The women's basketball team triumphed again yesterday as it wrapped up the Duke Classic, winning over the Toledo Rockets 71-41. This is the ninth consecutive year that the Blue Devils (7-0) have won the Classic and the 11th time overall. Senior Georgia Schweitzer was named tournament MVP and was joined on the All-Tournament team by freshman teammates Alana Beard and Rometra Craig.
The Blue Devils advanced to the championship game Saturday with a win over Duquesne (3-2), handily defeating the Dukes 97-66.
"I was very pleased overall with our effort," coach Gail Goestenkors said. "We played more focused than we had [Saturday] and I thought we sustained our focus much better throughout the game. Our subs came in and were just as focused as the starters, so that was important to us."
The Blue Devils produced offensively against Toledo (2-1), especially in the first half, scoring 36 points to the Rockets' 13. Duke freshman Iciss Tillis started the barrage in the opening minutes of the game with an easy layup that was followed by another close-range score by senior Rochelle Parent on the next possession.
Not usually known for her offensive skills, Parent demonstrated them in the first half, going 3-for-3 on field goals. Tillis and Parent both tallied eight points in the first half, but neither managed to score in the second half.
Defensively, Parent was in her usual mode, as she racked up seven of her eight rebounds on the defensive end before fouling out midway through the second half.
"I think Rochelle played an excellent game, she's one of the players who doesn't get much credit at all and she is really the stalwart of our defense," Goestenkors said. "She and Georgia in particular are the ones helping out the freshmen and [Rochelle] plays the best defense of anybody on the floor. She doesn't score a lot of points, but she was more aggressive offensively today than she has been in the past, and we've been needing and wanting her to do that. We were real proud of her that she's looking for her shot a little bit more."
In Saturday's game against Duquesne, the Blue Devils took an early lead and never looked back. Duke's defense shut down Duquesne; the Blue Devils forced 14 turnovers in the first half as they claimed a 49-20 lead before halftime.
Leading the Blue Devils Saturday was Schweitzer and Craig, who both scored in double-digits-Schweitzer with 14 and Craig with 17. Senior Missy West also scored in double-digits with 11 points on the game.
Saturday marked the first game in which junior Krista Gingrich saw action this season. Gingrich has been out with a torn calf muscle for the first five games of the season. She played five minutes, scored two points and tallied one assist against the Dukes.
Duke freshman Alana Beard's presence on the court was there for both games. In the first half of yesterday's game against Toledo, she stole the ball four times which led to four Duke fast breaks. Beard scored off three of those steals and dished the last one to senior Missy West for one of her six assists.
"[Alana] is a great defensive player," said Goestenkors. "I think she's got the longest arms that we've ever seen and she gets a lot of tips, which makes other players get steals. She also has a really good feel for the game. She has the green light to go and trap when she feels like going to trap, which is something that we haven't practiced before. That's one of the reasons why we put her at the point guard position."
The Blue Devils currently have the best record-7-0-in the country and it shows from the performances of the freshmen like Beard to the experienced seniors like Schweitzer.
"I'm ecstatic to be 7-0," Goestenkors said. "We've played some very tough competition, we've had a tough stretch and we've played some excellent teams on the road. To be 7-0 is a tremendous effort and we owe a great deal to the leadership of our seniors. I think it shows a great deal of the promise of our young players as well because they've played in some tough situations and they played well."
Next, the Blue Devils stay at Duke, facing UNC-Charlotte, but then have back-to-back away games at George Mason and Clemson. According to Goestenkors, there will be a lot of hard work between now and then.
"I am pleased with where we are now, but I know and understand that we have a very long way to go to be the type of team that we want to be," Goestenkors said.
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