Duke alum Chelsea Gray drops 3-word reaction to Blue Devils' Elite 8 loss to South Carolina Gamecocks

Modified Mar 30, 2025 20:35 GMT

Basketball: Unrivaled Final - Source: Imagn — Chelsea Gray shares her reaction to alma mater Duke's elite 8 loss - Source: Imagn

Chelsea Gray is one of the most successful women's basketball players in the world right now. But she still roots for the Duke Women's Basketball program, where she played during her college years. Unfortunately for Gray, the Blue Devils women's team found themselves on the losing end of their Elite 8 matchup against the defending national champions, the South Carolina Gamecocks.

The Blue Devils and the Gamecocks went back and forth in a highly competitive matchup, which saw Duke take a 42-38 lead going into the fourth quarter. However, the Gamecocks would use their championship pedigree to outscore the Blue Devils 16-8 in the final frame of the contest and eventually win 54-50.

Despite the tough loss, Gray took to X to show her support for her alma mater. She wrote:

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"Proud of @DukeWBB"

Gray spent all four of her college years at Duke from 2010 to 2014. She knows about losing in the Elite 8 all too well as she led Duke to three consecutive Elite 8 spots in 2011, 2012, and 2013.

However, that was as far as Gray and the Blue Devils could go during their stint together. They lost all three of those Elite 8 matchups and lost in the round of 32 during Gray's senior year in 2014.

Despite coming up short in the NCAA, Chelsea Gray has gone on to have a phenomenal career as a pro. The 32-year-old is a six-time WNBA All-Star and a three-time WNBA champion with a Finals MVP award as well, which she received in 2022.

Gray also recently won the inaugural season of the Unrivaled Women's Basketball League with the Rose BC team and was named Finals MVP in the championship game, the first one in Unrivaled history.

Chelsea Gray calls for Las Vegas Aces teammates to be ready after being inspired by the Duke Men's Basketball team

Chelsea Gray is thinking of adding a new play to the Las Vegas Aces' playbook next year. While watching the Duke Men's Basketball team take on the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Elite 8 on Saturday, Gray said that she felt inspired to try something new for her upcoming WNBA season:

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"The way Duke lobbin for a dunk, I feel inspired... I need @_ajawilson22 and @kstokes41 to be ready for me to throw that thang to the moon"

Gray was so inspired by the alley-oop dunks from the Duke men's team that she wants to bring them to the WNBA with her teammates A'ja Wilson and Kiah Stokes.

Wilson and Stokes have both never dunked in their WNBA careers, but maybe they'll feel the inspiration as well and change it up for next season to give the Aces that extra boost and a new play in the playbook.

About the author

Wes Laufert is an NBA and WNBA journalist at Sportskeeda with a BAH in Economics, Politics, and Philosophy and over three years of experience in the field with publications including The Maple Minute.

His experiences working with varsity basketball teams as well as essay writing helped Wes hone his skills and put him on the road to sports journalism.

Born and raised in Canada, Wes has always looked to get involved with all levels of basketball, whether it's playing, writing or coaching. If it involves the game, Wes wants to be a part of it.

Wes' favorite team is the Toronto Raptors as he grew up watching them and they are the only Canadian team in the NBA. His favorite past player is Julius Erving due to the impact he had on the game in the 70s and 80s.

Growing up, Wes always loved watching the KD and Russ era OKC Thunder because they were one of if not the most exciting young duos in the league.

Wes lives for sports, so when he isn't writing about basketball, he loves watching other sports.

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Edited by Satagni Sikder