The women"s basketball team is riding high after this weekend"s victory over Virginia Tech to open its ACC season. With top-ranked LSU falling to Rutgers earlier in the week, the Blue Devils (15-1) moved up in the polls and currently hold the top spot in the country.
Head coach Gail Goestenkors downplayed the ranking, noting that it only matters what her team accomplishes at the end of the season.
First place rankings and high expectations are no stranger to the Duke women"s team. With what looked like a team capable of giving the program its first National Championship, Duke fell in the Elite Eight to Minnesota last year. If Duke wants to avoid another disappointing ending it is certainly going to have to earn it.
The ranking this early in the season may mean little, but the accolade is a tremendous accomplishment considering the personnel the team lost. National Player of the Year Alana Beard, center Iciss Tillis and point guard Vicki Krapohl graduated, Brittany Hunter transferred to Connecticut and Lindsey Harding, the team"s co-captain and starting point guard, was suspended for the entire season.
Left with only nine players, the inexperienced Blue Devils have won 13 straight games and have knocked off then top-ranked Tennessee in the process, along with four other ranked opponents. 'Eight is enough,' the rally cry from the 2001-02 season that carried the team to the Final Four, may have to be re-adopted this year, as guard Caitlin Howe will undergo surgery Thursday to remove a staple from her leg and will be out six to eight weeks.
Freshman point guard Wanisha Smith has been one of the main reasons for Duke"s success. Her numbers are not phenomenal (12.1 points per game and 4.5 assists per game), but considering she was not expected to start at point guard and is learning a new position, her performance has been vital thus far. Not large in stature, Smith has caused major matchup problems by driving to the hoop often when teams put extra guards into the game, then attempting three-point shots or passing off to teammate Jessica Foley when teams implement a lineup with more forwards or a zone defense.
Alison Bales, 6-foot-8, saw her playing time increase greatly, and has responded by averaging 4.1 blocks per game and 6.6 rebounds. Returning players Foley, Mistie Williams, and Monique Currie have set a great example and are all enjoying their best seasons as Duke players, with Currie averaging 17.3 points per game as a strong Player of the Year candidate.
Even with the team"s excellent performance thus far, there is still room for improvement. Freshman center Chante Black started the season dominating in the low post, but has since struggled scoring points for the Blue Devils.
Three-point specialist Laura Kurz will also need to step up her play for Duke to make a championship drive. Kurz has shot better than 50 percent from beyond the arc, but has been unable to draw any fouls, having attempted just three free throws all season. With an unorthodox shot that starts near her hips, better teams will key on her jump shot and take away her weapon if they know she is not going to challenge them inside.
With just eight players, Goestenkors and her coaches are going to need to help Black and Kurz develop their game because a team cannot afford to have any liabilities for a championship drive.
'We"ve faced adversity in the past and we have a great coaching staff, so I knew they would get things going,' Currie said. 'We have a great team, and we just work with what we have. We've come a long way, and I think we'll continue to get better.'
If the 6-foot-5 Black can get her game back on track, Duke will be blessed with four options in the post--Black, Bales, Currie and Williams--and could improve on already impressive offensive rebounding totals. Currie and Williams have shown they have scoring ability, and Bales has been effective passing to Foley, Smith and Kurz for outside shots. With this inside-outside combination the Blue Devils team will be an offensive nightmare for opponents.
Nobody predicted the Blue Devils would be without five of last year"s top players and return to the top of the AP Poll, and with perennial powerhouses Tennessee and Connecticut looking weaker than usual, Duke has a golden opportunity to sneak in and capture a title. Clearly it will be hard to fault this team if they lose in the tournament, competing with just eight players, three of which are freshman but Duke has put itself in a position to win a championship and bring the women"s program to the same level as its male counterpart.
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