DULUTH, Ga. — Three months after getting off to the program’s worst start since the 1983-84 season, Duke wrapped up the Atlantic Coast Conference women’s basketball tournament title.
Even as confetti fell on the 13th-ranked, top-seeded Blue Devils after their 70-65 win against 12th-ranked, second-seeded Louisville in an overtime thriller Sunday at Gas South Arena, sixth-year head coach Kara Lawson remembered the down times.
“It’s very special for this group to kind of complete the journey in the ACC, because everyone knows about our start,” Lawson said. “Every time I hear ‘3-6’ for the rest of my life, I’m probably going to think about this year because I heard it so much. People just come up to you and go, ‘3-6.'”
Duke fell to Baylor in its season opener, beat Holy Cross and Norfolk State, then dropped five of its next six games, losing to West Virginia, South Florida, South Carolina, UCLA and LSU.
The Blue Devils responded by winning their next 17 games. They climbed back up the rankings, won the ACC regular-season title for the first time since 2013, then repeated as league tournament champions.