Tests come in numerous forms.
Duke passed one Monday in its win over No. 12 Maryland at home on national television. The Blue Devils raced out to an 11-point halftime lead, and Jasmine Thomas made four free throws in the game's last 10 seconds, prompting head coach Joanne P. McCallie to praise the team's poise down the stretch.
But Friday brings another sort of challenge, albeit a less intriguing one. Virginia Tech isn't Maryland, and it certainly isn't North Carolina or Connecticut, but the No. 4 Blue Devils are looking at Friday's 6:30 p.m. game in Blacksburg as a chance to improve on a lackluster second half against the Terrapins, and, more important, to simply avoid a letdown in the wake of a high.
"You'd be lying if you said that Carolina and Maryland aren't bigger than some games in terms of the rivalry, but the ACC is dangerous," senior Abby Waner said. "This team has taken a whole new personality than the ones I've seen in the past in that we push to get better every single game."
And McCallie is the first to admit that there are plenty of holes that need shoring up. Duke missed too many layups Monday, and the Terrapins broke the press defense for easy transition points too many times for McCallie's liking.
The second half was a comedown from a dominant first half, in which McCallie said the Blue Devils (14-1, 2-0 in the ACC) were headed toward a "real interesting attack." The offense funneled through center Chante Black and forward Joy Cheek, which led to points in the paint and open shots on the perimeter. The defense trapped, forced turnovers and wore down the Maryland offense at the end of the half.
But after the break, Duke's players could not sustain the energy. McCallie cautions her team against playing with too much emotion, and Monday's game was a classic example of adrenaline wearing off at just the wrong time.
Now that the Blue Devils have the momentum of an 12-game winning streak, the head coach hopes that it won't result in more ups and downs in the course of the game.
"To me, you can't get caught up in the wrong thing. If you get caught up in emotion, it can only take you so far," McCallie said. "We're interested in execution. We're interested in getting better as a team, and they're two very different constructs. You don't want to win games emotionally, because then you do have a letdown."
It's also harder to ramp up the energy against a team like the Hokies (8-7, 0-2), who sit in the ACC's cellar, especially on the road.
Instead of viewing the trip to Blacksburg as a chore, though, Waner said the Blue Devils see it as an opportunity to correct the mistakes from the Maryland win and to prove to themselves that they can follow up a marquee win with a dominant performance. After Duke's last win over a top-15 team-a 56-52 win over Stanford Dec. 16-the Blue Devils had to fight back from a 17-point second-half deficit to beat unranked Southern California on the road.
This time, it's another unranked team in another foreign setting. And while Duke aims to secure the same result, it wouldn't mind going home without having to claw back for so long.
"It will be a test more than anything," Waner said. "We could've played a lot better against Maryland, and this will be a good game for us to carry that over to, because they're not generally one of the top powerhouses, but they're still a good team. It's going to test a lot of this team's character."
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