The Duke women’s basketball team takes on one of its toughest non-conference opponents of the year on Monday afternoon, but the Blue Devils got some appreciation from the voters beforehand.
The Blue Devils moved up one spot to No. 13 in the updated AP Top 25 women’s college basketball poll on Monday, keeping them as the second-highest ACC team. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish, after a massive win over the USC Trojans, jumped up to No. 3.
Duke will have at least two chances at a signature victory over the next two weeks. The Blue Devils face Kansas State, a team that moved up to No. 9 in the AP Poll, on Monday afternoon in the first round of the Ball Dawgs Classic in Nevada. If Duke wins, it will likely face the Oklahoma Sooners (who moved up to No. 8) in the title match of the four-team tournament before heading to South Carolina for a matchup with the defending national champion Gamecocks.
Dawn Staley and South Carolina finally looked mortal on Sunday, losing a game for the first time since 2022-23 when the UCLA Bruins handed them a 77-62 defeat. The Gamecocks still only dropped to No. 4 in the AP Poll.
The North Carolina Tar Heels remained No. 16, and the NC State Wolfpack (No. 20) and Louisville Cardinals (No. 24) are the only other teams from the conference within the rankings.