After its victory over then No.6 Louisiana Tech, the women's basketball team prepares to embark on a weekend trip to Virginia and then Washington, D.C.
The No. 9 Blue Devils (5-2) are set to open ACC conference play Thursday night in Charlottesville, Va., against the Virginia Cavaliers (5-2) at 7:30 p.m. in University Hall. Saturday, Duke will continue its journey to the nation's capital to square off against the unranked Georgetown Hoyas at 4 p.m. in McDonough Arena. Seeing as how the team members are entering their reading period this weekend, this road trip could prove extra difficult.
"I think the games are going to be tough battles for us," Duke coach Gail Goestenkors said. "We are heading into our reading period and are coming off a very emotional win against La. Tech, so we have to make sure that we are very focused for these two games. I think we will be focused for Virginia because it is our first ACC game, but the Georgetown game scares me a little bit because it's not an ACC game and it's the last game of this stretch."
The Cavaliers' style of play closely resembles the Blue Devils'. Both squads are young--each starts mostly freshmen and sophomores--athletic, and a little inconsistent thus far during the season. After Duke's last win over a ranked opponent, against Texas Tech Nov. 11, the team came out very flat in its following two games.
Coach Goestenkors hopes that the Blue Devils have learned from their prior mistakes.
"Great teams play at a certain level all the time," Goestenkors said. "This is another challenge for us to see how much we have grown since [the season-opening Texas Tech] game."
The Blue Devils will need to contain Virginia's star senior, Telisha Quarles, if they hope to defeat the Cavaliers and improve on their 14-32 all-time record against the Wahoos. Quarles, a senior guard, is Virginia's leading scorer, averaging 15.0 points a game, and is coming off a career-high 26-point effort against UC-Santa Barbara.
The Blue Devils will need to take advantage of Quarles' tendency to use her left hand to drive, and to limit her opportunities near the basket if they hope to contain her.
"Telisha is a really good player and a great one-on-one player," coach Goestenkors said. "She scores a lot of her points getting out on the break since she is so good in transition. We will have to match with her really early. We would also rather keep her on the outside than allow her to create inside."
In response to UVa's major threat, the Blue Devils will counter with sophomore sensation and National Player of the Year candidate Alana Beard. She will be an integral part of the Duke offense, being Duke's leading scorer, at 17.4 points per game and also averaging 6.0 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 4.4 steals this season.
In addition, Duke will look towards junior guard Sheana Mosch to get more involved in the offense. After opening the season quite tentatively, Mosch has been more assertive in her shooting lately and will look to emulate her performance against Virginia from last year in which she broke out for 25 points on 12-for-15 shooting from the field.
After a very quick turnaround, the Blue Devils will face the Hoyas Saturday in what will be a homecoming for star freshman Monique Currie, who hails from Washington, D.C. Currie, who has been selected ACC Rookie of the Week twice-including for her 19-point effort against Louisiana Tech, is Duke's third leading scorer, averaging 14.0 points and 5.4 rebounds in only 23.7 minutes per game.
If the Hoyas are to have a chance against the Blue Devils, they will have to rely on their leading scorer and rebounder, sophomore forward Rebekkah Brunson. She is averaging 16.5 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, and is a force down low and Duke has to lose its focus as it did against Toledo and South Carolina.
In addition to sending the team into the finals break on a four-game winning streak, two victories on this road trip would place Goestenkors in a tie with Debbie Leonard as the winningest coach in Duke history, with 213 all-time victories. In only 10 seasons in Durham, Goestenkors has posted a 211-80 record.
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