Duke women's basketball heads to Syracuse for ACC opener

<p>Redshirt freshman Lyneé Belton and the Blue Devils will look to limit giveaways when they open ACC play against a tenacious Syracuse defense at the Carrier Dome.</p>

Redshirt freshman Lyneé Belton and the Blue Devils will look to limit giveaways when they open ACC play against a tenacious Syracuse defense at the Carrier Dome.

After a grueling non-conference schedule, No. 12 Duke is battle-tested as it prepares for a tough ACC opener.

The Blue Devils will travel to play Syracuse Sunday at 1 p.m at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y., for a chance to notch their first road victory since defeating Pennsylvania on the season’s opening night. Duke visited hostile environments at No. 2 South Carolina and No. 7 Kentucky—coming home empty-handed both times—but the Carrier Dome will be the biggest venue the Blue Devils have played in yet.

“We’ve played some really tough games on the road, and we’d like to have a great game on the road and play our basketball,” Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “When it comes to conference, it’s a bloodbath every time you hit the floor anyway, so we’re excited.”

The Orange (10-3) had a similar path through their nonconference slate, going 0-3 against ranked competition but beating everybody else. Both Syracuse and Duke (11-3) will be looking for their biggest win of the season to begin conference play.

The Blue Devils struggled with turnovers through nonconference play, and that shaky ball control will be challenged by one of the most aggressive and opportunistic defenses in the nation. The Orange force 25 turnovers per game with an average turnover margin of 10.4, leading the ACC and ranking fourth in the country in both categories.

The Blue Devils are last in the ACC with 18.0 giveaways per game. With an inexperienced roster filled with freshmen handling the ball in the backcourt, Duke has eight players with at least 19 turnovers so far this year.

“[Syracuse has] multiple defenses. They trap full-court, quarter-court, half-court—very active defensive team,” McCallie said. “We need to take care of the basketball. We need to make good decisions. We need to attack their press—really exploit it in the high post area and low block.”

Although the giveaways are part of the growing pains that come with a young backcourt, the end of nonconference play also showcased the promise that Duke's rookies have to offer. Freshman Crystal Primm has started two straight games after a breakout 15-point performance against Kentucky Dec. 20 and was the Blue Devils' third-leading scorer Thursday against UNC Wilmington with nine points, supplementing the dynamic duo of redshirt sophomore Rebecca Greenwell and sophomore Azurá Stevens.

Although the West Palm Beach, Fla., native's offensive contributions have improved dramatically during Duke’s last three games, McCallie said she has been most impressed with Primm's progress on the defensive end. She tracked down five rebounds against the Seahawks in an otherwise uninspiring performance on the glass for the Blue Devils, and has become more of a floor leader in helping Duke hold its last two opponents to fewer than 60 points.

“She’s learning the defense better than ever. She’s like a defensive captain out there,” McCallie said. “She’s becoming more of a vocal defensive player, and it’s sort of pushing her whole game.”

When the Blue Devils play good defense and force teams into bad shots, they need to finish possessions with defensive rebounds, another pitfall in Thursday's win. The undersized Seahawks pulled down 20 offensive rebounds on their way to winning the rebounding battle 39-35 and tallying 16 second-chance points.

“We just need to work on being more consistent, whether it’s hustle and heart out there [or] talking. Azurá has some leadership qualities, I know she can do that day in and day out,” Greenwell said after Thursday’s game. “We just need to work on bringing that to other players on the team because everyone has the potential to do it.”

The Orange can match up with the Blue Devils’ size much better than UNC Wilmington, so Duke cannot afford to come out flat again Sunday. Junior Briana Day averages 3.9 offensive boards per game—trailing only Stevens in the ACC—and the 6-foot-4 center has helped Syracuse to a league-leading mark of 17.8 offensive rebounds per game this season.

Day and her twin sister Bria—who comes off the bench for the Orange—have battled Stevens in the post going back to their high school days, when the Day sisters played at Millbrook High School in Raleigh while Stevens starred at nearby Cary High School. Duke’s leading scorer will have to get the better of the matchup this time around to help the Blue Devils come away with a victory to open ACC play.

Jesús Hidalgo contributed reporting.

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