ATLANTA--There is wide disagreement on whether the women's basketball (12-1, 3-0 in the ACC) team deserves its No. 1 ranking. The Duke doubters point out that Texas Tech has an undefeated record against stiff competition and that the Blue Devils were one Jessica Foley miss away from becoming the No. 7 team in the nation, a fact that Gail Goestenkors has publicly admitted herself. But in the Blue Devils 77-45 dismantling of Georgia Tech, few could imagine a similar performance by any other team in the nation.
"They've got my vote [for No.1]," Georgia Tech head coach MaChelle Joseph. "I don't know that Texas Tech has gone to Connecticut and won on their home court. Duke being able to do that as many points as they were down and come back in the second half and win, I think you have to give Duke the nod."
While one can make theoretical arguments about whether or not Duke is better or worse than team's it will not possibly face until the NCAA tournament, it is apparent that the 2003-04 Blue Devil squad is superior than the 2002-03 Final Four Duke team. A year ago today, the Blue Devils needed each and every one of Alana Beard's career high 41 points and some helpful officiating to edge a sub-.500 Virginia team. The game was no fluke, either, as Duke struggled--especially in the first halves--against several other clearly less talented squads early in the ACC season.
But in their first away conference game of 2004, the Blue Devils provided strong evidence for their No. 1 ranking claim, never relenting on an overmatched team.
The Yellow Jackets began the game in a zone defense in attempt to thwart the individual skills of the Duke stars, but the multifaceted team methodically broke down the defensive sets to take a 7-2 advantage early in the game.
The Yellow Jackets switched to man-to-man defense, but the Duke dominance did not change. With nearly every head of its hydra spitting fire, the Blue Devils accumulated more assists (14) than Georgia Tech did points (13) in the first half.
Beard led Duke with 12 points as it built its 29-point half time lead, but it was freshman Brittany Hunter, who finished the game with her first double-double, that cowed the Yellow Jackets' offensive rhythm by blocking four shots in the first half.
"We set the tone with our defense," Goestenkors said. "We blocked several shots, and I think that caused them to change their shots a little bit."
"Through practice and watching film a lot more, I'm getting a lot better," Hunter said.
While Hunter, who was widely considered the No. 1 high school player in the nation a year ago, is certainly playing a large part in Duke's improvement, Joseph feels the return of Monique Currie, who sat out last season with an ACL tear, is the greatest explanation for the Blue Devils enhanced play.
"At my three years at Georgia Tech, that's definitely the best Duke team, head and shoulders, that I've seen," Joseph said. "I think, obviously, that Alana Beard and Iciss Tillis are special players, but Monique Currie is the X-Factor. She's tough, she's aggressive. She doesn't get high, she doesn't get low, she just attacks. I think she makes them a much more tough team both offensively and defensively." Currie scored 14 points in only 20 minutes of action against the Yellow Jackets.
While the Blue Devils are certainly proud of their achievements thus far this season, they are far from satisfied.
"I feel like in a month or so we're going to be where we want to be," Goestenkors said.
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