The members of the women's basketball team showed that they are quick learners over the Thanksgiving break, as they corrected their mistakes from their previous loss to Texas A&M to win the University of New Orleans Thanksgiving Classic with wins over Pepperdine and Mississippi State.
"I think the wins are definitely a big deal," junior forward Tyish Hall said. "To win two games back-to-back gives us a lot of confidence. It was the same thing that happened to us in the Women's NIT. We beat [Virginia Commonwealth University] pretty good and then came back and didn't play as well and lost to Texas A&M. This time we also played great on the first day and then the second day we had some problems, but we won. It showed us we could win back-to-back games and close games."
Against Texas A&M in the second round of the WNIT, the Blue Devils were in the game, but could not stop A&M and pull even with the Aggies in the closing minutes. Although Duke's defense was nowhere near perfect for the weekend, it held up in the final minutes of the championship game against Mississippi State.
"We didn't play as well against Mississippi State," head coach Gail Goestenkors said. "But down the stretch, we did what was necessary to win the game--hit some key free throws, made some good defensive stands down the stretch."
Three times in the final two minutes of the game, the Lady Bulldogs brought themselves within two points of Duke, but the Blue Devils always responded and ended up with a 72-67 win. Mississippi State had finished last season at 9-18 and at the bottom of the Southeastern Conference, so early reports made it sound as if Duke would have a cakewalk through the tournament. Mississippi State, however, showed that it was a much improved team as it downed the University of New Orleans to earn a berth in the final, and then took it right to the Blue Devils taking an early 22-15 lead in the first half.
"They returned all of their starters and they've got two outstanding players," Goestenkors said. "One is LaCharlotte Smith, she was second-team all-SEC last year, and they have a post player, Sharon Thompson, she led the SEC in rebounding last year as a freshman."
Thompson lived up to her advanced billing, leading her team with 20 points and eight rebounds, but she was matched on the inside by tournament MVP Hall. Hall had 16 points and nine rebounds in the championship game to complement her 22 points and 11 rebounds from the opener.
"Tye is such a good basketball player," senior center Alison Day said. "I love playing with her and I love watching her play. Last year, I think she concentrated on rebounding and playing good defense, but this year I think she's realized that she can score also."
Hall has consistently provided solid rebounding and defense in her first two years, but with the loss of Carey Kauffman on the inside due to graduation, Duke has looked to Hall to contribute more offensively. Hall has responded to the challenge brilliantly. She is currently leading the team in scoring with 21.5 points per game with two double-doubles in her first four games. Despite the fact that she had not been a go-to player in previous years, her teammates and coach are not at all surprised by her turnaround this season.
"We expected her to do well," Goestenkors said. "She worked hard this summer and got a lot stronger. She's always had a lot of potential, but we've always been on her to want the ball more, to demand the ball and to want to score more. She's always been more passive inside, passing the ball out and passing up good shots. This year she's just much more determined and really wanting the ball more and wanting to score more."
Hall and the entire team have been helped by the increased tempo the Blue Devils have played at this season. Even with serious depth problems at the guard positions, junior Kira Orr and senior Jennifer Scanlon were able to push the ball and get points off the transition game. In the game against Pepperdine, Duke had 28 assists to the Waves' 18, while committing only 12 turnovers to their 23.
"This year, we've really been looking to run a lot more," Hall said. "We played a transition game last year also, but this year we've been trying to do it even more. Kira has been doing a good job getting the ball up the court and into the post. I think that's where all my points are coming from."
This run-and-gun style has benefited Duke's other athletic interior players as well. Day joined Hall on the all-tournament team with 12 points in the opener and a game-high 21 in the final. Reserve forward Payton Black continued her stellar freshman campaign against Pepperdine with 18 points and 11 rebounds in just 19 minutes of play. She also notched six points and nine rebounds against Mississippi State.
Offensively, the Blue Devils were clicking on all cylinders as they not only put up points on the inside, but from the perimeter also. Duke shot 50 percent from the floor which included an astounding 18-for-36 from the three-point line. In the first-round game against Pepperdine, Duke hit 11 of its 21 three-point attempts to set a school record for three-pointers made in one game. Scanlon led the way with 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting from three-point land, while junior guard Windsor Coggeshall contributed 16 points.
Coggeshall has been seeing an increased amount of playing time with guards Shaeeta Brown and Hilary Howard out with injuries, and she has filled in her role without a problem. She added 15 points in the championship game and finished the tournament hitting 7-of-10 trifectas. If she continues to hit at a 70 percent rate from downtown, there's no doubt that she will remain a fixture in Duke's line-up.
"I played with Windsor all the time this summer and she was awesome," Day said. "That's the only word that describes how well she played. I knew she could step up and help out the team."
The only thing that remains for the Blue Devils is to get the defense running consistently. It's the biggest reason Duke lost in the WNIT and almost dropped the game against Mississippi State. If the offense maintains its present rate of production and the Blue Devils step up on defense, Duke will surely begin to climb up the national rankings.
"Defensively, we're still not anywhere near where we need to be in order to be a top-25 team," Day said. "We have focus for a short time, but we don't maintain it--that's our problem right now."
The focus problem may mostly come from the fact that Duke has done more flying in the past few weeks than most migratory birds. But despite its hectic early season, the Blue Devils don't want to blame their schedule for their defensive problems.
"The traveling is expected," Coggeshall said. "In the ACC, we do a lot of traveling so you've got to get used to it. You've got to get used to playing tired."
Not surprisingly, Duke's next game is on the road as the Blue Devils travel west to take on UNC-Asheville. Duke finally returns home this weekend with a bang as it hosts the Duke Ronald McDonald Women's Basketball Classic. This year's field includes Delaware, Michigan State and George Mason along with the host Blue Devils.
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