It’s a familiar spot for the Blue Devils. They open their season yet again as the No. 6 team in the country. They return their best player as well as a core of experienced starters. They’re even the preseason ACC favorites, again the team with the bull’s-eye on their backs.
However, this year’s season opener against Brigham Young Saturday at 7 p.m. in Cameron Indoor Stadium will be different from past years.
“I’m very excited about the game, the quality, the level—because it’s just like the NCAA [Tournament] in November,” head coach Joanne P. McCallie said.
Indeed, BYU returns four starters, as well as its top six scorers. Led by senior captains Mindy Bonham and Haley Hall, BYU is a very experienced, deep team who advanced to the Elite Eight of the NIT.
The Cougars are a veteran squad with five seniors, four of whom are starting. With 5-foot-10 guard Bonham at the fulcrum of the offense, and 5-foot-4 guard Hall as the defensive leader, BYU effectively shares the scoring and rebounding roles. The Cougars will look to get the most out of their motion offense, especially in transition, while stretching out the Duke defense in halfcourt sets.
“Their ability to run their motion offense and create 3-point shots is very strong,” McCallie said. “Shutting down their 3-point shooting threat will be a key concern for us.”
The Blue Devils are again led by 5-foot-9 senior guard Jasmine Thomas, who led the team in points and assists last season. Considered a preseason first-team All-American by multiple sports publications, Thomas begins this season as one of the top guards in the nation and should yet again be the focus of the Duke offense.
Thomas is joined by fellow senior starters Krystal Thomas and Karima Christmas. The team’s leading rebounder her junior year, center Krystal Thomas will be called upon to make a big impact in the game on the defensive and offensive boards. However, the biggest difference between this Duke team and its previous iteration will be the freshmen.
“Chloe Wells, Tricia Liston, Richa Jackson—we have a lot of different people capable of stepping up,” McCallie said.
The nation’s top recruiting class, this deep and talented group features the guard tandem of Wells and Liston. The duo led the team in scoring during the last exhibition game Nov. 7 against Carson-Newman, scoring 44 of the team’s 121 points.
Looking extremely sharp in both exhibition games, these two have received significant minutes coming off the bench. Both Wells and Liston are great jump shooters and will look to shoulder some of the scoring burden from Jasmine Thomas.
The Blue Devils will try to play the same kind of basketball against BYU that led them to dominate their two exhibition games against Carson-Newman and Wingate with respective scorelines of 121-65 and 88-44. Duke hopes to impose its defensive will upon the Cougars while dominating the boards and playing its own style of basketball.
“It’s an exciting thing to think of disrupting their tempo,” McCallie said. “We would like to create a situation where it would be difficult to create a balance.”
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