The Chronicle's Duke women's basketball 2021-22 season preview

Duke is set for its 2021-22 campaign.
Duke is set for its 2021-22 campaign.

It’s been too long since the Duke faithful have gotten to see the Blue Devils in action for a full season. 

After the team opted to cancel their season last year due to COVID-19 concerns, Duke is back and ready for a full season. Head coach Kara Lawson is entering her second season as head coach, but this will be her first year playing a full schedule when the season tips off Nov. 9 against Winthrop. 

Duke showed promise in the four games it played last season, and now we will get to see how Lawson builds off the foundation she created in the limited contests. She'll have to do it against Duke's usual ACC opponents with a couple high-profile nonconference games against South Carolina and Iowa during the winter. 

There’s a lot of new faces on the roster, but senior Onome Akinbode-James returns for her fourth season as a Blue Devil after a journey from Nigeria to Durham. And just how did Lawson and her staff bring all these transfers to Durham? Spoiler: academics and an opportunity to play for Lawson played a big role. 

There’s been some fun off the court in the offseason too, with Miela Goodchild, Jiselle Havas and Vanessa de Jesus starting a food blog during the pandemic to review local restaurants in Durham. 

With all these new roster additions, Lawson has some decisions to make with what kind of offense she wants to run. Will she roll with a scheme heavy on Princeton and pistol principles? Or should Lawson go with a four-out, one-in offense?

If you’re looking for more Duke content, check out our breakdown of every player on this year’s roster. 

We’ll be here all year long covering the team, and to stay up to date with our coverage follow along @chroniclesports on Twitter. Don’t forget to check out our beats’ season predictions here

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