Last year’s Duke team often fell back on its senior leader Jasmine Thomas to take the game into her own hands. The graduation of Thomas and two other seniors will leave the Blue Devils without that same level of veteran leadership, or even many veteran players at all. But with the arrival of four talented freshmen, in addition to a strong corps of sophomores, the team remains poised to contend on the national stage.
The Blue Devils kicked off their season Sunday with the fifth annual Blue/White intrasquad scrimmage at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The White team came away with a 75-53 victory, though the score’s relevance is diminished by the fact that the squads were mixed after each 10-minute period. Two players stood out regardless of which color they were wearing, however—sophomores Tricia Liston and Haley Peters scored 24 and 21 points, respectively, leading all scorers. The second-year players added eight rebounds apiece as well.
It came as no surprise to head coach Joanne P. McCallie that those two were the stars of the show, since the pair played together last summer in the North Carolina Pro-Am League, which brings together professionals, college and high school players for summer exhibition play.
“[That] league is a great opportunity,” McCallie said. “It gives you a little bit more experience and an opportunity to play, and there’s no question it is a benefit to the players.”
But right behind Liston and Peters on the scoring list were two players that did not get extra experience this past summer, and who in fact had not had any collegiate experience whatsoever. Freshmen Elizabeth Williams and Amber Henson tied for third among scorers with 13 points apiece, and combined for 16 rebounds, four blocks and two steals as well.
“The athleticism and agility of our post players, when you add Elizabeth and Amber, changes things a lot and dramatically because of the quickness to the ball and the dexterity,” McCallie said.
Fellow rookie Ka’lia Johnson also joined the double-digit club with 11 points and added seven boards in her college debut.
As might be expected of a young team, play was sloppy early in the matchup. The Blue squad failed to capitalize on early momentum after Shay Selby was slapped with a quick technical for White. Liston drained both free throws after the technical, but Blue scored just four points in the remainder of the period and turned the ball over 10 times in as many minutes.
“I wasn’t really pleased with the offense getting open and doing some of the things that offensive players need to do,” McCallie said.
The Blue team was plagued by turnovers, but White showed a steadier hand, in part because of the stabilizing play of sophomore Chelsea Gray. Gray—who McCallie is expecting to fill the void left by Thomas, who was selected 12th overall in the WNBA Draft—shot just 2-for-7 from the field but did show off a steady hand with 10 assists, five steals and just three turnovers in a full 40 minutes of play, all for the White team.
“Chelsea already had stepped into that role as a first year,” McCallie said. “I think that Chelsea is the one that is probably the most proven, given her experience as a freshman and the things that she did.”
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