Duke Women To Scrimmage Against Team USA

The ACC announced the basketball schedules for both men’s and women’s basketball on Tuesday but Kara Lawson kept a surprise up her sleeve and she revealed it Thursday: Duke will face off against the USA Women’s National Team in a Cameron scrimmage.

Lawson, who has worked with Team USA quite a bit, obviously was in position to make this happen. In a release, she said this: “We are excited to host the No. 1 team in the world in the No. 1 venue for college basketball! What an incredible opportunity for our program and our fans. I hope everyone in the Triangle area comes out to see this matchup. As the USA National Team prepares for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, we will do our best to compete and help them along in their journey.”

Currently, Team USA features former Blue Devil Chelsea Gray, Brittney Griner, Breanna Stewart, Diana Taurasi and Aja Wilson, and is coached by South Carolina’s Dawn Staley. (Correction - Cheryl Reeve of the Minnesota Lynx is the head coach)

We would expect there to be a lot of pressure to include Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, who was so brilliant in the NCAA tournament this past spring and, conceivably, UConn’s Paige Bueckers.

At some point, as great as they've been, Bird and Taurasi will hang it up. They’re past 40 now and while they have vast knowledge, Clark and Bueckers have fresh legs.

The scrimmage is scheduled for November 12th and should be a real showcase for the women's game in the Triangle.