Category Archives: Duke Women’s Basketball

Duke Women's Basketball

Duke Women go to 5-1 with an easy 71-47 win over Iowa

[private]Durham, N.C. Duke found it's shooting touch in the second half and rode a solid defensive effort to defeat Iowa 71-47 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.   The Blue Devils were led in scoring by Chante Black who tallied 18 points to go with 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.

Black was honored before the game for becoming the 24th player in Duke history to score 1000 points or better in her career.  She has now tallied double figures in each of her first six contests and has now done so 56 times.

Joy Cheek was the only other Devil in double figures with 13 points.  Abby Waner had a tough shooting night but did manage 7 assists and 5 steals to go with her 8 points.  Duke was playing without the injured players Chelsea Hopkins and Jasmine Thomas.

Hopkins had surgery on her left knee and is expected back in four weeks or less.  Thomas has a sprained left MCL and is out for around three weeks.

Duke once again had a solid defensive effort holding the Hawkeyes to 29.4% shooting for the evening.  They also caused 24 turnovers while committing just 8.

"It was a really good game for us.  A great defensive game, a lot of people doing different things, an interesting game," said Coach McCallie.  She continued, I love the fact where we had 26 turnovers which we caused."

Duke blanket the visitors with a variety of presses which took them out of the game by the ten minute mark.

"I think their defense was a factor, especially when you get down double digits.  I think thats when you have to have the energy level and depth to come back.  It's obvious that they have good depth," stated Iowa Coach Lisa Blunder.

Duke opened 0-13 from the floor and didn't score until the 15:23 mark in the first half.

"I just think they played through it.  That was incredible intensity.  The part you have to add is that Iowa could not get their shot off.  I thought our team took care of it, especially in the second half when things were more up to speed," stated McCallie.

Duke outscored the Hawkeyes by a whopping 48-14 margin in the paint but despite that stat, they were oddly  rebounded 44-39.

The Dukies play another Big Ten team in Michigan at 2:00 on Sunday afternooin Cameron with courtside seats available.[/private]

Duke Women's Basketball

Duke Women set to host Iowa in ACC/Big Ten Challenge

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Good seats remain for a Duke-Iowa clash in Cameron Indoor Stadium -

Blue Devils Host Iowa In Big Ten/ACC Challenge On Thursday...

Coming off playing three straight contests away from Cameron Indoor Stadium, the 12th-ranked Duke women’s basketball team will return home on Thursday, Dec. 4 to host Iowa in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge at 7:00 p.m.

Fans can hear the Blue Devils live on the radio on WDNC AM 620 with Steve Barnes (PXP) and Morgan Patrick (Color) calling the action.  The contest will feature live video on ACC Select.  For more information on ACC Select, head to www.accselect.com.

Prior to the contest, senior Chante Black will be honored for becoming the 24th player in Duke history to reach the 1,000-point mark, which occurred on Nov. 16 versus Maine.  In the rankings, Duke is listed No. 12 in the Associated Press and No. 14 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Polls.

Media Info

What: Iowa at Duke ( ACC/Big Ten Challenge)

Date: December 4, 2008

Location: Durham, N.C.

Venue: Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314)

Tipoff: 7:00 p.m.

Radio: WDNC AM 620

Radio Talent: Steve Barnes (PxP), Morgan Patrick (Color)

Online Audio/Video: ACC Select   www.accselect.com

Livestats: www.GoDuke.com

Noting Duke...

Over the last four games, Duke has averaged 16.8 steals a contest ... the Blue Devils have forced an average of 29.5 turnovers during the last four games ... so far on the season, senior Chante Black owns 14 blocked shots, which is more than Duke’s five opponents have accumulated against the Blue Devils ... Black was selected to the DePaul Invitational All-Tournament team, after averaging 13.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.0 blocks and 1.0 steals in two games.

A Look At Iowa...

Iowa enters the contest with a 4-3 overall record and is coming off playing three games in the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas.  The Hawkeyes defeated Texas Tech before falling to South Florida and California.  Megan Skouby (17.0 points, 4.6 rebounds), Wendy Ausdemore (11.3 points, 6.6 rebounds) and Kristi Smith (10.4 points, 2.0 rebounds) have led Iowa so far on the season.

Lisa Bluder is in her 25th year as a head coach and owns an overall record of 508-243.

The Series With Iowa...

Duke and Iowa will meet for the first time in school history.

Duke Versus The Big Ten...

The Blue Devils own an overall record of 14-8 against teams from the Big Ten Conference -- Illinois (0-3), Michigan (2-0), Michigan State (2-0), Minnesota (0-1), Penn State (5-1), Purdue (4-3) and Wisconsin (1-0).

Storylines...

•  In her 17-year coaching career, Joanne P. McCallie owns an 8-6 record against Iowa.  All 14 contests were while McCallie was the head coach at Michigan State.  Coach P has won four straight and seven out of the last eight against the Hawkeyes.

•  Duke will play its next two straight contests against Big Ten opponents -- Iowa and Michigan.

•  After outrebounding its opponents the first four games, Western Kentucky outrebounded Duke, 41-40.  The Blue Devils continue to hold a 14.2 rebounding advantage, which ranks seventh nationally.

•  In Duke’s first ACC/Big Ten Challenge last year, the Blue Devils fell in a heartbreaker, 86-84, at Penn State.  As a conference, the ACC won the challenge by an 8-3 ledger.  Coach P posted a 69-45 record against the Big Ten, while she was the head coach at Michigan State.

What Is Next?...

Duke will host Michigan on Sunday, Dec. 7 at 2:00 p.m., as the Blue Devils are playing three straight home contests.  Following the contest with Wolverines, Duke will be off for exams until Dec. 16 versus Stanford.

ACC Select To Air Contests...

Duke’s next two home contests will be aired live on ACC Select, which provides audio and video online at www.accselect.com.  If you cannot make it to Cameron Indoor Stadium in person then head to the web site to watch the Blue Devils face Iowa (Dec. 4) and Michigan (Dec. 7).

Point Guard Shortage...

With injuries to Jasmine Thomas and Chelsea Hopkins, the Blue Devils have lost two of their top point guards to run the offense.  Thomas, who is a sophomore from Fairfax, Va., opened the season starting at the point guard slot the first four games and Hopkins, a freshman from Las Vegas, Nev., has been playing an extended amount of time at the point position off the bench.

Thomas suffered a sprained MCL of her left knee in practice on Nov. 26 and is expected to miss two weeks.  Hopkins was injured in the second half of the Western Kentucky game with a lateral meniscus injury.  She will have surgery on Thursday, Dec. 4 and a timetable on her return will be released following surgery.

With Thomas and Hopkins injured, junior Keturah Jackson started at point guard in the last game and is expected to do so again versus Iowa.

Jackson Comes Up Big...

Junior Keturah Jackson hit two of the most important free throws of her career at Western Kentucky in the last game as she nailed two with 10.1 seconds remaining.  The points gave the Blue Devils a 59-56 lead and Duke went on win by the same ledger.

So far on the season, Jackson is averaging 4.6 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 0.6 steals.  Jackson is averaging 5.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.0 steals in her two games started, while hitting 3-of-6 field goals.

Blue Devils Return Home...

In two games this season in Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Blue Devils have averaged 87.5 points, hit 42.4 percent of their field goals, pulled down 56.5 rebounds, averaged 13.5 steals, 17.5 assists and 8.0 blocked shots in victories against Oklahoma State and Maine.  Senior Chante Black has averaged 22.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.0 blocks, 1.5 assists and hit 70.4 percent of her field goals.

In three games on the road, Duke has averaged only 67.7 points, hit 38.0 percent from the field, 26.5 percent from downtown, averaged 45.3 rebounds, 10.7 assists, 5.0 blocked shots and 15.0 steals, while posting a 2-1 record.

ESPNU Reporter...

Blue Devil senior Abby Waner was the sideline reporter for the recent North Carolina at Duke football game on ESPNU this past Saturday.  Waner has received excellent reviews for her work on the sideline so far this season as she was also the reporter for the Virginia at Duke game on Sept. 27 and the Miami and Duke contest on Nov. 18.

Waner also serves as a features host for David Cutcliffe’s Duke Football Show.

Tough Defense...

The Duke defense has been stellar to open the season as the Blue Devils are holding opponents to 30.4 percent shooting, which ranks second in the ACC and sixth nationally.

Since Coach P arrived at Duke, it’s defense has held 13 opponents to under 30.0 percent shooting and 30 opponents to under 40.0 percent shooting out of 40 games.

In The NCAA Stats...

The NCAA has released its first set of national statistics with the Blue Devils ranking in the top 20 of six categories -- sixth in field goal percentage defense (30.4), seventh in rebounding margin (14.2), sixth in steals per game (14.4), 14th in scoring margin (23.6), 18th in scoring defense (52.0) and 14th in blocked shots (6.2).

Senior Chante Black is 17th in blocks per game (2.8), Abby Waner is 52nd in steals per game (2.8), Chelsea Hopkins is 59th in steals (2.8) and Jasmine Thomas is 21st in assist/turnover ratio (2.83).

Both Iowa and Michigan are two of the top free throw shooting teams in the nation as they rank 17th (76.9) and 22nd (76.7), respectively.

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Duke Women's Basketball

#8 Duke Women Throttle Maine, 98-31

[private]Abby Waner hit a three point shot in the opening  minute of the game and Duke never looked back, in route to a 96-31 blowout.  The Blue Devils went on an early 15-1 run and rode that to a 47-12 halftime lead. 

The stats at the break said it all.  Duke out rebounded the Bears 28-14 and made a living at the free throw stripe hitting 16 of 20.  The Blue Devils stifling defense put a vice grip on the visitors who struggled to 4 made field goals in just 20 shots.

The second half was similar to the first with Duke outscoring Maine 10-0 in the first minutes.  The game gave Coach McCallie the opportunity to to play all twelve players.  This allowed freshman Kathleen Scheer, Chelsea Hopkins and Shay Selby to get significant minutes.

Scheer had 9 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists in her college debut.  Shay Selby had 7 points and 2 assists.  Perhaps the most productive freshman was Chelsea Hopkins who tallied 9 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.

"It's always great when you can go deep into your bench and give everyone some positive experience.  It's one thing to get positive experience, it's another thing for people to take advantage of it.  It's one thing to get some playing time, but another to be extremely productive and very intense during your time on the floor.  I thought this group really did a super job attacking and going to strengths," said McCallie.

It was also a milestone for senior Chante Black in that her opening basket was her 1000th career point.  That basket came via assist from fellow senior Abby Waner.  Black also moved in to the top ten All Time Leading Shot Blockers in the ACC with a total of 4. 

Black was the teams high scorer with 16, fellow senior Waner had 9 points and 5 assists.  Thomas had 13 points. Cheek 10, Jasmine Thomas and Gay 7 apiece and 6 for Mitchell and 5 for Jackson. 

The Duke defense caused 38 Bear turnovers and held them to 23% shooting for the game.  They out rebounded Maine 56-17 and had 23 assists to just 5 for the opponent.  Duke had 27 second chance points and 19 more from the fast break.    The Dukies outscored Maine 50-14 in the paint.  McCallie won her 343rd game as a coach.

Black has a total of 1015 points in her career.  Abby Waner tied Vickie Kraphol in all time thee pointers for Duke and is 25th in the ACC.  Careem Gay hit her first career three pointer.  Joanne McCallie coached the Bears head coach, Cindy Blodgett in her stint at Maine.  The Blue Devils move to 2-0 for the season and will now head to Chicago, Illinois for the DePaul Invitational where they open with Hartford on 11-21 at 6:30 PM CST.[/private]

Duke Women's Basketball

Duke Women cripple Oklahoma State with second half comeback

[private]The Duke Women won their opener over a pesky Oklahoma State team, led by All American candidate Andre Riley.   To say it was a tale of two half's would be appropriate in that Duke went into the locker room trailing 44-35, their heads still spinning from Rileys speed to the bucket where she tallied 20 points.

Duke was shooting but 33.3% at the break and a paltry 1 of 11 from the three point stripe didn't help.  The Cowgirls had also stayed even with the Blue Devils on the boards, not to mention just two successful perimeter shots.  In short, it looked as if the 14th rated team from the Big Twelve was poised to spoil the evening for the 6000 fans in the stands. 

Those fans made their way to Cameron thorough a downpour of rain and it seemed to continue early on.  But the rains stopped at the start of the second half and Duke's fortunes did as well.  Once the weather cleared from the first half storm, Coach McCallie righted the ship.

The main move she made was to go to the zone and back off the press which Riley had moved through with ease.  The Dukies also made it a point to get the ball to their star front court player, senior Chante Black who would score 18 second half points on her way to a career high 28 points to go with 10 boards.

It was essential that Duke got the ball on the blocks, in that their starting guards of Waner and Thomas struggled on the evening with 5 of 29 from the field.  Despite the off night, each of the them hit huge three pointers in an amazing second half run.

Cheek started the rally with a three, but Shuante Smith made a quick lay up and it looked as if the game would go much like the first half did.  At the 18:32 mark, a royal blue storm took over as the Devils erupted to the delight of Cameron fans.  When the dust started to clear, Duke had gone on a 20 to 1 run to take a 58-46 lead.

It was the kind of comeback that made one realize how fortunate they were to have witnessed the thrilling turnabout.  The Duke zone stifled the Cowgirls and Riley scored just nine second half points, but to their credit, they never gave up.

The Blue Devils outscored their opponent 42-24 in part due to stellar defense where they eliminated the backdoor lay ups.  But the real culprit is that the Devils dominated the boards 34-20 after the break.   Careem Gay led the way with11 rebounds and it's worth noting that her first half offense kept the Devils close going into the half.

The win was the 18th straight home opener.  Duke will host Maine on Sunday at 12:00 in Cameron and tickets are available.  Check back later this evening for more coverage from this game.[/private]

Duke Women's Basketball

(corrected*) BDN previews the Duke Women and talks Friday’s home opener with #14 Oklahoma State

[private]Joanne P. McCallie had an aura of confidence when she addressed the media on Wednesday.  It was clear that the second year coach was more relaxed and at ease after having a year under her belt.  Just last year, McCallie replaced another popular coach in Gail Goestenkors.

That transition wasn't always easy.  She had to gain the confidence of players she didn't recruit and

copyright BDN
copyright BDN

fend off a lot of early negativity from some of the media who were faithful to the former regime.  "You have to remember, we lost Lindsey Harding and Allison Bales," quipped McCallie.  You know what?  She has a point there in that these were two super players and were the team leaders.

The Blue Devils still managed a 25-10 record, 10-4 in the ACC which was good for third place.   A lot of that success was due to the stellar play of Chante Black, a 6-5 paint eating front court player.  Black is but one part of many story line in the coming season.  In fact, there are many to watch as the season develops.

The Off Season- McCallie said that here team worked really hard over the summer with all of the players sticking around.  They lifted weights and played pick ups in the new practice facility.  "We are more together than at this time last year," said McCallie.  The team and staff had to adjust to one another last season, not to mention take a already scheduled trip to Russia which made for some tired legs early on.  Many of the players stated they felt as if their play wasn't up to Duke Basketball standards last season.  There seems to be a little bit of a chip on their shoulder going into the season.

The Seniors- Black will step into her senior season and she wants to go out on top.  She is joined by Careem Gay who has started 45 games over the last two years.  Then there is perennial crowd favorite, Abby Waner.  This talented trio will be the main focus point in that their leadership should carry the Blue Devils farther into the NCAA Tournament and maybe even the Final Four.

There will be no shortage of emotion when Black, Gay and Waner play there last game against North Carolina in Cameron on March 1st.  You better go ahead and get your tickets now for that one in that the Blue Devils have sold around 4800 season tickets to date.

The Juniors- The junior class is also providing leadership.  Joy Cheek is poised for a banner season and Coach McCallie has already tapped her as a captain for next season.  Kenturah Jackson and Bridgette Mitchell will look to take on a  bigger role as well.

The Sophomores-The sophomore class is intriguing as well.  Jasmine Thomas has a nice skill set as does Karima  Christmas.  Add watching the development of these two youngsters as yet another story line.  "Jazz will assume the role of PG for us and we expect some natural progresion from her freshman to sophomore year,"

The Freshman- The freshman class of Kathleen Scheer, Shay Selby and Chelsea Hopkins look to

BDNP
BDNP

make their mark as well.  Selby is the closest to being ready, but there is a steep learning curve for freshman at this time of the season and Coach McCallie will likely b ring each of them along slowly.  "None of the three are playing good defense.  Most of them are accustomed to being the star on their high school team, so they must adjust to playing all facets of the game, namely defense.  I've asked them to specialize in one area - do one thing good." 

The Style- It will all start on the defensive end for these women.  That sounds familiar, huh?  Well the cornerstone of this program is tough man to man defense.  McCallie will demand all out effort in this area and those who lag will likely find themselves playing less.  The philosophyseems to be if you play good "D" the offense will come.  "We want to do what we do," said McCallie.  On offense she feels he players will get better reads on the opposing defenses this system and that will enable them to find the open player.  "We take pride in our defense - pride in making the stop."

The Rotation- Look for Cheek, Waner, Black and Thomas to start this season.  The first players off the bench will be Thomas, Christmas, Jackson and Mitchell.  The order will depend upon match ups.  Don't look for a lot of minutes from the freshman.  Selby will get the first call of the three.

The Opener - #14 Okalhoma State at #8 Duke -(Friday, 7:00, tickets available) Get there early for the festivities which are geared towards a good family outing.  There will be face painters, free food, a magician and posters just to name a few of the "free" perks.  All of this starts at 5:00 in Card Gym which is adjacent to Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Oklahoma State is Coached by Kurt Budke who holds an outstanding 406-88 record in 15 years of coaching.  OSU’s last road game also came against the No. 8 team in the country as the Cowgirls won at Baylor, 72-68, to close out the regular season a year ago ... Andrea Riley is nine points shy of 1,200 for her career, while Shaunte’ Smith is one shy of the 800-point plateau.  Riley is their top player

Additional Notes- McCallie will have her own radio show this season.  You can hear her today from 12 to 1:00 pm on 620 the Bull.  The show will be broadcast from Satisfactions in Brightleafe Square.

- Chante Black is on the Wooden list as the top 30 pre season college players in the nation.

- You can view the home opener on ACC.Select.com

- Chante Black is fifth in rebound avaerage and 12th in blocks on the Duke All Time list.

- Abby Waner enters the season fourth in three point field goals and fifth in steals

- Duke will play again on Sunday at 12:00 noon versus Maine.  It's a rare time when botht he men's and women's team plays on the same day.  The men face Rhode Island.

* We accidentily printed the draft earlier which had numerous typo's.  Sorry about that![/private]