The Duke Blue Devils women’s basketball won’t be playing the remainder of the 2020-21 season of the National College Athletic Association women’s basketball tournament due to health and safety concerns.
The decision comes after a week after two individuals from their delegation came up with positive COVID-19 tests.
“Duke will maintain our current schedule of competition in other sports and will continue to observe our rigorous health and safety protocols, which include daily testing for all student-athletes and are based on guidance from leading medical experts,” said school officials in a statement.
The Blue Devils, who have Fil-American cager Vanessa de Jesus in their roster, played four contests in first year of head coach and former Beijing Olympian Kara Lawson on her debut stint.
The squad paused its basketball related activities on Dec. 16 due to COVID-19 positive cases and precautionary contact tracing measures among individuals within the travel party.
“I don’t think we should be playing right now. That’s my opinion on it,” said Lawson.
The Blue Devils have already scrapped their games against North Carolina State on Dec. 20 and University of North Carolina Wilmington on Dec. 22.
The Blue Devils had a 3-1 win-loss record in the Atlantic Coast Conference team standings.
Lawson, who helped the US women’s quintet win the gold in the Beijing Olympics, recently became the first NCAA Division I Power Five head coach to win her first three games by 25 or more points.
