Monday, the Blue Devils (9-0) fought hard in a close 61-58 victory against a previously unbeaten, nationally ranked Texas A&M squad. Tonight’s home contest against unranked Albany (6-2) should prove significantly less demanding, and perhaps serve as a breather of sorts after consecutive difficult victories.
Head coach Joanne P. McCallie enthusiastically praised her team’s defensive effort against Texas A&M.
“[I saw] some incredible defense, some real savvy,” she said. “Interesting defense that made me excited because some of the things we did were a little bit further along than December, more like January.”
Duke forced 14 turnovers and allowed the Aggies to shoot just 22-of-65 (33.8 percent) from the floor, and its tenacious defense will surely be a challenge for the Albany offense to overcome.
It will be more interesting to see, however, if the No. 5 Blue Devils can couple that same defensive effort with an improved performance on the offensive side of the ball. After committing 18 turnovers and shooting 30.9 percent from the floor against Texas A&M, and shooting 33.3 percent and dishing out only six assists against Wisconsin Dec. 2, it appears Duke has fallen into an offensive funk. Tonight’s game could be an ideal opportunity for the Blue Devils to end their offensive woes and prepare for more difficult upcoming contests against unbeaten Oklahoma State Dec. 12 and No. 4 Xavier Dec. 21.
McCallie stressed the importance of running the offense through the team’s most experienced players, and noted that her squad’s relative youth could be contributing to its offensive struggles.
“You have to run with your seniors, particularly when we’ve been on the road, because they have that experience,” she said. “We’re very inconsistent right now and I think we have players that are young. It’s pretty clearly three seniors, and really, freshmen across the board.”
Duke will indeed rely on its three seniors—Karima Christmas, Jasmine Thomas and Krystal Thomas—to provide scoring punch in tonight’s game. Christmas, who notched 11 points and 11 rebounds in a strong effort against Texas A&M, is averaging 10.8 points and six rebounds per game thus far. Jasmine Thomas, who is averaging 15.3 points per game this season, will again serve as the Blue Devils’ go-to offensive threat. And Krystal Thomas is averaging nearly a double-double this season, scoring 8.7 points and pulling down 8.8 rebounds per game. Those three will need to lead the charge if Duke is to perform up to expectations offensively against Albany. McCallie, however, is confident that they will, if not tonight then in the near future.
“I think it’s just a function of time. The schedule we have, we’re playing real teams. It’s going to take some time until the stats please people,” she said.
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