Twelve and counting...
With another ACC regular season title safely in tow, Duke's women (24-3, 15-1 in the ACC) will put a 12-game ACC tournament winning streak on the line when they face either Wake Forest or Georgia Tech in the first round of the ACC tournament Saturday at noon.
"I know anybody can win this tournament, and I think probably the fact that we lost to Florida State gives everybody confidence that we can be beat, so I just want us to be focused and ready to play every single game and respect our opponent," head coach Gail Goestenkors said. "I don't think that's a worry, I just think that as a coach you always want your team prepared for anything."
The No. 2 Blue Devils have certainly come out prepared after having their record 51-game ACC winning streak snapped at Florida State February 2nd. After Monday's 90-57 victory at N.C. State, Duke has defeated its last seven ACC opponents by an average of more than 30 points per game.
Duke's first-round matchup, however, presents a tricky problem. Since the Blue Devils play the winner of the play-in game, they will not know their opponent until the night before their game.
It may be difficult for the team to prepare for a challenger it does not know; however, according to senior Iciss Tillis, the team is taking it all in stride.
"You know the personnel through and through," Tillis said. "Preparing a day or two days in advance is not the key, it's just going over the stuff, getting the job done, and focusing on your game. Just having fun, I think, is our main focus. Just playing with energy and lots of passion, and everything else will come into place."
Even though the Blue Devils do not yet know who they will play, both the Yellow Jackets and Demon Deacons are familiar foes. Duke has utterly dominated both teams this season, winning all four matchups against both teams by a combined 130 points. The closest margin in any of the games was a still-commanding 80-55 decision versus Wake Forest in Durham on February 12. Beard and Tillis led the way for Duke in that game, notching 23 and 22 points, respectively.
Nevertheless, the four-time defending ACC tournament champions are not overlooking either of their prospective opening-round opponents.
"If you look at the tournaments in the past, some of our tightest games have been in the first game," senior point guard Vicki Krapohl said. "We played Wake Forest the last couple of years, and they took us to overtime one of those years."
Last year, Duke got one of those tight first games from the Demon Deacons, who got to within three points of the Blue Devils with less than a minute to go before falling 64-59. Many of the same players have returned for the Demon Deacons, most notably junior forward Erin Ferrell, who has led Wake Forest in scoring against Duke in both of the Deacons' matchups this year. Shutting down the Gaithersburg, Md., native will be important for the Blue Devils.
Not to be overlooked themselves, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets boast preseason All-ACC pick Fallon Stokes, who leads the team in scoring and rebounding, and senior leadership at the point guard position with Alex Stewart. Senior forward Stokes, the only Yellow Jacket averaging over 10 points per game, will be a tough defensive assignment for Duke forward Monique Currie.
The Blue Devils, however, counter with superior talent at nearly every position on the floor against both teams. In addition, neither Wake Forest nor Georgia Tech can match the championship experience of Beard, Tillis and Krapohl.
"We're going for five in a row," Beard said. "At the beginning of the year, we set certain goals to win the ACC regular season, the ACC tournament and then the national championship."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.