On Jan. 9, Virginia was 0.8 seconds away from upsetting top-ranked Duke when Alana Beard once again came to her team's rescue. She sank two free throws to sneak the Blue Devils past the Cavaliers with a 60-59 victory.
When No. 2 Duke (21-1, 9-0 in the ACC) faces Virginia (10-11, 4-6) again today, expect a focused offensive effort from the Blue Devils early in the game. Their first meeting marked one of Duke's worst offensive performances, as it shot a season-low field goal percentage of .322 and 1-for-11 from behind the arc. The team also had a season-low in assists. While Beard scored an astounding 41 points, Mistie Bass and Michele Matyasovsky were the only other Blue Devils to hit field goals.
"We're out to prove how much we've improved," head coach Gail Goestenkors said. "I know they're out for revenge as well. We need to be ready to play. That was one of the worst offensive performances we have had. We've been having great practices, so we feel like we're really due for a great overall game."
The game may lie in the hands of Duke's consistent defense. The last time these two teams faced off, the Cavaliers were without two of their top players--sophomores Brandi Teamer, who has been averaging 4.2 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, and Cherrise Graham, who averages 14.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Teamer, a preseason candidate for Naismith Player of the Year award, is one of the nation's most versatile players and the Blue Devils will focus on limiting her touches. Duke will also step up its post defense in stopping Graham, a quick guard, while being careful not to foul the strong free throw shooter.
Another Blue Devil weapon against the Cavaliers will be their team depth. Duke has greatly benefited from points off the bench, highlighted by a 41-point bench performance against Maryland Jan 23.
"We have great depth and we want to utilize all of our players," Goestenkors said. "Different players have different strengths and we want to make sure that we use all the strengths that our team has and one of them is our great depth."
Freshman guard Lindsey Harding, one of the team's quickest players, hopes to share some of the scoring wealth that Beard had the first time Duke played the Cavaliers.
"I thought that we were depending too much on one person," the Houston, Texas native said. "I'm actually now starting to become a scoring threat, or trying to, so that night [against Virginia] I felt that I forced up a lot of shots that I shouldn't have taken."
The Blue Devils hope to make this game their 34th consecutive ACC victory against the Cavaliers as they face off tonight in Cameron Indoor Stadium at 7 p.m., and are confident that they can avoid another near-upset.
"We're ready to play," Harding said. "We want to prove people wrong. Some people in the ACC think that we should have lost a couple of games and we want to prove everyone wrong, that we should have been the No. 1 team all the way."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.