Seattle may be the farthest possible locale from the welcoming confines of Cameron Indoor Stadium, but Duke could not be more excited about its NCAA tournament bid.
The Blue Devils will travel to Seattle to take on Hawaii Friday at 8 p.m. at Alaska Airlines Arena in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. The brackets were announced Sunday night on ESPNU, giving Duke five days to prepare for its first opponent.
“To see our name come up on the board for the NCAA tournament is exciting,” head coach Jolene Nagel said. “We’re excited to represent Duke. We’re excited that we have this opportunity in the NCAA tournament. It’s not easy to get in there, and to make it through a season in the ACC and work really hard to get this opportunity, it’s really exciting to see your name on the board.”
Hawaii (21-6) will enter the matchup on a hot streak, having won its last five matches. But the Rainbow Wahines are not the only ones with momentum heading into Friday’s clash. The Blue Devils have won seven of their last 10 contests.
“[Momentum]’s really important,” Nagel said. “It’s important that our team feels like they’re playing well right now and that we are playing that well against a team that is now the seventh seed in the NCAA tournament and beat the sixth seed two weeks ago. I think that’s really important and will give us confidence.”
The Blue Devil head coach was adamant that her squad is excited for the upcoming challenge, but was still surprised when the brackets were announced and had the Blue Devils playing in Seattle.
“I did not think we’d be going to Seattle,” Nagel said. “But it’s exciting to go somewhere different and play Hawaii.”
It will be a short turnaround for Duke travel-wise, as the Blue Devils will likely leave Wednesday around midday, Nagel said.
And though it is tournament time—something the players have been looking forward to all season—it is also exam time at Duke. So when the Blue Devils hit the road Wednesday, they will have to bring their studies with them in order to keep up with their workload.
“We’re hoping to stay up on our academics so that we can feel good about that as we head out of town,” Nagel said.
The winner of the Friday’s contest will face the winner of the Washington-New Hampshire game Saturday, Dec. 6 at 10 p.m. The Huskies are the No. 3 seed, meaning Duke’s path to the title will have a steep challenge potentially waiting in the second round. Although Nagel felt the Blue Devils’ record had earned them a better seeding, she and her squad are not focusing on what is out of their control and are looking forward to the possible challenge.
“I did not think we would be having to play a team with that high of a seed as early as the second round,” Nagel said. “I thought our season had earned us something a little different than that, but the bottom line is, you’ve got to play the best and beat them all to win the national championship.”
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