One last shot before entering the Hall

Make room Cameron, Alana is here.

As Alana Beard enters her final season at Duke, the most storied player in the women's basketball program's history will unquestionably be the first woman to have her number hung from the hallowed rafters of Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Surely, debate about where to put the blue and white No. 20 will be considerable, but Beard hopes Cameron has to make room for two--that is another banner denoting a national championship. For the bonafide leader of 2003-2004 team, the program's first-ever Final Four conquest would blissfully punctuate a career that has escalated the women's basketball program to national prominence.

And while Beard is almost always the most athletic, skilled and gifted player on the court, it is her intensity and uncanny drive that have led the Blue Devils along the path from national player to perennial championship contender.

"My parents worked for everything that they have given me and everything that they have. Nothing has come really really easy. We are not the richest people in the world or anything. To see my parents get up in the morning, get us ready for school, go to work every day and then come home and take care of us at night, that's what I see."

As evidence of Beard's determination, she has been named practice player of the year by Goestenkors in each of her first three campaigns with the Blue Devils. After tweaking her ankle in practice last week, Beard was forced to sit on the sidelines--not to worry, she was back at full strength the following day. Fellow senior Iciss Tillis commented that the intensity level immediately dropped when Beard was out, and there was no way the other players could restore it.

"She raises the level of intensity of our entire practice," Goestenkors said. "She demands more of her teammates. If they want to compete and keep up with her they know they are going to have to play at another level."

Beard is well aware of the tenacity that she brings to the court. At junctures during the 2002-2003 season, teams tried to slow her offensive production by being physical with her. When she was asked to respond to this aggressive tactic she said, "I am warrior, not a princess."

And, just as the senior embraces an opponent's challenge, she conspicuously shows her emotions on the court, understanding that she is a galvanizing force around which her teammates can rally.

"I think I bring energy to the court," Beard said. "I am the one to get my teammates involved and to get my teammates hyped up about the game, and that is what I try to do every game."

As a player, Beard's athleticism is immediately apparent. Blowing by opponents with a menacing crossover dribble and a lightning-quick first step to the basket, Beard has the ability to single-handedly take control of a game.

In a close contest last season at Virginia, she scored a career-high 41 points, over two-thirds of the Blue Devils' total, leading her team to a narrow 60-59 victory. Characteristic of the senior's court presence, her leadership in the matchup with the Cavaliers was equally as important as her offensive output.

But as we look into the crystal ball, past a schedule where Duke will face every other preseason top-five team, Beard will look to culminate a storied collegiate career with the one prize that has eluded Beard and her Blue Devil teammates: a national championship. She dreams of returning to Duke next fall to hoist not only her #20 into a hallowed position among other Duke greats, but--more importantly for Beard--to admire a national championship banner.

The 2004 Final Four is scheduled to be played at the Louisiana Superdome, in her home state, and Beard will be looking for a deserving, and storybook, ending to a dominating career.

"It would be so cool," she said about the prospect of winning Duke's first national championship in her home state. "I dream about that. But I don't live in the future, I don't live in the past, I just take it one day at a time."