Duke’s shaky start to the season seems like a long time ago now. The Blue Devils lost to non-conference teams such as Baylor, South Carolina, UCLA, and LSU. But riding a 15-game winning streak, they rose to the top of the ACC. Their recent victory over then-6th-ranked Louisville made Kara Lawson feel her squad is at the finish line as they approach March Madness. But basketball analyst Sabreena Merchant is far from impressed with these feats.

“I mean, I trust them against teams ranked 7 and below in the country. Do I trust them to make this happen against the team that absolutely kicked their butts at the start of the year? No, I don’t think they closed the gap with the likes of South Carolina, LSU, and UCLA. No, I don’t believe that has meaningfully changed. I don’t think they can quite score with those,” shared Sabreena on the No Offseason podcast with Zena Keita and Chantel Jennings.

Sabreena’s comments might annoy a few Duke fans, but the numbers back her up. The margins of the losses against the teams inside the top 7 substantiate her claim -South Carolina (83-66), UCLA (89-59), and LSU (93-77).

Kara Lawson’s defense is effective, and their performance against Louisville is praiseworthy. But that same success hasn’t translated when Duke has collided with the top teams. Chantel Jennings seconds Sabreena Merchant’s statement wholeheartedly on that matter.

“And I agree with what they did against Louisville, very impressive. I mean, Louisville put up 66 on UConn earlier this season. Like, this is really impressive defensive performance, but outside of Louisville, like you’re going back kind of far, and you’re like, I mean, way to beat Pit,” joked Jennings.

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Jennings’ voice was filled with sarcasm, and Kara Lawson would prefer to go back to her clipboard to make notes the moment she thinks the strategy isn’t working.

However, not everything is gloomy for Duke. They are all set for the NCAA playoffs and are currently first in the ACC, and there’s also some good news coming in for one of their players.

Fournier Becomes ACC Player Of The Week

Toby Fournier’s debut campaign with the Blue Devils saw her win the ACC Rookie of the Week award five times. This year, she is starting from where she left off.

Sophomore Fournier was named the ACC Women’s Basketball Player of the Week following her pair of performances to keep the Blue Devils unbeaten in conference action. She was the highest scorer in the games against Louisville (15 pts) and SMU (26 pts).

Fournier is the only player on Kara Lawson’s team who is leading across three categories: 18.0 ppg, 7.8 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks. Moreover, she also ranks third in the league in scoring and second in blocks.

She played every game for Kara Lawson this season, and her effectiveness is making a difference. Lawson will be hoping Fournier stays injury-free and helps them turn the tide against the elite teams they will face in the playoffs.