The Blue Devils know that to be the best, they have to play the best.
Duke's schedule, ranked as the sixth-hardest in the country by RPI guru Ken Pomeroy, has been no walk in the park.
In fact, the Blue Devils hold the distinction as the only team in the top 25 to have played each of the top-five teams: Connecticut, North Carolina, Tennessee, Rutgers and Maryland. Only two teams, LSU and Notre Dame, have played even four of those teams. But home-and-away series against the Terrapins and Tar Heels boosted Duke's total number of games against top-five teams to seven, making their schedule arguably the toughest in the country.
"There is no way I'd rather have it," junior Abby Waner said. "We've played the top-five teams, some more than once. We didn't come here to play easy teams during the season and then lose in the second round of the Tournament."
The challenge of playing top teams may have paid dividends in terms of preparation, but the tough tests haven't done Duke any favors in the win-loss column.
Of Duke's eight losses, six them have come against these teams, with the only Duke win a 49-44 victory over Rutgers Dec. 6 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Although Duke's average margin of defeat in these six losses has been 16.5 points, they have played close in many of the games, most notably in a 67-64 home loss to Tennessee Jan. 28.
"We've had a couple of blowouts against those top-five teams, but for a majority of those games we've been right there," center Chante Black said. "We were making immature mistakes, so now that we've grown as a team, hopefully we won't make those immature mistakes and [we] can play right up there with those top-five teams score-wise."
Still, Duke players stressed the intangible rewards of playing such demanding games. Black singled out improved team poise as one of the most significant silver linings of the losses to top competition.
"You get in tight situations when you play the top teams [and] they convert on your mistakes," she said. "So now, with little teams you can make mistakes and we'll stay the same, but with top teams when you make that mistake, they're going downcourt, they're scoring and the lead just extends. We've learned from that."
The real benefits of Duke's scheduling might become clearer as soon as postseason play begins.
With a newfound understanding of how the team can come from behind, Blue Devil guard Wanisha Smith expressed confidence in Duke's ability to rebound from a poor start, or an opponent's scoring run or any other difficulty the team might face.
"We know going into the Tournament that if we're down, we're going to be able to fight back," Smith said. "Not that we want to be in that situation, but we have the confidence that if we're going to be down, we'll be fine."
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