2024-25 DWBB Season

espn's power rankings are out, and the mention that the B1G hasn't had a champion since 1999 made me thing about ACC WBB on the national stage given the other thread's discussion of the decline of ACC MBB.

While always a good league, they've rarely reached the pinnacle. Only uNC, Maryland, and Notre Dame (4 years after joining) have won National Championships. So 3 in total for the ACC since 1982.

With no games last week, Duke dropped 1 spot to #9.

 
Perimeter shooting is sub par a continuation of the Men’s basketball game yesterday. But interior shots and rebounding is going very well
 
Truly dreadful offense from Duke in the last few minutes allowing a 8-0 run, Duke has had big opportunities in transition and blown them badly and then not gotten back. Lead down to 19. And we are supposed to win by 40 plus
 
Oluchi Okunawa outstanding game . 20 points 9/14 from field. Fournier has been solid too. Duke Women’s Basketball is on a good trajectory. Robertson will join a good frontline next season. Fournier Wood Thomas and Donovan . Donovan needs a shooting form adjustment
 
Duke 93, Wofford 58 (recap, box score, highlights, condensed game, full replay, presser)

Duke freshman Toby Fournier registered 23 points and Oluchi Okananwa added 20 points to lead the ninth-ranked Blue Devils to a 93-58 victory over Wofford in women's basketball action Wednesday night.

Fournier added seven rebounds to her 23-point performance while Okananwa finished her night with six rebounds and five assists to go with her 20 points. Reigan Richardson keyed the offense with 10 assists. She also chipped in eight points to just miss registering her first career double-double. Delaney Thomas also finished in double figures with 15 points and Jadyn Donovan led the charge on the glass with 11 rebounds...

Duke shot 51 percent overall and outrebounded Wofford 56-20 for the game.


The highlights linked above are from the ACC Digital Network. Duke WBB has posted their own, plus specific highlight videos of Oluchi Okananwa and Toby Fournier, and also Coach Lawson's postgame comments.



"Probably the stat I'm most proud of, coming out of this game, is [Reigan] Richardson's 10 assists/1 turnover. So, last two games, Richardson has had 17 assists, and I'm so proud of it... she understands how [opponents are] playing her. Teams are taking her shots away from her -- as they should, she's a great offensive weapon... a top scorer that could come into a game and have 10 assists, you guys. I mean, that's rare, she's not a point guard, so she's seeing the game at a better level than she ever has before... I'm almost as proud of this game [as] I am of the 35-point game against Oklahoma, because it shows her evolution, and it shows that she's becoming a player that can impact winning, no matter if she's scoring or not, and I love that about her growth."
 
It seems like Toby should be starting over Jadyn soon, who has been inconsistent.
That will never happen, at least not this year. Toby and Delaney play the post. Jadyn and Jordan play at forward. Off the top of my head, I can recall only one time all season when Toby and Delaney have been on the floor at the same time. (It's maybe happened a time or two more than that, but the point is, it is very rare.) Jordan has been pressed into service to play the post a time or two when we've gotten into foul trouble, but that's pretty much been a desperation move. Kara has those positions pretty well mapped and separated at this point.

As for Jordan maybe starting over Donovan, I agree that it would be good for the offense, but don't sleep on Donovan's defense. She is a defensive nightmare, and is probably our overall best defender. She can also handle the ball pretty well, and occasionally leads the break by simply dribbling up court herself. That's something that Jordan really can't do. Yes, Donovan can hurt us on offense, since teams just don't have to guard her outside the paint, but when she does get in close, she converts at a high rate, and, just to reiterate, her defense is stellar. I really like having them both.
 
Stats v. Wofford

Here are the numbers from Wednesday's game against the Wofford Terriers at Cameron Indoor:


OFFENSE
Possessions: 75.2 (on the faster side)
oRtg: 1.237 (good; adj. 1.182, would be #4)
eFG%: 55.2% (good)
3pt%: 26.1% (bad)
2pt%: 63.6% (very good, second best this season)
%three: 34.3% (reasonable)
FT rate: 40.3% (excellent)
OR%: 55.9% (outstanding, by far the best this season)
TO%: 21.3% (mediocre-)
a/to: 1.374 (excellent)
%assisted: 64.7% (excellent)
fast break pts: 9 (9.7%) (bad)

DEFENSE
dRtg: 0.771 (very good; 0.760 adj., would be tied for 8th best)
deFG%: 39.2% (very good)
3pt%: 25.0% (very good)
2pt%: 40.5% (very good)
%threes: 43.1% (very high)
FT rate: 12.3% (outstanding)
DR%: 88.1% (amazing, again by far the best of the season)
TO%: 14.6% (very bad, by far our worst of the season)
a/to: 0.727 (very good)
%assisted: 36.4% (very good)
stl%: 9.3% (very bad)
blk%: 10.8% (good)
fast break pts: 8 (13.8%) (OK)


We were playing against an overmatched team, and that became obvious pretty quickly. As a result, the rapidly became a teaching game. Coach started running some newer sets and became very picky with players, yanking them from the game when they made mistakes or committed untimely fouls (Delaney's game time in the first half was minimal because of the timing of her fouls). Considering this was a game that we won by 35 points, there was a lot of consternation among the coaching staff during that game.

That said, by and large the team performed really well. To be honest, there were times when we were so dominant that the game got a little boring. It also put a big damper on things when a key Wofford reserve slipped in the paint and went down with what I would bet money is a full ACL tear with just about a minute to go in the first half. She was helped into the tunnel and came out with crutches and a full brace during the half, and it was very good to see virtually the entire Duke team go up to her and wish her well.

Overall, a solid game, but not so good that the team won't get some focused practices in between now and when we face a tough South Florida team on Saturday afternoon, which will also be our last game this year.
 
That will never happen, at least not this year. Toby and Delaney play the post. Jadyn and Jordan play at forward. Off the top of my head, I can recall only one time all season when Toby and Delaney have been on the floor at the same time. (It's maybe happened a time or two more than that, but the point is, it is very rare.) Jordan has been pressed into service to play the post a time or two when we've gotten into foul trouble, but that's pretty much been a desperation move. Kara has those positions pretty well mapped and separated at this point.

As for Jordan maybe starting over Donovan, I agree that it would be good for the offense, but don't sleep on Donovan's defense. She is a defensive nightmare, and is probably our overall best defender. She can also handle the ball pretty well, and occasionally leads the break by simply dribbling up court herself. That's something that Jordan really can't do. Yes, Donovan can hurt us on offense, since teams just don't have to guard her outside the paint, but when she does get in close, she converts at a high rate, and, just to reiterate, her defense is stellar. I really like having them both.
Thanks, Phredd3. We've all been waiting for Toby to dunk in a game. She needs an open pathway to the basket and a controlled approach, both of which are rare. I thought I heard the announcer say in this last game that Toby can dunk from standing under the basket. I have not seen that and I doubt it is true. Nonetheless, it will be quite exhilarating when she does get that first dunk in a Duke game.
 
Thanks, Phredd3. We've all been waiting for Toby to dunk in a game. She needs an open pathway to the basket and a controlled approach, both of which are rare. I thought I heard the announcer say in this last game that Toby can dunk from standing under the basket. I have not seen that and I doubt it is true. Nonetheless, it will be quite exhilarating when she does get that first dunk in a Duke game.
I have not seen Toby dunk without a leadup, and I also doubt that she can do that. But she has surprisingly fast hands, and can get steals, especially if an opposing player sees her as a "big" and is a little careless. If she can get that takeway with the momentum heading the right way, she can get a breakaway. She almost has one of those already this season, but a secondary defender caught up with her so she had to settle for the layup. Hopefully someday, she'll be able to make it happen.
 
Back
Top