Q "Why do you like Duke, you didn't even go there." A "Because my art school didn't have a basketball team."
Leaonna Odom
Tossing a special shoutout here. A few posts back, I posted my dismay at her charge. (Rightfully so.) But, that was a microcosm spot of a beautiful game she had tonight. A couple of her mid-range jumpers that she popped in were so smooth; it was pleasantly eye opening to see what she is capable of. It's surprising that she had no blocks, but even more surprising that she had only 2 fouls. (That charge included.) That means that on defense, she made a difference without making a difference..ie, sending the baby blues to the foul line.
I really enjoyed watching her play tonight, and hopefully she makes what we saw tonight a regular outing.
Q "Why do you like Duke, you didn't even go there." A "Because my art school didn't have a basketball team."
sweeeeeeet 9f
Nice win!
The front page headline is “Duke upsets unc in Cameron”. The game was at Carmichael. Perhaps Jim was confused because Duke wore white uniforms, as unc showed rare good taste by wearing black uniforms instead of putrid blue/white.
The win AT unc is even sweeter.
I didn't see THIS coming....
Duke actually has a chance to put together a four game ACC winning streak before having to play Notre Dame. Next up is UVA in Charlottesville, followed by the Hokies at home. This is a nice opportunity to stave off having to start the ACC tournament on Wednesday. ND is likely to be a loss, but each of the other games on the schedule is winnable.
Q "Why do you like Duke, you didn't even go there." A "Because my art school didn't have a basketball team."
BEST game played of the year, when you factor in the following:
- We scored at least 20 points in three of four quarters, with 18 points in the first quarter.
- We shot at least 50 percent in three of four quarters, with 47 percent in the first quarter.
- Four players had at least 13 points; four players had at least 7 rebounds; and 4 players had at least 3 assists.
- We shot 46.3 percent for the game.
- We outscored UNC in the paint, 44-20, despite Duke not being known for a dominant post presence. And we had multiple players across positions score in the paint.
- Duke and UNC each had 14 offensive rebounds, but we outscored them in terms of second chance points, 16-10
- UNC came into the game as one of the hottest teams in the country, winners of four straight (including wins over then-#1 Notre Dame and then-#7 NC State).
ND is likely going to be a loss, given the game is in South Bend. But ND has not looked as dominant or formidable as it has since joining the ACC. Coming into this year, Notre Dame was 77-3 in ACC regular season games (five years), with five ACC regular season titles and four ACC Tournament championships. This year, ND has lost two conference games for the first time since joining the ACC. Duke may not win in South Bend (Duke has never won in South Bend, though Coach P did secure a win in South Bend back in 2004-05 when she was at MSU), but the game is not longer an absolute given.
The rest of the schedule (outside of the Notre Game game):
@Virginia
Virginia Tech
@Wake Forest
Clemson
UNC
Duke should go 5-1 in these games (the loss likely being Notre Dame), which would give Duke an ACC record of 8-8 and an overall record of 16-12.
As of this morning (February 8, 2019), Duke moved up to #61 (from #73) in RPI (and RealTimeRPI has Duke at #60). If Duke goes 5-1 the rest of the way and manages to win two games in the ACC Tournament (possibly as the #7 seed), there is an outside chance that Duke makes the NCAA Tournament.
Of note, Miela Goodchild moved into second on Duke’s freshman three-pointers made list with 51, passing Abby Waner (50) from 2005-06. #1 on the list is Rebecca Greenwell, with 72.
On the overall list (all DWB players, all classes) of made threes in a season, tied for #9 on the list are Jessica Foley (2004-05) and Abby Waner (2006-07) with 68. At her current pace (2.318 made threes) per game, Goodchild could finish the regular season with 65 made threes.
With a few games in the ACC Tournament and the potential for postseason play (whether NCAAT or WNIT), Goodchild could not only pass Waner/Foley (and it would be neat to have one Aussie pass another Aussie) and challenge Greenwell for the record for all DWB freshmen.
Last edited by CamrnCrz1974; 02-08-2019 at 11:44 AM.
Also noteworthy...
In 10 ACC games, Jade Williams is averaging 9.7 ppg and 4.7 rpg, while shooting 49.4 percent from the floor and 72.7 percent from the line (in addition to making her only three-point attempt).
Let's not get ahead of ourselves. To say we "should go 5-1" is a little bold. We are still 3-7 in the ACC, with losses to BC and Georgia Tech in addition to all the ranked teams. Virginia, Clemson, and a full-strength Cheat team are all very capable of giving us a very tough time, and even VT and WFU could still get lucky. While I'd like to think we are capable of winning any one of those games considered in isolation, expecting to win all of them is pretty optimistic.
On the other hand, if we actually were to do that AND win two games in the ACCT, then yes, we'd have a pretty good shot at the NCAAT. Keep in mind that, as a seven seed, our second game would likely be against Notre Dame, so winning that game in those conditions would almost certainly force the tournament committee to give us very serious consideration.
But there's still a fairly long road between here and there. I'm with you that I HOPE we get that chance. Expecting it to happen is still a stretch.
When we were discussing how good (or not) Duke should be right now considering the recruiting pedigree of our players, I looked at all the top teams to see how many top 10/top 20 recruits they had on their rosters. I noticed that Notre Dame had just one top 10 and one other top 20 recruit (along with four other top 40 recruits, and three other top 75, so it's not like the cupboard is completely bare). I wondered how a team with so few top top recruits could be #1 in the country, and assumed it just showed how good a coach Muffet McGraw is, but maybe the answer is they're just not as good as they have been and talent is at least as important (if not more important) in women's hoops than coaching.
After this season, Notre Dame loses a #10 and a #24 (seniors) and gain a #4 and a #21 (freshmen), which means they'll probably be about the same next year or maybe a little worse yet (since presumably seniors are much better than freshmen of similar ranking).