No. 2 seeds in the NCAA tournament have not been too friendly to Duke recently.
The Blue Devils, who secured a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament bracket for the fourth consecutive year, have yet to reach the NCAA semifinals with head coach Joanne P. McCallie at the helm, but the atmosphere at Scharf Hall, where the Blue Devils watched the selection show, suggests the team believes it can break that streak.
Read more about Duke women's basketball in the 2013 NCAA tournament
The Blue Devils cheered as their seeding was announced, despite getting put in the Norfolk region, the same one as the tournament’s No. 2 overall seed, Notre Dame.
However, Duke’s focus remains set on its first-round matchup Sunday against 15th-seeded Hampton at Cameron Indoor Stadium. McCallie has stressed to the Blue Devils the importance of focusing on one game at a time.
“It’s a great privilege and honor to host because we’ve done that before and we hope to do it again, but the reality of this time here is the urgency,” McCallie said. “We just can’t wait to play.”
After a week off following an ACC tournament championship victory against North Carolina, Duke has prepared to play without knowing its opponent by focusing on fixing the problems that have plagued the Blue Devils all season. Junior guard Tricia Liston specifically mentioned defense and rebounding as areas that will be key in the tournament.
“We’ve had a lot of hard practices, going up and down, playing five-on-five against each other, really getting back into shape and conditioning and going over some things we need to work on for ourselves,” Liston said.
With the loss of point guard Chelsea Gray, who underwent knee surgery and is out for the season, Duke has increasingly relied on freshman point guard Alexis Jones to integrate a new playing style into the offensive system, something both her teammates and coach believe has progressed rapidly during the past few weeks of the season.
“She’s one of the best listeners I’ve ever coached, and I think probably in her days with her dad coaching her, she must have developed that skill and it has allowed her to be beyond her years in maturity and skill level,” McCallie said.
The Norfolk region includes one other ACC opponent, eighth-seeded Miami. The Hurricanes, though, have a difficult road ahead with a potential matchup against Notre Dame in the second round. The Fighting Irish defeated conference-rival Connecticut—which also received a No. 1 seed—in all three of the team’s meetings this season. In Duke’s sole competition with the Huskies, the Blue Devils were defeated by 30 points.
Should Duke reach the regional semifinals, third-seeded Texas A&M could be its potential matchup. The Aggies captured the national championship two years ago and could give the Blue Devils a difficult test in Norfolk.
Notre Dame remains Duke’s major obstacle from breaking through the regional final to reach the championship rounds in New Orleans. Liston and her teammates realize that the Blue Devils must continue to improve in order to make that leap to the final rounds.
“Our defense is going to be huge for us and our rebounding especially when you play teams with someone like [Baylor’s] Brittney Griner, you’re going to have to limit them to one shot and be able to get the rebound,” Liston said.
Baylor holds the top seed in the tournament with Connecticut, Notre Dame and Stanford rounding out the regional No. 1 seeds for the second consecutive season. Although Duke’s goal continues to be a deep run in the tournament, sophomore center Elizabeth Williams and the Blue Devils are stressing a focus on the task at hand—Hampton.
“Coach is always emphasizing, now that the season’s done and it’s the tournament, it’s one and done,” Williams said. “Everyone’s coming in to play hard and play their best. Everyone’s good.”
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