In its exhibition season opener on Sunday, the women's basketball team got its first taste of action, contending with Team Champion AAU and coming away with a hard-fought 85-76 victory.
Sunday's game proved to be an extremely turbulent contest that was rife with shifts in momentum. At times, the Blue Devils seemed unable to play with a consistent level of intensity. After dominating for much of the first half with a lead as large as 14 points, Duke appeared to relinquish control of the game.
"I felt like we should not have been in that situation," Duke coach Gail Goestenkors said. "We lost our focus. We got a big lead in the first half, and then instead of putting them away, we lost our focus and let them get back into the ball game."
Champion took advantage of this lapse, narrowing the gap and even pulling ahead by two with 14:28 left in the second half. With the pressure on them mounting, the Blue Devils regained their focus and finally put the game out of reach.
"I think it motivated us," senior guard Kira Orr said. "When we looked up and they had the lead, I think that gave us a wake-up call. We realized we can't come out here and take these guys lightly. I think it gave us a little push, a little kick in the rear that we needed to get going."
Goestenkors attributed this lack of consistency to a combination of youth and injuries. Senior forward Tyish Hall is still out with a stress fracture in her pelvis, and freshman Peppi Browne, who had been practicing with the starting rotation, recently broke her thumb.
The starting lineup in Sunday's game included two sophomores, Hilary Howard and Payton Black, and a freshman, Missy West. To compound this relative lack of experience, Duke has made several adjustments in its rotation since the end of last season and the beginning of this season.
West, who is usually a guard, played in the post Sunday due to Browne's injury. Champion capitalized on her youth, increasing the pressure on her from the inside. Nevertheless, West managed to score 12 points.
Orr, who played as the starting point guard last year, has moved to the position of shooting guard, while Howard was relocated to Orr's former point guard spot. Although Orr felt frustrated because she did not hit as many shots as she would have liked to, she and Howard both seemed to be adjusting to their new roles with ease, scoring 14 points apiece, the second-highest total on the team on Sunday. Howard seemed especially at home as point guard, swiftly bringing the ball down the court and maneuvering around opponents.
Black also handled her increased playing time very well, leading the Blue Devils with 16 points and playing a scrappy, aggressive offensive game.
Duke's greatest strength on Sunday was the cohesiveness of its offense. All five starters scored in double digits, and the players who came in off the bench also all made significant contributions for the Blue Devils.
The game revealed Duke's weaknesses as well as its strengths. The Blue Devils accumulated 27 turnovers during the game. They also feel that they will need to improve their offensive rebounding.
"We gave up too many offensive rebounds to their team," Orr said. "I don't think we executed in our offense as well as we should have... We had too many turnovers. If we're not executing and we're turning the ball over, it's kind of hard to control the tempo of the game. The other team's controlling you."
Sunday's contest proved to be a learning experience for Duke. With almost two weeks before the regular season begins, the Blue Devils will have time to refine their play. While they believe that a few errors are to be expected in the season opener, they realize that if they intend to capture the Atlantic Coast Conference championship, they will have to improve some aspects of their game. With their first game under their belts, Duke now knows exactly what it will take to achieve this goal.
"We have some things that will help us and some other things we need to work on," Goestenkors said. "This is a good game for us because [Champion] is a very good team and a very athletic team. It enabled us to see how we would react in stressful situations, and that's a good thing. I would rather have had a close game than blow this team out by 50 points and not see how we react under pressure."
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