Head women's basketball coach Gail Goestenkors is well acquainted with the proud tradition of Purdue's program--she served as an assistant there from 1986-92. She also coached against the Boilermakers four years ago when she led the Blue Devils into the national championship game, only to fall to her former squad, 62-45.
Purdue, ranked just one spot behind the Blue Devils at fifth nationally, actually hosted Duke last weekend at the State Farm Classic where Duke succumbed to then-No. 3 Texas, while Purdue triumphed over then-No. 5 Kansas State. This Sunday, Duke heads to Raleigh for the annual Jimmy V Women's Basketball Classic for a shot at toppling the Big 10 power, but not before Goestenkors and the No. 4 Blue Devils host intrastate foe Elon tonight at 7 p.m. in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
"It'd be nice to actually have the whole week to prepare for Purdue," Goestenkors said. "It's a little different because we have to prepare for Elon first, and it really only gives us a day to prepare for Purdue. We've been trying this week to work on Duke, and rectify the things that we saw that we needed to work on based on the Texas game, and also try to prepare for both Elon and Purdue at the same time."
Elon, nicknamed "The Phoenix", will be making its season debut against the Blue Devils. Elon returns three starters from a year ago off a team that accumulated a 19-10 record. Duke has played The Phoenix twice since 1999, winning by an average of 53.5 points.
"I think you have to be really careful with teams like this, you can't underestimate them, because they're likely to come out and hit 60 percent from the three-point line," sophomore sharpshooter Jessica Foley said. "We have to remember who Duke is, and they want to beat Duke. So everyone brings their best game to Cameron, so we have to be really prepared and know the [scouting report]."
Purdue is no exception to that rule, as the Boilermakers will be gunning for their second nationally televised win over a top-five team in as many weeks. A team that is equipped with four returning starters from a team that advanced to the Elite Eight and won 29 games a season ago, the Boilermakers loom perilously for the Blue Devils.
"They're just a great team," senior Vicki Krapohl said. "They're very aggressive. We got to watch them play in the second game [of the State Farm Classic], and they just get after it. They get loose balls, they play hard, and I think it's going to be a great game for us and a great test."
Goestenkors affirmed that the Blue Devils would have to do more than just come out and play against the Boilermakers. The matchup has all the makings of an early-season shootout.
"They're excellent three-point shooters, so we have to close out defensively with our hands high," she said. "They execute very well on the offensive end of the floor--they have great patience. So we're going to have to do a tremendous job communicating on the defensive end of the floor because they set lot snad lots of screens to get their shooters open."
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