In their third game since losing redshirt sophomore Haley Gorecki for the season, the Blue Devils stumbled, falling to another unranked team on the road and struggling to defend the 3-point line.
Duke will face an even bigger test Monday as it looks to finish the season on a high note and position itself well for postseason play.
The Blue Devils return home to take on No. 12 Florida State for the first time this season at 7 p.m. Monday. No. 17 Duke has only lost once this year at Cameron Indoor Stadium, but will need an improved offensive performance to beat the Seminoles after failing to break 65 points in its past three games.
“We’ve got to be steady and very attacking for 40 minutes,” Blue Devil head coach Joanne P. McCallie said after Thursday’s loss at Syracuse. “[Stay] focused and not allowing anything to get in our way.”
Duke’s rebounding prowess has been a bright spot amid the spate of injuries to its guards, as McCallie has been forced to use bigger lineups. Graduate student Bego Faz Davalos and freshman Jade Williams have both seen increased minutes since Gorecki went down and have made a big impact, with Davalos grabbing 15 rebounds in the last two games.
Graduate student guard Rebecca Greenwell has also been a key contributor on the glass. Greenwell has grabbed at least eight rebounds in each of her last six games and is a big reason why the Blue Devils (20-7, 9-5 in the ACC) have outrebounded their opponents by 5.8 boards per game this season.
“Becca’s been really focused,” McCallie said. “And to get five assists [against Syracuse] on top of everything else, we need to enjoy these opportunities.”
Florida State (22-4, 10-3) will pose a formidable threat on the glass. The Seminoles average 44.3 rebounds per game and have three players who grab at least seven per contest. Their attack is spearheaded by senior forward Shakayla Thomas, who averages 17.8 points per game to go along with 7.0 rebounds.
Thomas forms a dynamic inside-outside duo with fellow senior Imani Wright, who averages 17.7 points per game and is shooting 40.5 percent from beyond the arc. Wright has already made 90 triples on the season and is one of the best shooters in the ACC.
This poses a familiar problem for Duke, which was shredded from beyond the arc against the Orange, surrendering 15 3-pointers to match the program’s all-time record for the most allowed in a game.
“Some great lessons there for us,” McCallie said. “We needed some more stops down the stretch and did not get them. That was costly.... Give them great credit for knocking down those threes.”
Sophomore Leoanna Odom has emerged recently to take some of the scoring burden off of Greenwell and guard Lexie Brown in Gorecki’s absence. The wing poured in 16 points against the Orange on 6-of-8 shooting from the field after being reinserted into the starting lineup for the past two games.
“I’m really proud of [Odom],” McCallie said. “She battled hard, she really did some good things out there. I know she was frustrated about some plays and things like that, but as a sophomore, I thought she stepped up. She’s got a great shooting percentage. We have to find ways to get the ball to her more.”
Increasing Odom’s role in the offense would help relieve Brown, who is battling through a slump in the Blue Devils’ last two games, shooting a combined 8-of-27 from the field. Brown is the center of the offense, initiating action and often being relied upon to bail out the team when the shot clock winds down. Defenses pay extra attention to her, so Odom’s emergence could benefit both players by giving them more space to attack.
Duke currently sits seventh in the ACC standings entering the final two games, but could climb as high as fourth and secure a double-bye in the ACC tournament with two victories. Finishing on a high note could propel the Blue Devils to a higher seed in both the ACC and NCAA tournaments and send them into postseason play with some momentum.
But first, they will have to beat the team sitting at third place in the conference in what would be their highest-ranked ACC win all season.
Conner McLeod contributed reporting.
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