26	–	8	.765
No. 13 Louisville	15	–	3	.833	28	–	7	.800
No. 15 North Carolina	14	–	4	.778	28	–	7	.800
NC State	13	–	5	.722	21	–	11	.656
No. 22 Notre Dame	12	–	6	.667	23	–	10	.697
Virginia Tech	12	–	6	.667	23	–	10	.697
Syracuse	12	–	6	.667	24	–	8	.750
Virginia	11	–	7	.611	21	–	11	.656
Clemson	11	–	7	.611	21	–	12	.636
California	9	–	9	.500	21	–	14	.600
Georgia Tech	8	–	10	.444	14	–	19	.424
Miami (FL)	8	–	10	.444	18	–	15	.545
Stanford	8	–	10	.444	21	–	13	.618
Florida State	5	–	13	.278	10	–	21	.323
Wake Forest	4	–	14	.222	14	–	18	.438
SMU	2	–	16	.111	9	–	21	.300
Pittsburgh	1	–	17	.056	8	–	23	.258
Boston College	1	–	17	.056	5	–	26	.161

† 2026 ACC tournament winner As of March 22, 2026 Rankings from AP Poll

The 2025–26 Duke Blue Devils women's basketball team represents Duke University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Blue Devils are led by sixth-year head coach Kara Lawson and play their home games at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Previous season

The Blue Devils finished the regular season 23–7 overall and 14–4 in ACC play to finish in third place. As the third seed in the ACC tournament, earned a bye into the Quarterfinals where they defeated sixth seed Louisville, 61–48. They defeated second seed and sixth ranked Notre Dame 61–56 in the Semifinals. They won the final 76–62 over top seed, seventh ranked, rival NC State.^[1] The Blue Devils defeated three teams they lost to during the regular season on the way to their tournament title. Sophomore Oluchi Okananwa was named tournament MVP and Ashlon Jackson was named to the All-Tournament First Team.^[2] As tournament champions, they received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and were the two-seed in the Birmingham 2 region. They defeated fifteen seed Lehigh and ten seed Oregon at home to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. There they faced three seed and twelfth ranked North Carolina for a third time this season. After splitting the regular season games 1–1, Duke prevailed in the tournament to advance to the Elite Eight. There they lost to first seed and second ranked South Carolina 54–50 to end their season. The Blue Devils finished the season with a 29–8 record, and ranked seventh in both the AP and Coaches polls. Their 29 wins were the most since 2012–13.

Off-season

Departures

Departures
Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Vanessa de Jesus	2	G	5'8"	Graduate Student	Valencia, California	Graduated; transferred to Notre Dame^[3]
Oluchi Okananwa	5	G	5'10"	Sophomore	Boston, Massachusetts	Transferred to Maryland^[4]
Louann Battiston	7	G	5'5"	Sophomore	Montigny-le-Tilleul, Belgium	Transferred to Rice^[5]
Reigan Richardson	24	G	5'11"	Senior	Charlotte, North Carolina	Graduated
Jenessa Cotton	42	F	6'2"	Freshman	Orange, California	Transferred to Kansas State^[6]

Incoming transfers

Incoming transfers
Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Previous school
Hailey Johnson	42	F	5'11"	Graduate Student	Coto de Caza, California	Pepperdine^[7]

Recruiting class

Source:^[8]

College recruiting information
Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight
Emilee Skinner G	Providence, Utah	Ridgeline High School	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	N/A
Emilee Skinner G	Recruit ratings: ESPN: (97)
Anna Wikstrom G	Bergen, Norway	Ulriken Eagles	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	N/A
Anna Wikstrom G	Recruit ratings: ESPN: (NR)
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, 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:

Roster

2025–26 Duke Blue Devils women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G/F	2	Jadyn Donovan	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Jr	Sidwell Friends	Washington, D.C.
G	3	Ashlon Jackson	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Sr	Hardin-Jefferson	China, TX
G	4	Riley Nelson	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	RS So	Bullis School Maryland	Clarksburg, MD
G	5	Emilee Skinner	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Fr	Ridgeline	Providence, UT
F	12	Delaney Thomas	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Jr	St. John's College	Charles Town, WV
F	13	Jordan Wood	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	Jr	Carmel	Chicago, IL
G	15	Emma Koabel	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	Sr	Niagara Prep	Port Colborne, ON
C	21	Arianna Roberson	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	RS Fr	Clark	San Antonio, TX
G	22	Taina Mair	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	Sr	Brooks School Boston College	Boston, MA
G	25	Anna Wikstrom	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	Fr	Ulriken Eagles	Bergen, Norway
F	35	Toby Fournier	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	So	Crestwood Prep	Toronto, Canada
F	42	Hailey Johnson	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	GS	JSerra Catholic Pepperdine	Coto de Caza, CA
G	53	Olivia Martin	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)	So	Quince Orchard	Gaithersburg, MD

Head coach

Kara Lawson (Tennessee)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: September 23, 2025

Schedule and results

Source:^[9]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular Season
November 3, 2025* 12:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 7	vs. No. 16 Baylor Oui-Play	L 52–58	0–1	16 – Fournier	10 – Fournier	4 – Mair	Adidas Arena (5,712) Paris, France
November 9, 2025* 1:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 7	Holy Cross	W 91–48	1–1	27 – Fournier	13 – Thomas	7 – Mair	Cameron Indoor Stadium (2,788) Durham, NC
November 12, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 15	Norfolk State	W 83–32	2–1	18 – Mair	8 – Wood	5 – Skinner	Cameron Indoor Stadium (2,140) Durham, NC
November 14, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPNU	No. 15	vs. West Virginia Greenbrier Tip-Off	L 49–57	2–2	10 – Mair	6 – Roberson	6 – Jackson	Colonial Hall (1200) White Sulphur Springs, WV
November 16, 2025* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+	No. 15	at Liberty	W 71–57	3–2	18 – Fournier	11 – Roberson	7 – Mair	Liberty Arena (2,404) Lynchburg, VA
November 20, 2025* 8:00 p.m., ESPNU		at South Florida	L 72–85	3–3	19 – Mair	9 – Mair	3 – Mair	Yuengling Center (2,772) Tampa, FL
November 26, 2025* 4:30 p.m, TruTV		vs. No. 2 South Carolina Players Era Women's Championship Semifinal	L 66–83	3–4	16 – Fournier	7 – Tied	8 – Mair	Michelob Ultra Arena Las Vegas, NV
November 27, 2025* 10:30 p.m., TruTV		vs. No. 3 UCLA Players Era Women's Championship Consolation Game	L 59–89	3–5	18 – Jackson	10 – Fournier	8 – Mair	Michelob Ultra Arena Las Vegas, NV
December 4, 2025* 9:00 p.m., ESPN		No. 5 LSU ACC–SEC Challenge	L 77–93	3–6	16 – Jackson	7 – Mair	7 – Mair	Cameron Indoor Stadium (4,871) Durham, NC
December 7, 2025 2:00 p.m., ACCN		at Virginia Tech	W 70–54	4–6 (1–0)	19 – Fournier	9 – Fournier	4 – Nelson	Cassell Coliseum (4,797) Blacksburg, VA
December 18, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ACCN		South Dakota State	W 97–54	5–6	22 – Mair	9 – Fournier	7 – Nelson	Cameron Indoor Stadium (2,493) Durham, NC
December 20, 2025* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Belmont	W 76–46	6–6	26 – Fournier	16 – Fournier	8 – Jackson	Curb Event Center (1,154) Nashville, TN
December 28, 2025 4:00 p.m., ACCN		at Syracuse	W 71–51	7–6 (2–0)	22 – Fournier	12 – Roberson	6 – Mair	JMA Wireless Dome (3,881) Syracuse, NY
January 1, 2026 1:00 p.m., ACCNX		Boston College	W 100–49	8–6 (3–0)	20 – Nelson	8 – Tied	7 – Jackson	Cameron Indoor Stadium (2,882) Durham, NC
January 4, 2026 12:00 p.m., ACCN		No. 18 Notre Dame	W 82–68	9–6 (4–0)	23 – Mair	12 – Thomas	6 – Mair	Cameron Indoor Stadium (4,244) Durham, NC
January 8, 2026 7:00 p.m., ACCN		at California	W 78–74	10–6 (5–0)	20 – Tied	10 – Mair	7 – Jackson	Haas Pavilion (985) Berkeley, CA
January 11, 2026 5:00 p.m., ESPN		at Stanford	W 67–60	11–6 (6–0)	19 – Thomas	6 – Tied	4 – Tied	Maples Pavilion (3,908) Stanford, CA
January 15, 2026 8:00 p.m., ACCN		Virginia	W 65–58	12–6 (7–0)	25 – Fournier	9 – Fournier	6 – Mair	Cameron Indoor Stadium (2,533) Durham, NC
January 18, 2026 6:00 p.m., ACCN		Georgia Tech	W 93–46	13–6 (8–0)	11 – Foster	7 – Turnage	3 – Turnage	Cameron Indoor Stadium (3,200) Durham, NC
January 24, 2026 4:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 21	at Pittsburgh	W 95–41	14–6 (9–0)	19 – Tied	12 – Roberson	7 – Tied	Petersen Events Center (1,233) Pittsburgh, PA
January 29, 2026 8:00 p.m., ACCN	No. 20	at Miami (FL)	W 74–58	15–6 (10–0)	23 – Fournier	11 – Fournier	6 – Tied	Watsco Center (897) Coral Gables, FL
February 1, 2026 12:00 p.m., ACCN	No. 20	Wake Forest	W 80–44	16–6 (11–0)	16 – Nelson	11 – Tied	5 – Nelson	Cameron Indoor Stadium (2,502) Durham, NC
February 5, 2026 7:00 p.m., ACCN	No. 17	at No. 6 Louisville	W 59–58	17–6 (12–0)	15 – Fournier	9 – Tied	4 – Mair	KFC Yum! Center (10,553) Louisville, KY
February 8, 2026 2:00 p.m., The CW	No. 17	SMU	W 95–36	18–6 (13–0)	26 – Fournier	16 – Roberson	10 – Jackson	Cameron Indoor Stadium (3,664) Durham, NC
February 15, 2026 1:00 p.m., ABC	No. 11	No. 21 North Carolina Rivalry	W 72–68	19–6 (14–0)	14 – Tied	12 – Fournier	7 – Mair	Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC
February 19, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 9	NC State	W 83–65	20–6 (15–0)	26 – Fournier	12 – Fournier	9 – Mair	Cameron Indoor Stadium (4,951) Durham, NC
February 22, 2026 2:00 p.m., ESPN2	No. 9	at Clemson	L 51–53	20–7 (15–1)	18 – Fournier	7 – Fournier	4 – Tied	Littlejohn Coliseum (3,218) Clemson, SC
February 26, 2026 8:00 p.m., ACCN	No. 12	Florida State	W 80–52	21–7 (16–1)	22 – Fournier	20 – Thomas	8 – Mair	Cameron Indoor Stadium (3,020) Durham, NC
March 1, 2026 12:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 12	at No. 21 North Carolina Rivalry	L 69–74	21–8 (16–2)	17 – Jackson	7 – Mair	5 – Mair	Carmichael Arena (6,319) Chapel Hill, NC
2026 Ally ACC Women's Tournament
March 6, 2026* 11:00 a.m., ACCN	(1) No. 13	vs. (9) Clemson Quarterfinals	W 60–46	22–8	17 – Fournier	10 – Fournier	4 – Jackson	Gas South Arena (8,233) Duluth, GA
March 7, 2026* 12:00 p.m., ESPN2	(1) No. 13	vs. (5) Notre Dame Semifinals	W 65–63	23–8	16 – Miar	10 – Thomas	8 – Miar	Gas South Arena (6,604) Duluth, GA
March 8, 2026* 1:00 p.m., ESPN	(1) No. 13	vs. (2) No. 12 Louisville Final	W 70–65 ^OT	24–8	19 – Tied	12 – Mair	6 – Jackson	Gas South Arena (6,592) Duluth, GA
2026 NCAA Tournament
March 20, 2026* 11:30 a.m., ESPN2	(3 S2) No. 8	(14 S2) Charleston First Round	W 81–64	25–8	24 – Fournier	9 – Thomas	9 – Jackson	Cameron Indoor Stadium (3,435) Durham, NC
March 22, 2026* 4:00 p.m., ESPN	(3 S2) No. 8	(6 S2) No. 21 Baylor Second Round	W 69–46	26–8	17 – Thomas	10 – Roberson	8 – Mair	Cameron Indoor Stadium (3,907) Durham, NC
March 27, 2026* TBA	(3 S2) No. 8	vs. (2 S2) No. 5 LSU Sweet Sixteen						Golden 1 Center Sacramento, CA
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S2=Sacramento 2. All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP	7	15	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	RV	RV	21	20	17	11	9	12	13	8	8
Coaches	6	11	24	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	—	RV	RV	RV	22	15	13	14	14	10	10

References

^ "Duke women beat NC State to capture first ACC title since 2013". ESPN. March 9, 2025. Retrieved April 9, 2025.
^ "Duke Wears ACC Crown Following Stellar Second Half". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. March 9, 2025. Retrieved March 9, 2025.
^ "De Jesus Joins Notre Dame For Graduate Season". Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website. April 22, 2025. Retrieved April 26, 2025.
^ Breiler, Chris (April 18, 2025). "Maryland lands highly coveted prospect from Duke out of transfer portal". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
^ "Edmonds Announces Addition of Louann Battiston and Myah Hazelton". riceowls.com. Rice University Athletics. April 18, 2025. Retrieved September 23, 2025.
^ Green, Arne (May 17, 2025). "Kansas State women's basketball coach Jeff Mittie adds Duke transfer to 2025-26 roster". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved September 23, 2025.
^ "Blue Devils Add Johnson, Wikstrom to Roster Ahead of 2025-26". goduke.com. Duke University Athletics. June 10, 2025. Retrieved September 23, 2025.
^ "Duke Blue Devils". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved September 23, 2025.
^ "Women's Basketball 2025-26 Schedule/Results". goduke.com. Duke Athletics. Retrieved September 23, 2025.

[1] "Duke women beat NC State to capture first ACC title since 2013". ESPN. March 9, 2025. Retrieved April 9, 2025.

[2] "Duke Wears ACC Crown Following Stellar Second Half". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. March 9, 2025. Retrieved March 9, 2025.

[3] "De Jesus Joins Notre Dame For Graduate Season". Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website. April 22, 2025. Retrieved April 26, 2025.

[4] Breiler, Chris (April 18, 2025). "Maryland lands highly coveted prospect from Duke out of transfer portal". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved July 5, 2025.

[5] "Edmonds Announces Addition of Louann Battiston and Myah Hazelton". riceowls.com. Rice University Athletics. April 18, 2025. Retrieved September 23, 2025.

[6] Green, Arne (May 17, 2025). "Kansas State women's basketball coach Jeff Mittie adds Duke transfer to 2025-26 roster". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved September 23, 2025.

[7] "Blue Devils Add Johnson, Wikstrom to Roster Ahead of 2025-26". goduke.com. Duke University Athletics. June 10, 2025. Retrieved September 23, 2025.

[8] "Duke Blue Devils". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved September 23, 2025.

[9] "Women's Basketball 2025-26 Schedule/Results". goduke.com. Duke Athletics. Retrieved September 23, 2025.

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Duke Blue Devils women's basketball
Venues	Cameron Indoor Stadium (1975–present)
Rivalries	North Carolina (Carlyle Cup)
Culture & lore	"Blue and White" "Fight! Blue Devils, Fight!"
People	Head coaches
Seasons	List of seasons 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics