Last year at this time, the women's basketball team was coming off a tournament victory at the Duke Women's Basketball Classic. The Blue Devils won the two games by an average of 16 points, but something was not quite right.
Duke had eight inexperienced players on the active roster, and the Blue Devils were struggling to put together some type of competitive squad prior to the Atlantic Coast Conference season.
This weekend, Duke (4-0) again won the Classic, but things were a little different. The Blue Devils captured the event in an overwhelming fashion, defeating American 104-71 in the first round and then dismantling a solid Miami of Ohio team 98-54 in Sunday's final.
"It's a lot more exciting this year, for the players and the fans, I think," senior co-captain and tournament MVP Missy Anderson said. "I think this was really great. We're like on a high right now, playing really well. It's like we all came together this weekend."
Last season, these things could not have been said. This year's Duke squad has 14 players, and at least 10 are capable of making significant contributions.
According to head coach Gail Goestenkors, the big difference between last year's team and this Duke squad in the early-going is defense.
"I feel like we're ahead of last year, especially defensively, we're way ahead," Goestenkors said. "Obviously we've got much more depth, and I think that showed today. We can go 10 deep very easily. Not many teams can do that."
In the two games, Duke got double-figure scoring efforts from seven players, including a team-high 23 points from sophomore Jen Scanlon. Scanlon had an impressive 10-of-12 shooting effort in only 20 minutes Sunday against Miami. This came after a couple of poor shooting performances from the 5-10 guard.
"[Scanlon's] a shooter, and she's going to have times when she doesn't hit some of her shots, but she's the kind of kid that's got the confidence that you need," Goestenkors said. "We told her to concentrate on her defense and not worry about her offense and let it come to her.
"I think that's what happened. She played better defense today than she's ever played. Consequently, she got some steals, got some layups and I think that got her confidence back."
Meanwhile, the most consistent performer over the weekend was Anderson. She was Duke's only player to score in double figures in both games, and the 5-8 point guard also averaged 3.5 steals per game.
"She got us going defensively in both games," Goestenkors said. "She made things happen. She was also hitting her outside shot, which is something she usually doesn't look for. She made several key baskets in both games early on to give our team some confidence. But basically it's her defense that does the job for her and for us."
Possibly the most impressive statistic of the weekend for Duke was the number of assists that the Blue Devils posted in both games. Duke had 20 assists against American and 22 against Miami. Players were willing to pass up open shots in order to give teammates better looks at the basket, and that, along with some easy transition baskets, translated into a higher shooting percentage for the team as a whole.
"The kids were so intense on defense, it carried over to offense," Goestenkors said. "They concentrated. They finished their layups for the most part and made their three-point shots. Everything that hadn't been falling for us was there for us.
"I felt like we were due to have a good game. Today we played a good game."
With all of the superlatives, it must be cautioned that these early games are rarely a clear barometer of what the season has in store.
Last year, Duke started the season 7-0 but limped to a 12-15 record once ACC play started. Miami and American are not the quality of many of the teams Duke will face down the road, especially in the ACC.
Still, there seems to be a new feeling of optimism around this year's squad, and the depth and talent level are clearly higher than they were a year ago. The team is capable of doing some good things this season as long as it continues to improve.
After this weekend's performances, the women's basketball team is beginning to learn that one year can make quite a difference.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.