2024-25 DWBB Season
- Thread starter Phredd3
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Duke WBB faces Oklahoma on Wednesday 11/27 at 4:30pm ET on FloHoops (sign up link, listen, live stats)
After an 11-point victory against Kansas State, the 13th-ranked Blue Devils take on the 8th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners in the championship game of the Ball Dawgs Classic, a 4-team event taking place in Lee's Family Forum in Henderson, Nevada. The approximate start time is 4:30pm ET, but it could be delayed, depending on how long the prior consolation game lasts between Kansas State and DePaul.
We learned on Monday that we can get by without paying $30 or whatever for a one-month subscription to FloHoops. The free radio broadcast from the Blue Devil Sports Network works fine, even if it lags behind the live stats by a play or two. During the game, I embedded some videos that Duke WBB posted on social media. After the game was over, I found and shared as much legitimate video content as possible.
Raegan Beers plays for Oklahoma as an indirect consequence of the Pac-12's demise. Last season she played for Oregon State, upsetting 2-seed Notre Dame in the Sweet 16 before losing to eventual champ South Carolina in the Elite 8. Then, with their team losing its power conference home and heading for temporary refuge in the WCC, the stars split up in the transfer portal, like wholly-owned, trust-busting divisions of Standard Oil or AT&T. Starting forward Timea Gardner went to UCLA (and she got her revenge on Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks this past weekend). Starting guards Talia von Oelhoffen (Southern Cal), Donovyn Hunter (TCU), and Dominika Paurova (Kentucky) also ended up in bigger-budget programs.
But Beers was the headliner, and for a while, Connecticut's greedy fans were positive she would commit there. (Keep in mind that this was in mid-April, about 2 weeks after incoming freshman center Sarah Strong chose the Huskies over Duke and UNC.) Beers opted for Oklahoma instead, and here we are.
Jennie Baranczyk is in her 4th season as head coach of Oklahoma, and her past 3 seasons have ended similarly: win 23-26 games, get a 4 or 5 seed in the NCAAs, and lose in the second round. Enter conference realignment (again): Oklahoma left the Big 12 and is now an SEC team, which is why they can play in the same multi-team event as Kansas State. In the SEC's preseason poll and honors, the Sooners were picked to finish 4th, while Beers and forward Skylar Vann were named to the All-Conference first and second teams, respectively.
To preview Oklahoma's season, announcer and podcast host Debbie Antonelli interviewed fifth-year point guard Nevaeh Tot:
"The missing piece was a post player, so we got that now, and I feel like the team we have here -- we have a lot of returners, we have two freshmen coming in, and then we got a transfer, which is Raegan [Beers], so I feel like we have all the pieces to the puzzle... The only way we don't win is if we sabotage ourselves. We know what we want this year, we know our goals, and at that point we've just got to go get it."
Duke's defense is very good, but is it good enough to make a Sooners loss look like self-sabotage? We'll see. Here's a breakdown of Oklahoma's roster:
PROBABLE STARTERS
6-4 junior center Raegan Beers (18.7 pts, 10.3 reb, 1.0 ast, 1.0 blk)
6-0 redshirt senior forward Skylar Vann (11.3 pts, 5.3 reb, 2.0 ast, 1.2 stl)
5-11 sophomore forward Sahara Williams (11.0 pts, 4.3 reb, 2.5 ast, 1.3 stl)
6-1 senior guard Payton Verhulst (10.8 pts, 5.8 reb, 4.5 ast, 1.0 stl, 1.2 blk)
5-3 redshirt senior guard Nevaeh Tot (1.8 pts, 2.3 reb, 3.7 ast, 1.2 stl)
TOP RESERVES
6-2 redshirt senior forward Liz Scott (8.2 pts, 5.3 reb, 1.0 ast)
5-9 freshman guard Zya Vann (8.2 pts, 5.3 reb, 2.0 ast)
5-7 redshirt senior guard Lexy Keys (6.8 pts, 2.7 reb, 2.3 ast)
6-4 junior forward Kiersten Johnson (4.3 pts, 4.0 reb, 0.5 ast)
5-10 junior guard Reyna Scott (3.5 pts, 1.5 reb, 0.8 ast, 1.0 stl)
6-3 junior center Beatrice Culliton (2.2 pts, 3.2 reb, 1.3 ast)
5-9 redshirt senior guard Aubrey Joens (2.2 pts, 1.0 reb, 1.0 ast)
BENCH PLAYERS
6-1 freshman forward Caya Smith (1.4 pts, 0.4 reb, 0.2 ast)
6-3 sophomore center Landry Allen (1.0 pts, 0.5 reb, 0.5 ast)
Oklahoma returned all 5 of last season's starters, but they went bigger by benching guard Lexy Keys in favor of center Raegan Beers. Not sure if it matters minute-wise; Coach Baranczyk plays Keys and the starters about 19-24 minutes per game, and the next 6 reserves play about 9-15 minutes each.
The Sooners (6-0) have seemingly not been challenged yet. Their 23-point win over DePaul on Monday is their closest game. They've beaten Virginia by 43 points in a home game, and have a pair of 30-point road wins over Wichita State and UNLV.
Oklahoma is crazy elite in several statistical categories. Basketball Reference has them 1st in the nation at defensive rebounds, total rebounds, and assists, and in the top 10 in points and field goals (both attempts and makes).
Bart Torvik, who moved the Sooners from preseason #12 to #9 now, sees this as Oklahoma's first close game, but still projects them to win 74-73.
After an 11-point victory against Kansas State, the 13th-ranked Blue Devils take on the 8th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners in the championship game of the Ball Dawgs Classic, a 4-team event taking place in Lee's Family Forum in Henderson, Nevada. The approximate start time is 4:30pm ET, but it could be delayed, depending on how long the prior consolation game lasts between Kansas State and DePaul.
We learned on Monday that we can get by without paying $30 or whatever for a one-month subscription to FloHoops. The free radio broadcast from the Blue Devil Sports Network works fine, even if it lags behind the live stats by a play or two. During the game, I embedded some videos that Duke WBB posted on social media. After the game was over, I found and shared as much legitimate video content as possible.
Raegan Beers plays for Oklahoma as an indirect consequence of the Pac-12's demise. Last season she played for Oregon State, upsetting 2-seed Notre Dame in the Sweet 16 before losing to eventual champ South Carolina in the Elite 8. Then, with their team losing its power conference home and heading for temporary refuge in the WCC, the stars split up in the transfer portal, like wholly-owned, trust-busting divisions of Standard Oil or AT&T. Starting forward Timea Gardner went to UCLA (and she got her revenge on Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks this past weekend). Starting guards Talia von Oelhoffen (Southern Cal), Donovyn Hunter (TCU), and Dominika Paurova (Kentucky) also ended up in bigger-budget programs.
But Beers was the headliner, and for a while, Connecticut's greedy fans were positive she would commit there. (Keep in mind that this was in mid-April, about 2 weeks after incoming freshman center Sarah Strong chose the Huskies over Duke and UNC.) Beers opted for Oklahoma instead, and here we are.
Jennie Baranczyk is in her 4th season as head coach of Oklahoma, and her past 3 seasons have ended similarly: win 23-26 games, get a 4 or 5 seed in the NCAAs, and lose in the second round. Enter conference realignment (again): Oklahoma left the Big 12 and is now an SEC team, which is why they can play in the same multi-team event as Kansas State. In the SEC's preseason poll and honors, the Sooners were picked to finish 4th, while Beers and forward Skylar Vann were named to the All-Conference first and second teams, respectively.
To preview Oklahoma's season, announcer and podcast host Debbie Antonelli interviewed fifth-year point guard Nevaeh Tot:
"The missing piece was a post player, so we got that now, and I feel like the team we have here -- we have a lot of returners, we have two freshmen coming in, and then we got a transfer, which is Raegan [Beers], so I feel like we have all the pieces to the puzzle... The only way we don't win is if we sabotage ourselves. We know what we want this year, we know our goals, and at that point we've just got to go get it."
Duke's defense is very good, but is it good enough to make a Sooners loss look like self-sabotage? We'll see. Here's a breakdown of Oklahoma's roster:
PROBABLE STARTERS
6-4 junior center Raegan Beers (18.7 pts, 10.3 reb, 1.0 ast, 1.0 blk)
6-0 redshirt senior forward Skylar Vann (11.3 pts, 5.3 reb, 2.0 ast, 1.2 stl)
5-11 sophomore forward Sahara Williams (11.0 pts, 4.3 reb, 2.5 ast, 1.3 stl)
6-1 senior guard Payton Verhulst (10.8 pts, 5.8 reb, 4.5 ast, 1.0 stl, 1.2 blk)
5-3 redshirt senior guard Nevaeh Tot (1.8 pts, 2.3 reb, 3.7 ast, 1.2 stl)
TOP RESERVES
6-2 redshirt senior forward Liz Scott (8.2 pts, 5.3 reb, 1.0 ast)
5-9 freshman guard Zya Vann (8.2 pts, 5.3 reb, 2.0 ast)
5-7 redshirt senior guard Lexy Keys (6.8 pts, 2.7 reb, 2.3 ast)
6-4 junior forward Kiersten Johnson (4.3 pts, 4.0 reb, 0.5 ast)
5-10 junior guard Reyna Scott (3.5 pts, 1.5 reb, 0.8 ast, 1.0 stl)
6-3 junior center Beatrice Culliton (2.2 pts, 3.2 reb, 1.3 ast)
5-9 redshirt senior guard Aubrey Joens (2.2 pts, 1.0 reb, 1.0 ast)
BENCH PLAYERS
6-1 freshman forward Caya Smith (1.4 pts, 0.4 reb, 0.2 ast)
6-3 sophomore center Landry Allen (1.0 pts, 0.5 reb, 0.5 ast)
Oklahoma returned all 5 of last season's starters, but they went bigger by benching guard Lexy Keys in favor of center Raegan Beers. Not sure if it matters minute-wise; Coach Baranczyk plays Keys and the starters about 19-24 minutes per game, and the next 6 reserves play about 9-15 minutes each.
The Sooners (6-0) have seemingly not been challenged yet. Their 23-point win over DePaul on Monday is their closest game. They've beaten Virginia by 43 points in a home game, and have a pair of 30-point road wins over Wichita State and UNLV.
Oklahoma is crazy elite in several statistical categories. Basketball Reference has them 1st in the nation at defensive rebounds, total rebounds, and assists, and in the top 10 in points and field goals (both attempts and makes).
Bart Torvik, who moved the Sooners from preseason #12 to #9 now, sees this as Oklahoma's first close game, but still projects them to win 74-73.
CameronBornAndBred
Well-known member
Given the men's 75-72 loss, that would be trippy. Thanks for another great pre-game report.
#10 in the power rankings.
Read on for Duke's longest write-up of the year in espn by their best WBB scribe.
www.espn.com
Read on for Duke's longest write-up of the year in espn by their best WBB scribe.
Women's Power Rankings: UCLA takes over top spot, South Carolina and USC drop
Quite a bit of movement was made after South Carolina and USC fell to their opponents this past weekend. Michael Voepel updates his weekly rankings.
I think it will start on time, the early game is at 2:00. I too get annoyed when they show a start time of 4:00 in the same arena as a 2:00 game, which they do most of the time. I agree the radio broadcast is pretty good.
brevity
Member
It's game day -- Duke's got a preview and PDF game notes, Oklahoma's got their preview and PDF game notes. Same announcers -- Tony Cordasco and Kevaney Martin -- for the FloHoop$ streaming broadcast.
Duke is celebrating some anniversaries with these Ball Dawgs Classic games. Before Monday, Duke last played KSU in 2004. Now they face Oklahoma, for the first time since 2014.
(source)
Watching: we've discussed the (lack of) merits to subscribing to FloHoops for streaming this game live, but it's up to you.
Listening: Go to the Blue Devil Sports Network (online/Varsity app). I'm not seeing a Sirius XM option for those who already subscribe. To hear how the other half lives, there's the Sooner Radio Network (online/Varsity app), which also streams from KOKC Radio.
Following: Live stats available from StatBroadcast.
CameronBornAndBred
Well-known member
She may not have started, but she racked up 35 minutes in today's waxing of NCSU. (82-65) Only one other LSU player had more time.
CameronBornAndBred
Well-known member
In ESPN's "matchup predictor" Duke has a 61.6% chance of victory, and Vegas gives the Blue Devils the 1.5 point edge.
I just came here to post that. Good all-around game for her. Message sent by Mulkey and received?
CameronBornAndBred
Well-known member
She still didn't score tons (only 7 points), but her 9 assists is very impressive. (Her 5 TOs, not so much.)
CameronBornAndBred
Well-known member
A better start so far than recently...that's what I was going to type right before we went down by 11.
Bend but don't break, however, as Duke D piled on and quickly took a 2 point lead. Currently tied 18-18 with 2 to play in the first.
Bend but don't break, however, as Duke D piled on and quickly took a 2 point lead. Currently tied 18-18 with 2 to play in the first.
CameronBornAndBred
Well-known member
She played briefly on Monday.
CameronBornAndBred
Well-known member
Duke leads after one, 27-20. Very solid!
BTW, the Duke radio guy is great.
BTW, the Duke radio guy is great.
CameronBornAndBred
Well-known member
Duke opens up a 10 point lead early in the 2nd.
Edit, now 12 and Oklahoma calls a timeout.
Edit, now 12 and Oklahoma calls a timeout.
CameronBornAndBred
Well-known member
Jordan Wood is a perfect 5-5 so far and a game leading 11 points. Reigan is behind her with 9.