Early March Madness Vibes for Duke in November

It is only November, but the Duke Blue Devils Women's Basketball played in a March Madness feel game in their latest contest against West Virginia. It was a wild one that saw a player get ejected, and the game was one that the Blue Devils could not pull off, and were upset.

It was the first major upset this season in College Basketball and one that Duke wants to forget about. In a game that looked to be in control by Duke, once the ejections happened was not, and that is when they could not recover.

"It wasn’t just that West Virginia entered the contest unranked. The Mountaineers had to play the entire second half against Duke with only five available players, after six West Virginia players — four of them starters — were ejected for participating in an on-court scuffle just before halftime," said Denny Alfonso of The Athletic.

Nov 3, 2025; Paris, FRA; Duke Blue Devils forward Toby Fournier (35) looks to score as Baylor Bears forward Bella Fontleroy (22) defends during the second half at Adidas Arena. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images | Chris Jones-Imagn Images

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The altercation began in the closing seconds of the second quarter, when Duke’s Jordan Wood blocked West Virginia guard Jordan Harrison’s buzzer-beating 3-point attempt and then yelled in Harrison’s face while flexing her arms. Harrison pushed Wood in response to the taunting, and a brief melee ensued with players from both teams exchanging words and shoving each other before they were separated.

That is something we rarley see in basketball. A team playing with only five players then coming out on top. It was just there day and they played good basketball down the stretch in the most important points of the game.

Nov 3, 2025; Paris, FRA; Duke Blue Devils forward Jordan Wood (13) scores a three-point basket against the Baylor Bears during the second half at Adidas Arena. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images | Chris Jones-Imagn Images

Five West Virginia players left the bench during the confrontation, a violation that triggers an automatic ejection under NCAA rules. Between the two teams, seven players were ejected at halftime: Harrison and Wood were booted for fighting, while West Virginia’s Gia Cooke, Carter McCray, Madison Parrish, Jordan Thomas and Kierra Wheeler were tossed for leaving the bench. Duke’s Ashlon Jackson and Arianna Roberson received flagrant 1 fouls for their roles in the scrum.

Of the five remaining West Virginia players, only Sydney Shaw had started the game. Along with reserves Loghan Johnson, Riley Makalusky, Célia Rivière and Sydney Woodley, the Mountaineers began the second half playing inspired basketball, outscoring Duke 24-9 in the third quarter and playing well enough in the fourth to hold on for an 8-point win.

Nov 3, 2025; Paris, FRA; Duke Blue Devils head coach Kara Lawson speaks with Duke Blue Devils guard Riley Nelson (4) during a break in play against the Baylor Bears during the first half at Adidas Arena. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images | Chris Jones-Imagn Images

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” West Virginia coach Mark Kellogg said after the win. “We had, I think, about two minutes to come up with a really quick game plan. I knew we were going to play the next 20 minutes with five. … We moved some positions, we played a lot of zone.”

“He told me to play smarter, we just adjusted on defense,” Rivière said in a postgame news conference. “I was really proud of the team, of the coaches, the players — I was really happy to win the game.”

Oct 3, 2025; Durham, NC, USA; Duke Blue Devils head coach Kara Lawson addresses the crowd at the Countdown to Craziness at the Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images | Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images

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