A week after their male counterparts hosted an open practice to kick off their season, the Blue Devils are starting to make some headlines on the hardwood as well.
Sophomore Azura Stevens led the charge for Blue Devils, earning second-team All-American honors from Sporting News and Athlon Sports earlier this week. The 6-foot-5 wing ranked second on the team with 14.2 points and 8.1 rebounds during her rookie campaign, a performance that netted her Second-Team All-ACC and First-Team All-Freshman accolades. Stevens set a Duke freshman record with 10 double-doubles, and also etched her name in the program record books by recording the most field goals and rebounds by a freshman.
Stevens—who brought home a gold medal for Team USA in the FIBA 19U World Championships this summer— is one of three starters to return for head coach Joanne P. McCallie as she enters her ninth season at the helm in Durham. The Blue Devils struggled through an inconsistent regular season last year and took a No. 4 seed into the NCAA tournament, where they were knocked off by top-seeded Maryland in the Sweet 16.
Heading into 2015-16, Duke's roster is going to be bolstered by the addition of the top-ranked recruiting class in the nation—a quintet of Haley Gorecki, Kyra Lambert, Crystal Primm, Angela Salvadores and Faith Suggs. The infusion of new talent has the Blue Devils ranked No. 8 in Sporting News' preseason poll, and No. 13 in Athlon Sports'.
Duke will gear up for its annual Blue-White scrimmage Oct. 24. The Blue Devils kick off their regular season on the road at Penn Nov. 13.
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