Duke first met Georgia Southern Jan. 9, 1982 in Statesboro, Ga., with the Eagles narowly edging out the Blue Devils 64-58. Two seasons later, however, Duke delivered a victory at the USF Holiday Classic in Tampa, Fla., tying the short-lived rivalry at one win apiece.
Twenty-five years later, the two teams are ready to battle it out again.
And this time, more than a quarter century later, things are looking even better for No. 11 Duke (1-1), which has won 18 straight home openers and boasts a 25-game winning streak against Southern Conference teams. The Blue Devils take on the Eagles (1-0) tonight at 7 p.m in Cameron Indoor Stadium as Duke looks to extend its not-so-recent success against Georgia Southern.
“We’re excited to play, and we had a really good practice Monday,” head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “Sunday was a lesson loss, as in there were many lessons and losses in that game, and now we’re [focusing on] our defense, rebounding and positioning.”
The Blue Devils look to ammend their recent struggles, especially after their blowout 95-77 loss against No. 15 Texas A&M Sunday. In its matchup against the Aggies, Duke was plagued by poor offensive execution, as the Blue Devils did not shoot the ball well and posted a less-than-inspiring 33.3 percent mark from the field. And defensively, the 95 points that Duke allowed were the most since giving up 104 to Connecticut over 10 years ago.
McCallie’s squad, however, looks to shape up on both sides of the floor today by following through on certain plays in the backcourt.
“We just didn’t display a great defense, and after watching film, we need to be putting more emphasis on plays that caught us off-guard,” senior forward Bridgette Mitchell said. “Losing always brings extra motivation, but it definitely shouldn’t have to take a loss to love defense and playing it.”
Hoping to bounce back from Sunday’s loss, the players expect to earn a significant win after a hard week working on defense and performing with greater intensity in practice.
And though the players revel in playing at home, McCallie said it should not make a big difference in the players’ performance.
“We love playing in Cameron and we love our fans,” she said, “but we need to be able to play anytime, anyplace, anywhere.”
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