After enduring a 31-point blowout and the transfer of one of the team’s brightest young players, the Blue Devils are looking to restore a sense of stability after an up-and-down nonconference season.
No. 13 Duke will have another opportunity to build momentum as conference play continues Thursday against No. 21 Syracuse at 6:30 p.m. at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Following a come-from-behind victory Sunday against Wake Forest, the Blue Devils are looking to sustain a complete effort in order to stay unbeaten in ACC play.
“Just trying to get a bit smarter and we need to get better rebounding and shut down dribble penetration a little more,” Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “The attacking we need to do at high post and low block is really important.”
For Duke, Thursday’s contest marks its sixth against a ranked opponent with the team sporting only a 1-4 record in its first five matchups with top-25 competition. The tough early schedule was both a blessing and a curse for the young squad. Although the team was able to identify its strengths and weaknesses against top opponents, piling up losses—most by slim margins—may not have been the best thing for the team’s morale.
“We have a lot of balance and a lot of people that can score, but the key is how we play in sync,” McCallie said. “We need to play with a high-intelligence and play in sync together.”
The key to victory for the Blue Devils will be to use their size and length to clog the paint and force the Orange into tough outside shots. Led by All-American center Elizabeth Williams, Duke has made life tough for its opponents down low—especially given Williams’ penchant for blocking shots, as she averages a team-best 3.5 blocks per contest.
The Blue Devils will certainly like their chances to pull out a victory if they make Syracuse a jump-shooting team. On the year, the Orange have shot an abysmal 28.7 percent from beyond the arc and their poor outside shooting has been a deciding factor in its nonconference losses.
“It’s a team defensive game, “ McCallie said. “It’s not about matchups—it’s more about cutting down passing angles and taking away the paint.”
On offense, Duke will need to find a way to limit its turnovers—a problem which has haunted the squad all season long. The Orange rank seventh in the nation in turnover margin—averaging almost eight less turnovers per game than their opponents—and have feasted on points in transition off of these miscues. A solid, turnover-free performance from Duke senior point guard Ka’lia Johnson will be critical to preventing the Orange from scoring easy, uncontested buckets.
“The player you saw against Wake is the player you saw against Old Dominion, “ McCallie said. “She needs to stay with that consistency in how she plays.”
Syracuse comes into the game having dropped three of its past five games—albeit all to ranked teams. The Orange are looking to bounce back from a hard fought home loss to No. 4 Notre Dame and will look to their advantage in the backcourt to pull out the victory.
The starting backcourt of Alexis Peterson and Brianna Butler figures to challenge the Blue Devil guards Thursday. Although both struggle shooting from the perimeter, the duo—who lead the team in scoring with 13.8 and 13.1 points per game, respectively—will certainly look to get into the paint and force Duke’s post players into foul trouble.
“Conference play is really competitive, “ McCallie said. “It’s anyone’s game on any given night. But every game is an important game and we just have to come out focused and ready and really play hard for 40 minutes.”
Coming off two consecutive wins, a victory against Syracuse Thursday would be a huge momentum boost for a Blue Devil squad that will end its three-game home stretch against the Orange and head to Tallahassee, Fla., Sunday to take on Florida State.
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