The Blue Devils hope to end a two-game losing streak in their final road stint of the regular season.
No. 16 Duke suffered a drop in the rankings after falling to No. 4 Notre Dame and N.C. State in a pair of double-digit losses last week, but it will look to reverse the trend Thursday at 7 p.m. against Georgia Tech at McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta.
"It was obviously a tough week but a great learning week," Blue Devil head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "We saw—especially if you look at our start at Notre Dame—how dominant and focused we can be, and [we're] learning to put 40 minutes together of that kind of focus."
The Blue Devils (19-8, 10-4 in the ACC) were riding a six-game conference win streak that came to a screeching halt during their two losses when they combined for 37 turnovers, three made 3-pointers in 30 attempts and their worst field goal percentage since a Jan. 22 loss at Boston College.
Duke struggled in particular against the Wolfpack, allowing 22 points from the free-throw line thanks to 23 team fouls. By the end of the game, senior guard Ka'lia Johnson fouled out, and three other Blue Devils—freshmen Rebecca Greenwell and Azura Stevens, as well as senior Elizabeth Williams—finished with four personal fouls apiece. Duke also turned the ball over 18 times, which N.C. State converted into 28 points.
"[We saw] how adversity strikes when a team may be shooting well, like at N.C. State, and the things that we need to concentrate on," McCallie said. "Boxing out, the details, communicating on defense—that's been a big one for us.... Turnovers were huge—they had 28 points off turnovers."
The Blue Devils will have to take care not to turn the ball over Thursday, especially into the hands of Yellow Jacket leading scorer Kaela Davis, who ranks second in the conference with 20.3 points per game. The guard has already broken the Georgia Tech single-season record for points scored by a sophomore, and she is 42 points away from breaking the school's all-time single-season record.
"You're not going to stop a player of that caliber," McCallie said. "She's going to get a lot of shots, but we're going to try to contest them hard and limit her touches as much as we can.... She's very athletic, so there's a lot of work to do. And it's not just one person—it's the whole team."
The Yellow Jackets (15-13, 5-9) also bring a strong rebounding presence to the court Thursday. Duke leads the conference with 30.4 defensive rebounds per game, but Georgia Tech ranks third in the ACC with 16.8 offensive boards on average, meaning the Blue Devils will have to box out to and compete every time a shot goes up on the Yellow Jacket end.
"Communicating on defense, that's been a big one for us," McCallie said. "There are many times where defensive spacing is a huge part of the game. When you have great defensive spacing and everyone communicates, you also rebound well, so [we have to make] sure that we do this for 40 minutes."
On the offensive end, Duke needs to put together a team effort instead of relying on the success of a select few. In Sunday's loss, Greenwell managed 16 points but went just 2-of-11 from beyond the arc. Stevens and Williams combined for 32 points, yet they turned the ball over 10 times and both struggled with foul trouble. Despite individual mistakes and triumphs, the Blue Devils have functioned best this season as a collective unit.
"You really focus on a team perspective," McCallie said. "I know there are some good individual things, and that's great—I'm not opposed to that at all—but for the most part... we really focus on the team perspective."
Thursday's contest marks Duke's final road experience before the postseason, when the road games will have the added win-or-go-home tournament pressure. The Blue Devils currently sit at fourth in the conference with their four losses and must do their best not to sink any lower if they hope to receive a second-round bye in the ACC tournament.
Duke has proven its ability to beat the highest-ranked teams, but it has also ended up on the wrong side of several upsets—N.C. State among them. The Blue Devils must practice consistency while they still have a guarantee of when they will play next.
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