"That feeling," Lindsey Harding said, is what's going to push Duke to the top this year--that feeling of getting to the Final Four and losing. "I never want to feel that again, of just being so close but never quite getting it. I've never won any type of championship--in high school, AAU or anything--so just having that feeling."
While Harding may be hooked on a feeling from last season, the sophomore point guard is now expected to be the catalyst for a Blue Devils' banner year. A spitfire backup to Vicki Krapohl for much of last season, Harding was just another talented but underused freshman. But after Duke's loss to Connecticut last February, the speedster entered Gail Goestenkors' new starting lineup and didn't leave it for the final 16 games of the season.
With the fastest legs and the biggest smile on the team, Harding's star blossomed last year under the two point guard lineup, and though things may shift around once again with the frontcourt talent of this year's freshman class, it is hard to ignore the spark she left in the final two months of the Blue Devils' Final Four run. Despite only starting those 16 games, she led Duke in assists and led the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio. But even that, apparently, was only a sneak preview.
"I feel more confident in my play," she said. "I know what I can do, and I didn't do it last year."
Helping restore that confidence is Harding's return to health. She broke her finger in four places when she jammed it into a teammate's arm during captain-led practices in the off-season. Three screws and a wire later, the firecracker could do everything but play full-contact basketball, a restriction that is tough on one of the team's most tenacious defenders.
But Harding returned last month and said she felt fine, ready to dart around the court with a year's experience under her belt, ready never to deal with "that feeling" again.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.