Duke Basketball Set to Play Team USA in Cameron Indoor Stadium

Kara Lawson's Duke basketball squad will welcome the country's best to Durham in November.

Following its season opener at home against Richmond on Nov. 6 and a bout against Coastal Carolina in Durham three days later, the Duke basketball women will welcome the USA Basketball's Women's National Team to Cameron Indoor Stadium for a noon exhibition game on Nov. 12 (ACC Network Extra).

The program, under the command of fourth-year head coach Kara Lawson (46-21 overall record), announced the contest late last week.

"We are so excited at Duke to welcome the US Women's National Team to Cameron Indoor Stadium on Nov. 12," Lawson said. "What an incredible opportunity for our team...to play against the best team in the world. I have a pretty good thought that this will probably be the best team we face this season.

"It will be a big challenge against some of the top players in the WNBA...We will take our best shot and compete as hard as we can."

Lawson, a college star under the now-late Tennessee legend Pat Summitt in the early 2000s before playing a dozen years in the WNBA, knows something about competing for Team USA. She took home gold from the 2001 World University Games in Beijing, where she again won gold at the Olympics seven years later.

Win or lose, her 2023-24 Duke basketball squad, which has the pieces to be her best yet, should embrace the experience and learn all it can while helping Team USA prepare for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

After all, the Blue Devils face a daunting schedule in the following weeks. That non-conference slate includes a trip to Stanford and a showdown in Cameron against perennial powerhouse South Carolina.

Stay tuned to Blue Devil Country on SI.com for more Duke basketball news.