Duke women's basketball Player of the Week: Week 9

Azurá Stevens

The statline:

Thursday vs. N.C. State: 21 points on 9-of-17 shooting, 11 rebounds, two assists, two blocks, a steal and two turnovers

Sunday vs. Boston College: 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting, 14 rebounds, two blocks and three turnovers

The good: Stevens has now taken home Player of the Week honors for five weeks straight, hinting at the kind of high caliber play she is capable of churning out on any given night. This week, the Raleigh, N.C., native showcased some more of that consistency, putting forth two quality performances during what turned out to be an up-and-down week for the program. In Thursday’s historic loss to N.C. State—one that ended a 152-game win streak against unranked opponents at home—Stevens carried her team squarely on her shoulders, leading the squad in points and rebounds en route to earning her 10th double-double of the season. For much of that contest, Duke’s 6-foot-6 forward was the only reason the team was able to stay within striking distance and spurred the game into a late thriller. Stevens had no problem carrying her success over into Sunday’s 20-point blowout win against the Eagles in which she finished with an ACC-best 11th double-double on the year. Stevens also earns points for her composure and leadership throughout the Blue Devils’ battle with N.C. State, making her the hands down winner of this week’s honors.

The bad: It all comes down to post defense and taking care of the ball—at least that’s what made the difference in Duke’s loss to the Wolfpack. Although Stevens was by no means the Blue Devils’ sloppiest ball handler Thursday, she contributed to Duke’s 21 turnovers, which N.C. State converted into a staggering 30 points. The Wolfpack were also able to eke out 20 points in the paint, showing that Stevens needs to perform better on defense and be more careful with the ball if Duke intends to win in the future. 

The bottom line: Stevens is the best player right now in a Duke jersey and one of the best in the ACC. Her team desperately needs her to continue to be that type of player if they have any hopes of challenging for a conference title and finding their way to Indianapolis come tournament time. Although it can be easy to nit-pick, its hard to find any major flaws in Steven’s game. The sophomore romps in the paint and makes the big plays that her team needs. Of course, if the Blue Devils continue to lose players like a leaky colander loses water—Amber Henson Nov. 22, Kendall Cooper Dec. 19 and Haley Gorecki Jan. 3—they will come to depend on Stevens more and more.

Honorable mention: Rebecca Greenwell came alive against Boston College, tallying 23 points on 8-of-18 shooting, including 5-of-9 from deep. The Owensboro, Ky., native also tacked on two assists and four rebounds while turning the ball over just once. The reason Greenwell is only an honorable mention lies in her subpar showing against the Wolfpack when she scored just six points—her season average is near 14 points a game—on 1-of-7 shooting. Greenwell has been a rock for Duke almost all season, but has struggled in her team’s recent losses. The star shooting guard draws plenty of attention from opposing teams' defenses, making it difficult her for her to light up the scoreboard every night, but if she can discover a way to better evade the defensive pressure sent her way by ranked teams, then the Blue Devils might turn the corner in the second-half of the season.