Close, but no cigar for Blue Devils against ranked opponents

<p>Freshman point guard Angela Salvadores led the way with 13 points and seven rebounds, but neither were enough for the Blue Devils Thursday against Florida State.</p>

Freshman point guard Angela Salvadores led the way with 13 points and seven rebounds, but neither were enough for the Blue Devils Thursday against Florida State.

With an 0-5 ledger against ranked opponents heading into Thursday night's game against No. 10 Florida State, the Blue Devils had yet another opportunity to pick up a signature win.

By night's end, that mark had slipped to 0-6.

In a season during which Duke has taken on a half-dozen top-25 teams—including three in ACC play—it's often been a case of close, but no cigar. The Blue Devils went to overtime with then-No. 12 Texas A&M in November, played then-No. 2 South Carolina tight into the fourth quarter on the road and lost by 10 at then-No. 8 Kentucky.

But in a disappointing 69-53 loss at home to the Seminoles, the Blue Devils were thoroughly dominated. Florida State's veteran unit controlled the affair from start to finish—never trailing at any point—and left questions as to whether Duke has the experience and wealth of scoring option necessary to compete with and win against some of the nation's elite teams.

"I think we should’ve been successful tonight," Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "I’m not into rankings. I’m into playing teams and being successful. This team hasn’t connected enough to get over the top. It doesn’t matter whether [the opponent] is ranked or not."

The absence of star forward Azurá Stevens put the Blue Devils behind the eight-ball from the outset Thursday. With the 6-foot-6 sophomore sidelined for a third straight game by a torn plantar fascia in her left foot, Duke's offensive woes reappeared once again. In the first half, the Blue Devils shot 7-for-27 and posted just 20 points, on the heels of a new school record 11-point first half at then-No. 16 Miami Sunday. For the second straight game, Duke was held to 53 points, well below its season average of 69.3.

Stevens' 19.1 points per game certainly would have been helpful, but the Blue Devils did not attempt to use the absence of the ACC's third-leading scorer to justify their struggles.

"She’s obviously a big scoring threat and also defensively, she gets in there and rebounds, blocks shots—she really does it all," redshirt sophomore Rebecca Greenwell said. "It’s a lot different playing without her, but that’s not an excuse at all. It just comes down to us taking care of the ball, playing poised."

McCallie may not be into rankings, but the numbers do not lie. Against unranked competition, Duke is scoring 72.7 points per game and shooting 48.1 percent from the field as well as 35.7 percent from downtown. But in their six losses to top-25 teams, the Blue Devils have tallied just more than 59 points per contest and are shooting only 35.3 percent from the field and 35.6 percent from beyond the arc.

Such a marked difference tells the entire story of Duke's season. When it comes to critical games, the Blue Devils have yet to play up to their full potential.

“I just want to win," said freshman point guard Angela Salvadores, who led her team with 13 points and seven rebounds Thursday. "I don’t care what I have to do, I will do it."

After opening conference play 1-3, Duke got hot against the bottom-feeders of the league. The Blue Devils rolled to wins in five of their next six games and it could have been a perfect six-for-six had No. 3 Notre Dame not snuck out of Durham with a narrow win. Now, with three losses in its past four games against three of the top four teams in the ACC, Duke needs to get back on track more than ever.

Fortunately for McCallie's squad, the schedule gets a bit lighter down the home stretch as the Blue Devils' final four games—Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech and North Carolina—come against teams with sub-.500 conference records, though three are on the road. With Duke in the rare and unenviable position of sitting on the NCAA tournament bubble come late February, wins at this point are increasingly critical.

Heading into Thursday's game, the Blue Devils sat at a respectable 43rd in the RPI due to their strength of schedule. Still, they have zero wins against top-25 opponents, hold just a 6-6 record in the ACC and with Stevens out, they have not shown that they are capable of winning big games in March.

“As coaches, we’re just concerned in the moment," McCallie said. "It’s a loaded question because that means you believe the rankings. I don’t believe the rankings.... I am very confident in our team."

For a Duke squad that has battled through the adversity of numerous injuries, absences and a difficult schedule, chemistry as a unit is something that the Blue Devils must still find—and quickly—if they hope to have success as the regular season winds down.

"It’s the factor that this team needs to step up and lead each other behind closed doors and understand that we’ve got to get it done," McCallie said.


Mitchell Gladstone | Sports Managing Editor

Twitter: @mpgladstone13

A junior from just outside Philadelphia, Mitchell is probably reminding you how the Eagles won the Super Bowl this year and that the Phillies are definitely on the rebound. Outside of The Chronicle, he majors in Economics, minors in Statistics and is working toward the PJMS certificate, in addition to playing trombone in the Duke University Marching Band. And if you're getting him a sandwich with beef and cheese outside the state of Pennsylvania, you best not call it a "Philly cheesesteak." 

Discussion

Share and discuss “Close, but no cigar for Blue Devils against ranked opponents” on social media.