A (not so) long time ago in a college far, far away...
Maybe there are no war drums, but the stage is set at Cameron Indoor Stadium for the epic showdown of teacher and student, of begetter and begeotten. Add to the names of Kryzyweski/Knight, Smith/Williams and Kenobi/Vader those of Gail Goestenkors and Marsha Reall. Then add an asterisk and throw in Sue Guevera.
It was the early 80's. The melodies of Men At Work and Devo held the airwaves while Howard the Duck and The Kid From Not-So Big lit up the silver screen. And, at Saginaw Valley State University, a trio of a first year player, a first year assistant coach and a first year head coach was beginning a new era in Cardinal basketball. The player was Duke head coach Goestenkors, the assistant Michigan head coach Guevara, and the head coach Reall, head coach of Ohio.
This weekend's Duke Women's Basketball Classic will bring them all back together for the first time as the pupil tries to knock off not one but two of her former teachers.
"I'm looking forward hopefully to getting a chance to play both of them," Goestenkors said. "It's kind of like a little reunion."
However, for the No. 15 Blue Devils (4-1) to drop both Michigan (5-1) and first round opponent Ohio (1-1), Goestenkors feels her team needs to build on its performance at last week's San Juan Shootout.
"San Juan was a great tournament for us," Goestenkors said. "We learned a lot about our team. There were moments where we were very, very good, but we didn't really play a great game in any of the three games. I think it is really important for us to learn and to grow and hopefully be able to stay focused for forty minutes."
Learning and growing for these Blue Devils means combining the talents of backcourt with frontcourt-a rare occurrence in the early season.
"We've had games where our outside players, our guards played great, but our inside game wasn't as productive," Goestenkors said. "Then, at the [San Juan] tournament our inside players were productive, but our outside game wasn't as sharp. We need to be able to put together the full package, with our inside and outside game."
The Blue Devil backcourt continues to feature point guard Hilary Howard, leading all shooters from inside the arc with a 55.6% field goal percentage, and the double-deuce, Nicole Erickson, shooting an unbelievable 50% from behind from arc.
However, it is the Blue Devil frontcourt, led by the streaking Payton Black, that carried the most weight in the San Juan tournament. Black, in particular, saw her game rise to another level in last week's Shootout.
"Payton really stepped up her game," Goestenkors said. "She had probably the best three games of anybody on the team. She was very consistent, and played excellent defense. She scored well, but the best part of her game was her defense."
Defense has been the best part of the Blue Devils' game too-a marked difference from earlier games this season.
"We learned that our defense can be pretty good," Goestenkors said. "We really improved our defense over the course of the [San Juan] tournament. That's the thing I'm most pleased with."
It will take an excellent defensive showing to shut down the potent Wolverine offense that has averaged 89 points a game in its five wins. Leading the Michigan squad is a pair of explosive players: 20 point per game scoring machine Pollyanna Johns and last year's Big Ten freshman of the year, Stacey Thomas.
"They are probably the best players [Duke may face] in the tournament," Goestenkors said.
Behind them the Wolverine lineup still doesn't falter as all five starters on the Wolverine squad boast scoring averages over nine points. This is a squad Goestenkors sees as being a sleeper team this year.
"They have an outstanding team," Goestenkors said. "Michigan is kind of similar to us. They're strong both inside and outside. They're picked to finish fourth in the Big Ten, but I think they'll do better than that. They've got a really nice team-I think they're going to surprise some people this year."
The Blue Devils first round opponent, Ohio, should prove to be little challenge for Goestenkors squad, though the Bobcat lineup features a solid post player in Amy Turner. Rounding out the four team tournament is Florida A&M, who faces Michigan in the first round.
Ultimately, Goestenkors realizes that the fate of her team in this tournament lies in their own hands.
"We're going to have to play together," Goestenkors said. "We need to play two consistent games. We need to continue to work on our offensive execution. Our defense is really coming around, and we're starting to gain a lot of confidence, and we need to keep playing great defense and continue to improve offensively."
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