Duke looks to correct mistakes on third game of road trip

Senior Jasmine Thomas, who scored 19 against Charlotte in Duke’s last outing, will lead the Blue Devils in the third leg of their four-game road trip.
Senior Jasmine Thomas, who scored 19 against Charlotte in Duke’s last outing, will lead the Blue Devils in the third leg of their four-game road trip.

The Blue Devils travel to Harrisonburg, Va., tonight with two goals in mind: Extend their unbeaten start to a 7-0 mark and demonstrate improvement from their last outing against Charlotte.

The matchup with James Madison (3-2), the third of a four-game road swing, will pose a significant challenge, especially if Duke doesn’t learn from its latest win.

“It’s always exciting to play teams that are this good,” head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “Every team we play is looking to win their conference. And it’s always exciting to play Duke.”

The No. 5 Blue Devils are fresh off a victory over Charlotte, a game that was an early indicator of some of the team’s weaknesses. The squad was held to a season-low 61 points, shooting only 29.7 percent from the field. Struggling to establish consistent ball movement and rhythm on offense, Duke assisted on only nine of its baskets.

On the bright side, the game did put the team to 6-0, however, marking the best start for McCallie in her 19 years of coaching. And while the offense may not have been solid, Duke did record a season-high 55 rebounds and 10 blocks.

“We’re taking a lot from our game against Charlotte because we weren’t as focused and poised as we need to be,” McCallie said. “Charlotte is incredible in shooting, and we weren’t doing as well as we could on the defensive end.”

In tonight’s matchup with the Dukes, the Blue Devils will again need to slow down dangerous offensive players. Senior guard Dawn Evans, who poured in 31 points in her team’s loss at Cameron Indoor Stadium last year, has continued her strong play this year, averaging a team-high 26.6 points per game.

Providing Evans support in the James Madison backcourt are sophomore Tarik Hislop and senior Courtney Hamner. Hislop was a preseason all-conference honoree, and Hamner is a sharpshooter off the bench. Given this trio’s ability shooting the ball, the Duke coaching staff is emphasizing the importance of not giving them space.

“Coming from that [Charlotte] game, this will give us the opportunity to challenge James Madison’s shooters, 22 [Hislop], 23 [Evans] and 10 [Hamner],” McCallie said. “So there’s a lot of carry over, the idea of really being focused on what we need to do, having some good team defense. We also need to do a good job offensively, having more patience with the ball.”

The leading senior trio for the Blue Devils has been hot away from home this year. Karima Christmas, Jasmine Thomas and Krystal Thomas are averaging double-figures in their past three games on the road. Jasmine Thomas will also have a homecoming of sorts in Harrisonburg—the 5-foot-9 senior’s hometown of Fairfax is just two hours away from Bridgeforth Stadium.

After playing the Dukes, the Blue Devils will move onto the fourth leg of their road trip against Wisconsin in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Dec. 2.

“The idea is to focus on the process of getting better,” McCallie said. “It’s November; we have a long way to go to be the best team in March and April. It’s the matter of improvement and challenging our team.”

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