Although the husky may be the most feared animal in women’s college basketball, it’s critical to remember that a tiger can still maul you if you’re not paying attention.
So even with the No. 2 Connecticut Huskies looming less than a week away, the No. 3 Blue Devils (19-0, 5-0 in the ACC) will keep their focus on tonight’s 7 p.m. contest against the Clemson Tigers (9-12, 2-4) at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Duke stands as the last unbeaten team in women’s college hoops, and its 19-0 start is the fourth time in school history that it has won its first 19 games. This early success bodes well for the last Blue Devils: The 2006-07 team blew straight past 19-0 to win their first 30 games and reach the Sweet 16, and two other Duke teams to have started 19-0 reached the Final Four. Still, the players aren’t focused on the zero in the loss column.
“The media are the only people that talk about us being undefeated,” senior Krystal Thomas said. “To us, we have so much work to do, we have so many things to get better, so that’s not even something that we think about.”
Clemson, by contrast, has had an especially rough time of late, winning just three of its last 11 games. But seven of those 11 contests have been played against ranked opponents, so taking on a top-tier opponent will be nothing new for rookie head coach Itoro Coleman’s squad.
The Tigers nonetheless have the talent to represent a threat to Duke—they boast three double-digit scorers to the Blue Devils’ one. Senior guards Sthefany Thomas, who averages 12.6 points per game, and Kirstyn Wright, who averages 11.6 points, comprise a dynamic backcourt duo while 6-foot-3 center Shaniqua Pauldo chips in 10.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per contest. Only Jasmine Thomas averages over 10 points per game for Duke.
The Tigers will also test the Blue Devils’ perimeter defense, as they lead the ACC in 3-point shooting at 35.4 percent.
The key to the game, though, could be momentum. Both teams are coming off emotional games: Duke rallied from a 20-point deficit against N.C. State Sunday to win by one, while Clemson garnered its first overtime win of the year the same day when it defeated Wake Forest, 77-73. The Blue Devils are motivated to demonstrate that their first-half struggles against the Wolfpack were a fluke.
“You can’t help but be incredibly inspired by that second half, something that was special in its own right,” head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “But also you’re totally motivated, because you’re wondering why you gave away 20 minutes.”
Thomas agreed with her coach.
“We showed for 20 minutes how bad we can play, and then we showed for 20 minutes how resilient we can be,” she said. “So we’re trying to match the second half from the N.C. State game, and carry that resiliency all the way out. We don’t want to be at any more 20-point deficits.”
McCallie thinks her team needs more consistency if it hopes to continue improving.
“I think it’s all about everybody going after their role, and fulfilling their role, and not taking games off,” she said. “We’ve had too many people take certain games off, and that’s led to some predicaments, so to speak.”
For McCallie, though, it’s not about the minutes her team “gave away” against N.C. State, or about the upcoming showdown with Connecticut. All that matters is getting the next victory.
“It’s about the chase,” she said. “It’s about chasing after what we can be.”
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