Duke is loading up for another heavyweight non-conference run.
Kara Lawson’s Blue Devils will play 11 games outside ACC play in 2026-27, and the schedule is packed with the kind of matchups that force a team to prove itself early. Duke’s list includes three of the 2026 Final Four teams, with games against UConn, South Carolina and UCLA all on the slate.
There will be four chances to see Duke inside Cameron Indoor Stadium before conference play begins, and the headline home date is the SEC/ACC Challenge meeting with South Carolina. The Blue Devils will also face UConn and UCLA away from Durham at neutral sites before the calendar flips to 2027.
The non-conference lineup is no soft landing, either. Duke’s current group of opponents combined for a 236-81 record, a 75-percent win rate. Only one of the nine teams finished below .500, and six of them won at least 75 percent of their games.
Fans can already buy season and single-game tickets at GoDuke.com/wbbtix. Those with questions about season-ticket status are being directed to sign into their account or reach out to their ticket sales representative.
The season gets its first public spotlight Oct. 3 at Countdown to Craziness, with more details on that kickoff event still to come.
November will be the busiest stretch of the non-conference schedule. Duke plays seven games in 25 days, with three at Cameron Indoor Stadium and four at neutral sites.
The Blue Devils open Nov. 3 at home against University of Wisconsin Green Bay. It’s the second all-time meeting with the reigning three-time Horizon League champs, and the first since 1991.
A few days later, Duke heads to Dallas for a Nov. 8 matchup with North Texas at American Airlines Center in the Foundry Classic. That will be the first meeting between the programs.
From there, the Blue Devils go to Norfolk, Virginia to face Norfolk State for the second straight season, then return to Durham for back-to-back home games against Marshall on Nov. 15 and Fordham on Nov. 19.
After that, Duke heads to New York City to play Columbia. It will be the third meeting with the Ivy League program under Lawson and the second in New York City.
Then comes the part of the schedule that jumps off the page.
After three games in seven days, Duke gets a short breather before starting a run that features UConn, South Carolina and UCLA. That stretch begins Nov. 28 in Boston against UConn at TD Garden.
It’s the 18th meeting between the programs, and the last time they met, Duke fell to the Huskies 53-45 in the Sweet 16 of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The teams last played in the regular season in 2022.
South Carolina comes next, visiting Durham on Dec. 3 for the 2026 SEC/ACC Challenge. It will be the fifth straight season Duke has played the Gamecocks and the sixth meeting overall in Cameron.
After final exams, Duke heads west for three more games. The trip opens Dec. 16 in Phoenix with a rematch of the 2026 Elite Eight against reigning NCAA champion UCLA in the Hoop Hall Women’s Showcase.
Then the Blue Devils make the short trip to Las Vegas for two games in the Players Era Women’s Championship on Dec. 19-20. Duke’s opponents in that event have not been announced yet.
The ACC schedule hasn’t been released, but Duke already knows the conference home-and-road split. The Blue Devils will host California, Stanford, Pittsburgh, Miami, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Syracuse and North Carolina at Cameron Indoor Stadium. On the road, they’ll go to SMU, Florida State, Georgia Tech, NC State, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Virginia and Boston College.
The 2027 Ally ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament will be held March 3-7 at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Duke enters the season after going 27-9, winning the ACC regular season and tournament titles and reaching the Elite Eight. The Blue Devils return three starters and nine players from last season’s team, and the roster also includes sophomore transfer Aaliyah Crump plus four freshmen, giving Lawson a deep group to work with. All remaining venue designations, tip times and TV information will be announced later.
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The challenge now is turning that depth into cleaner results in the spots that hurt most a year ago, especially on third downs. Duke has leaned on transfer additions to help reshape the unit, but Stone also pointed to the role linebacker leadership can play in making the whole defense tighter and more consistent. For a secondary trying to settle quickly, the early days of camp are less about comfort than urgency, because the Blue Devils know the margin for another costly breakdown is already thin. [Read more 🡒]