With only one loss and seven consecutive wins in the past month, the Blue Devils are looking to remain unbeaten in the ACC and bring their enthusiasm and aggressiveness to Miami this evening.
No. 7 Duke (14-2, 2-0 in the ACC) defeated Clemson and Wake Forest early last week to start off its conference play with two straight wins. With two of the conference’s lesser teams out of the way, the Blue Devils now take on two of the toughest teams on the season schedule in the next five days.
Duke travels to Coral Gables, Fla. tonight to face an improved Miami squad at 7 p.m., and returns to Durham Monday for a showdown with No. 1 UConn.
Head coach Joanne P. McCallie said her team has gotten used to playing on the road—Duke competed in four road contests in the last month and won three of them—and the matchup against the Hurricanes will be another such test.
“It’s been a great experience to travel, and we played some excellent opponents,” McCallie said. “We’ve been a very good rebounding team, we’re attacking better, and we’re turning over less.”
The team’s lone recent loss away from Cameron Indoor Stadum was to No. 2 Stanford Dec. 15, but Duke hopes to extend its winning streak in tonight’s away game against No. 25 Miami. The Hurricanes (13-2, 1-0) took down another top ACC squad, then-No. 11 Florida State, last week.
The Hurricanes are paced by 5-foot-7 guard Riquna Williams, who averages 22.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, and Diane Barnes, a senior forward who is averaging nearly a double-double in points and rebounds.
McCallie said Duke’s pressure defense is sure to be tested by an explosive Hurricane lineup that is scoring 80 points per game on the season.
To counter Miami’s athleticism and physical style of play, two traits McCallie highlighted, the Blue Devils must play their own style of basketball, especially on the defensive end.
“We are taking everything seriously and constantly trying to get better as a team. Our strength is our defensive energy and intensity, but at times, that can be our weakness,” senior forward Bridgette Mitchell said. “When we’re not playing our type of defense, they start scoring, but when we play Duke defense, we’re unstoppable.”
Senior Keturah Jackson stressed the need to focus only on the game against Miami at the moment—the Blue Devils’ schedule also includes the top-ranked Huskies, plus traditional ACC powers Maryland and North Carolina. According to Jackson, the matchup with the Hurricanes will be dictated not by how well Miami plays, but by how well Duke executes.
“There is a very close connection between the games we already played and the games we will be playing,” Jackson said. “They help get us prepared, and we take each game individually and work on excelling in what we need to. We come with a focus and play Duke basketball. We don’t want to give them anything easy.”
And if they do so tonight against the Hurricanes, the Blue Devils expect to stave off the storm and stay atop the ACC.
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