USA 87, Duke 58
The USA Basketball Women's National Team were hosted by the Duke Blue Devils in Durham, North Carolina and recorded a 87-58 exhibition win. The game was the second of two exhibitions the USA has played in the last seven days, and bookended a three-day training camp in Atlanta.
USA Basketball, in pursuit of its eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal, continues to evaluate the 2021-24 USA Women’s National Team player pool prior to naming a team for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
View the USA-Duke box score here.
TEAM NOTES
Series Notes: Tonight’s exhibition marked just the second time Duke Women’s Basketball have played host to the USA Women’s National Team. With the win, USA is now 2-0 in these exhibitions.
Welcome to Camp: Dearica Hamby and Arike Ogunbowale joined the USA in Atlanta for a three-day training camp before traveling to Durham on Friday. Hamby scored a USA career-best 14 points and notched eight rebounds in Sunday’s win.
Starting Out: The USA started Kahleah Copper, Brittney Griner, Betnijah Laney, Diana Taurasi and Jackie Young. Copper, Griner, Laney and Taurasi all started in last week’s 95-59 win over Tennessee.
Points All Around: All 10 members of the USA scored in today’s game, with Sabrina Ionescu posting her first points of the day with 9:12 to go in the fourth quarter. Four players had 10+ points including Copper (21), Allisha Gray (16), Hamby (14) and Rhyne Howard (14).
In the Paint: The USA outscored the Blue Devils 44-26 from the paint and out-reboundedDuke by two.
PLAYER NOTES
Career day for Copper: Copper led the way for the USA with 21 points (7-9 FG) shooting, including four triples (4-5 3FG), in just 16 minutes. Her 21 points are a career-best in a USA uniform.
Gray Shines Bright: Gray notched a double-double, scoring a USA career-high 16 points and pulling down a team-high 10 rebounds in the USA win.
Sharing is Caring: Ionescu had a team-best four assists and six rebounds in 19 minutes of action. Three other players tallied multiple assists (Gray, Hamby, Taurasi).
It’s all in the family: A pair Duke women’s basketball players have ties to USA Basketball women’s program. Jadyn Donovan earned the gold medal at the 2023 FIBA U19 Women’s World Cup and the 2022 FIBA U17 Women’s World Cup. Delaney Thomas is a 2021 FIBA Americas U16 Women’s Championship gold medalist.
Looking at Lawson: Duke head women’s basketball coach Kara Lawson has a plethora of USA ties. She is 2008 Olympic gold medalist, was an assistant coach for the 2022 USA Women’s National Team, which won the World Cup gold medal in Sydney. She was also a court coach for the 2022 USA National Team’s spring minicamp in Minneapolis.
Lawson led the inaugural U.S. Olympic 3x3 Women’s Basketball Team to an 8-1 record and gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games, which was the debut of 3x3 as an Olympic event, and In recognition of her leadership, Lawson was named the 2021 USA Basketball 3x3 Coach of the Year on Dec. 9, 2021.
Lawson returned to USA Basketball in a five-on-five coaching role for the 2022 FIBA Women’ World Cup, serving as an assistant coach for the 2022 USA National Team, which won World Cup gold in Sydney. She was also a court coach for the 2022 USA National Team’s spring minicamp in Minneapolis.
A game recap will be published on usab.com.
For news and information, follow USA Basketball Communications on Twitter.