The cold front hitting the southeast apparently missed the University of Virginia women's basketball program.
The Cavaliers will visit Cameron Indoor Stadium on Sunday with an eight-game win streak and a perfect 12-0 mark in Atlantic Coast Conference play. Tipoff is 12 p.m.
Meanwhile, Duke (17-4, 8-3 in the ACC) has struggled recently, with two losses and a close victory at home over Maryland on Tuesday. Head coach Gail Goestenkors said the team is taking advantage of the four days before the Virginia game to elevate its play to the level it reached early on against the Terrapins.
"We need to build on those good 10 minutes we did play well," Goestenkors said. "We're starting to get better again. We've kind of had our little slump or lull during midseason so now we're focused on trying to finish strong. This is the stretch run and we want to play well."
One player Duke needs to have a good game from in order to upset the Cavaliers is junior center Alison Day. Day has been the Blue Devils' most consistent player this season, with one notable exception: a four-point performance against Virginia in January.
"It's the game I don't like to talk about," Day said.
Still, a good performance against UVa for Day and Duke would be a sure sign that the team's tough times are behind it.
"We're pretty confident," Day said. "We've been a lot more confident this year in general. Since we beat Carolina when Carolina was still No. 3 and still unbeaten, we feel we can beat UVa."
In its latest streak, UVa (19-3, 12-0) has separated itself from the rest of the conference with two victories over No. 5 North Carolina.
Virginia has taken a three-game lead in the conference standings and has lost only one game since Dec. 9.
"Sometimes, you can worry about what the other team is going to do, but they're such a strong team and you can't concentrate on one player," Day said. "We have to come out and play our ball. We have to start with defense because defense is going to win the game."
The Duke defense has been a subject of some concern lately for Goestenkors. The Cavaliers offer an even more imposing test than Duke's last three opponents did.
"They're very difficult to defend inside and out because they have so many weapons offensively," Goestenkors said. "We've been struggling with our defense so that's going to be a key for us. Our transition defense and our half-court defense have to be strong because we have to stop their penetration."
That penetration comes mainly from sophomore guard Tora Suber, who leads the squad with 4.6 assists per game. She was a major force in UVa's 78-62 win over Duke on Jan. 10 in Charlottesville, the Blue Devils' first ACC loss of the season.
Suber slid inside and dropped the ball off to players like junior forward Wendy Palmer, the Cavaliers leading scorer (18.0 points per game) and rebounder (10.1 per game).
"The last time we played them, they killed us on the drive, especially to the baseline," Duke sophomore guard Kira Orr said. "We want to force them to take the outside shot."
To do that, Duke must try and stop the Virginia transition game. Orr said that Duke can do that--and work its offense effectively-- by avoiding turnovers.
"If you turn the ball over, they will capitalize on it," Orr said. "The one thing we don't want to do is dig a hole for ourselves, so we have to take care of the basketball. If we take care of the ball, we can get into our offense, and in our offense, we can get good shots. Once we get good shots, we feel like we can make them."
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