To avoid its fourth loss in as many contests, the Blue Devils will have to show their versatility against a team that can fill it up from outside.
No. 13 Duke will take on Oklahoma Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Cameron Indoor Stadium following a nine-day gap in its schedule due to final exams. The Blue Devils last played Dec. 7, when they suffered a heartbreaking one-point loss to No. 1 South Carolina after leading by four with less than 40 seconds left in the game.
To put the disappointment behind it and get back into the win column, Duke will have to take out a dangerous squad featuring four players averaging more than 10.5 points per game and 7.9 3-pointers per game as a team.
And with three games in the next five days, including a Sunday tilt against No. 8 Kentucky, the Blue Devils finally have a chance to regain the momentum they lost before their layoff.
"It's been a long wait," head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "We've learned a lot from the games we've had prior. [We're] very excited to get out there and play and really get after things and dictate."
Like Duke (5-3), Oklahoma has had early-season struggles of its own, but has fallen to two opponents not nearly of the caliber of the top-15 squads that bested the Blue Devils.
The Sooners (5-3) lost by 15 to South Florida at the Paradise Jam before falling in overtime 92-88 to the same Wildcats Duke will host Sunday and fell 66-62 at Arkansas-Little Rock in their last contest.
To right its own ship, Oklahoma will rely on guard Sharane Campbell, who averages 14.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per contest. The senior will have plenty of help.
Nicole Kornet and Peyton Little are dangerous threats from outside and Kaylon Williams is the Sooners' primary weapon inside—the Oklahoma trio combines for 32.0 points per contest. Even though Oklahoma has struggled, Duke knows its first win since Nov. 28 will only come with a disciplined defensive performance.
"They've got great guard play [and] four out of their five starters look to shoot the three-ball," McCallie said. "They play off the bounce, they penetrate [and] they score a lot of points. They put a lot of shots up, so there's a lot of long shots and long rebounds—a great opportunity for us to have some great shot-contesting."
Although the Sooners could cause matchup problems with their proficiency from the outside, the Blue Devils should have the edge on the interior when the teams head to the other end of the court. Duke leads the nation in rebounding margin with a 20.6 edge per game on the glass and got three-time All-American center Elizabeth Williams back healthy against the Gamecocks.
If the Blue Devils can avoid being sped up by Oklahoma's pressure, they should be able to feed their 6-foot-3 anchor down low early and often to establish control of the game's pace.
"We have to have some nice patience and poise on offense," McCallie said. "Oklahoma can kind of play up, down [and] crazy [so] we need to dictate the tempo, get the ball inside and out and definitely make them defend us."
With Williams and Duke's six other players 6-foot-3 or taller expected to control the paint, there should be plenty of room outside for guards Rebecca Greenwell—Duke's leading scorer—Ka'lia Johnson and Mercedes Riggs to fire from long range and penetrate off the bounce.
Wednesday's game also provides another opportunity for the Blue Devil guards to address the main issue that has plagued the Duke offense early this season, especially late in games—turnovers.
The Blue Devils are averaging 18.7 giveaways per contest and have frequently coughed the ball up when trying to feed Williams and the other post players.
The long break offered the opportunity to address the issue by getting back to fundamentals. Rather than urging her team to be more cautious, McCallie said she believes her players need to be more aggressive against Oklahoma and beyond to see more success offensively.
"We want to be aggressive and we want to be strong with the ball," McCallie said. "There's a certain amount of aggression you have to have on offense that prevents you from turning the ball over. We need to be more aggressive with our possessions [and] how we rip the ball and how we turn and use our hips to protect the ball. There's some pretty fundamental things that we'll get more accustomed to."
Wednesday marks the start of a vital stretch in Duke's season before conference play rolls around. After playing the Sooners, Duke will host UMass Lowell Friday before playing Kentucky in another top-15 showdown. Following the home stretch, the Blue Devils will have another chance to make a statement Dec. 29 at No. 2 Connecticut.
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