Duke women's basketball team ends season over COVID-19 concerns

The Duke women's basketball team has ended its season amid the coronavirus pandemic. The men's team planned to keep playing, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.

The school publicly announced the decision on Friday.

The women's basketball team has been on pause since Dec. 16 because of two positive COVID-19 tests and contact tracing within the program's travel party. The Blue Devils (3-1) postponed games against Miami, N.C. State and UNC Wilmington. The team's next scheduled contest was against Louisville on Thursday.

The Blue Devils are the first Power Five team to drop out after starting this season. The Ivy League opted out of playing winter sports in November before the basketball season started. A few 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 right now. That's my opinion on it." That came a day after Duke men's coach Mike Krzyzewski questioned why college basketball was being played in the midst of the pandemic.

Krzyzewski cited the rise in COVID-19 cases as the basis of his argument.

"People are saying the next six weeks are going to be the worst," Krzyzewski said at the time. "To me, it's already pretty bad. On the other side of it, there are these vaccines that are coming out. By the end of the month, 20 million vaccine shots will be given. By the end of January or in February, another 100 million. Should we not reassess that? See just what would be best?"

The virus has already caused many games to be cancelled or postponed in the first month of the season. Countless teams have been on pause because of positives tests in their programs. The NCAA said earlier this month that it planned to play its tournament in a single geographical area with San Antonio being the top choice.