Duke is just one win away from claiming at least a share of the ACC regular season title for the third straight year, a feat they look to accomplish Friday in Cameron Indoor Stadium. They just have to beat the best Miami team in history first.
The No. 5 Hurricanes (24-3, 13-1 in the ACC) hold the highest ranking in program history and boast one of the best backcourts in the nation. Senior guards Shenise Johnson, Stefanie Yderstrom and Riquna Williams are all averaging in double figures for points this season.
“We don’t have great matchups,” head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “You’ve got WNBA players in [Johnson] and [Williams], and you’ve got an ACC person that has really stuck out in [Yderstrom]. They all can shoot the three, they all can penetrate and they all can create their own shots.”
The No. 7 Blue Devils (22-4, 13-1) will take on the talented trio of guards without three players of their own. Having already lost freshman Amber Henson to knee surgery and sophomore Chloe Wells to an academic-related suspension, Duke suffered another blow last Wednesday when sophomore Richa Jackson tore her ACL, sidelining her for the season and leaving Duke with just eight scholarship players. Jackson had been averaging 9.4 points and 4.6 rebounds in 24.5 minutes of play per game before her injury, but it is another part of her game that the team will miss the most.
“Everyone has to step up relative to the hustle plays,” McCallie said. “It can’t be a specialty item. That was one of Richa’s specialties…. But if you’re going to be a very good team, then you are all going to specialize in hustle plays.”
The Blue Devils will take the court Friday night for the first time since being upset at Maryland—the team’s first loss in ACC play. In addition to missing the spark that Jackson provided, weak rebounding plagued Duke in the loss, and McCallie addressed that with the team in practice this week. She focused on aggressive play on the boards and looks to limit the Hurricanes’ second chance opportunities.
“You can make people miss shots, but you have to get the ball,” McCallie said of Sunday’s loss. “That pretty much sums up that game.”
The matchup will be Duke’s third of the season against a top-five team. The Blue Devils lost against both then-No. 4 Notre Dame and then-No. 3 Connecticut.
Duke has never lost to Miami, but it enters Friday’s matchup as the lower-ranked team. The Blue Devils will have the advantage of playing in Cameron—where they have won 29 straight ACC contests—but the two teams are equal in terms of statistics. The programs rank side-by-side in 10 different conference statistical categories this season, including scoring margin and rebounding.
While known for their youth, the Blue Devils will graduate Shay Shelby and Kathleen Scheer this year and will honor the two seniors before the game, the team’s penultimate contest of the regular season and their last at home.
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