After a close loss to then-No. 4 Notre Dame in the Bahamas last Saturday, the No. 7 Blue Devils (4-1) are back home with no time to relax. Duke will host No. 13 Purdue (6-0) tonight at 7 p.m. in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Blue Devils’ head coach Joanne P. McCallie is excited about the opportunity to compete against a nationally ranked opponent for the second consecutive game, particularly after her squad was painfully close to upsetting the Fighting Irish.
“We really benefited from playing an NCAA-type game in November,” McCallie said. “In the first half [after which Duke led by 16], we displayed great poise, execution and focus.... We’re not very happy though, because [in the second half] we didn’t close something we thought we could close.”
The Blue Devils will have a chance to avenge their second-half stumble against the Boilermakers, who play a similar style to the Fighting Irish, McCallie said.
“Elements that we’d been getting ready for against Notre Dame, we’ve also been preparing for this week,” McCallie said.
Like Notre Dame, Purdue’s offense features a talented group of guards. The Boilermakers are led by senior Brittany Rayburn, who averages a team-high 15.3 points per game on 48.4-percent shooting, and redshirt sophomore KK Houser, who averages 10.8 points and 3.7 assists per contest.
Duke’s own starting backcourt will not be at full strength for tonight’s contest. The team announced Tuesday that senior Shay Selby, who had been averaging 6.2 points and 3.0 assists per game, has been suspended indefinitely for an unspecified violation of team rules. Selby’s loss will place a greater burden on starting guards Chelsea Gray and Chloe Wells, who both average just over 10 points per game. Sophomore sharpshooter Tricia Liston could also see her role expanded in Selby’s absence.
The biggest challenge the Blue Devils may face is the Boilermakers’ aggressive, physical defense, which has allowed a Big Ten-best 46 points per game this season. Duke’s second-half struggles against Notre Dame, McCallie said, were precipitated by the Fighting Irish’s increased physicality on the defensive end.
“In the second half, the game was called more loosely, and it became a much more physical match. We could have done much more, and [brought] it up a few notches,” McCallie said.
Duke can expect an entire game of intense defense from the Boilermakers, and its best tool for countering that pressure may be freshman Elizabeth Williams. The 6-foot-3 center has quickly emerged as a force in the paint for the Blue Devils, averaging a team-high 12.4 points and 8.0 rebounds per game.
“Elizabeth is unique in that her age really isn’t a factor at this point,” McCallie said. “She’s already starting to see double teams, which is really unusual for a freshman at this level.”
Above all, the Blue Devils are excited to return to Cameron Indoor Stadium, where they hope the crowd will help propel them to victory. While the sunny, tropical climate of the Bahamas made for a nice diversion, Duke is eager to return to its home court.
“It feels like we’ve been gone for months,” McCallie said. “We can’t wait to come back and play in Cameron, and we hope we get a lot of support.”
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