Duke’s women’s basketball team closed the season on Friday amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“The student athletes on the Duke women’s basketball team have made the difficult decision to close their current season over safety concerns,” said Michael Schoenfeld, vice president of public affairs & government relations and chief communications officer at Duke University.
“We support their decision as we have supported the choices made by all student athletes at Duke in this unprecedented time. Duke will maintain our current competition schedule for other sports and will continue to adhere to our strict health and safety protocols, including daily testing for all student athletes and based on guidance from leading medical experts. ”
The men’s basketball team intended to keep playing.
The women’s basketball team has been on hiatus since December 16 due to two positive COVID-19 tests and the tracing of contacts within the tour group of the program. The Blue Devils (3-1) postponed games against Miami, NC State and UNC Wilmington. The team’s next game was against Louisville on Thursday.
The Blue Devils are the first Power Five team to retire after starting this season. The Ivy League closed in November before the basketball season started. Some other schools also decided not to play.
New coach Kara Lawson, who was hired in July, had said this month, “I don’t think we should be playing now. That’s my opinion about it. That came a day after Duke men’s coach Mike Krzyzewski wondered why college basketball was being played in the middle of the pandemic.
“I would like the safety, mental and physical health of players and staff to assess where we stand,” said Duke’s Hall of Fame coach after a loss to Illinois on December 8.
Krzyzewski cited the increase in COVID-19 cases as the basis for his argument.
“People say the next six weeks will be the worst,” Krzyzewski said at the time. “It’s already pretty bad for me. On the other hand, there are these vaccines that come out. 20 million shots will be given by the end of the month. Another 100 million at the end of January or in February. Shouldn’t we reassess that? Do you see what would be best? “
The virus has already caused many games to be canceled or postponed in the first month of the season. Numerous teams have stalled due to positive tests in their programs. The NCAA said earlier this month that it planned to play its tournament in one geographic area with San Antonio being the best choice.
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