For the second year in a row, Duke is in the Big Dance.
The Blue Devils were named a No. 7-seed in Region 3 of the NCAA tournament Sunday evening in a special ESPN broadcast. This is Duke’s second appearance in March Madness under head coach Kara Lawson, after it lost last year in the round of 32 to Colorado after being awarded a No. 3-seed.
“There's gonna be excitement, there's going to be a lot of feelings running through them. I have a ton of first-time NCAA tournament participants, all five freshmen, Mair, Emsbo, they've never played,” Lawson said Sunday.
The Blue Devils will kick off their run in the first round when they take on No. 10-seed Richmond in Columbus, Ohio. If they win, they play the winner of No. 2-seed Ohio State and No. 15-seed Maine in the second round — potentially a rematch with ex-Blue Devil Celeste Taylor.
Duke has already faced off with Richmond once this season, as the Blue Devils defeated the Spiders 83-53 in the season opener. However, the A-10 champs went on a tear from that moment, only losing four games since.
“I don't know how rare it is to play a team you’ve already played this year. But it was so long ago we could have very well played them last year. I don't remember that game too much other than all the things probably we did wrong,” Lawson said.
Duke finished seventh in the ACC at the conclusion of the regular season before losing in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament to local rival N.C. State. The group went 9-4 in nonconference play, with two of the losses coming at the hands of eventual No. 1-seeds South Carolina and Stanford, and went 11-7 in league play. It also finished No. 20 in the NET rankings, which take into consideration multiple metrics such as strength of schedule and quality of individual opponents.
Duke once again led the conference in total defense, allowing only 57.7 points per game. It also ranked fifth in the nation in blocks per game with 5.8, a stat paced by centers Kennedy Brown and Camilla Emsbo.
When the tournament begins, it will be the first game for the Blue Devils in roughly two weeks, allowing a team with limited depth time to recuperate from the slog of the regular season.
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