The women's basketball team started the 2003-2004 season off in style Tuesday night, easily dispatching the Premier Players 118-56 in their first preseason test of the year.
"I thought this was a good start for us, this was a really athletic team...overall I was very pleased with our play," head coach Gail Goestenkors said.
Fittingly, it was 2003 ACC Player of the Year Alana Beard who started off the season for the Blue Devils; Beard came down with the opening tip and moments later received a pass from fellow senior Iciss Tillis, scoring the first points of the game with a left-handed layup. Beard led all players with 24 points, shooting 11-for-18 from the field.
Although the Blue Devils wound up running away in the end, Tuesday's contest was very close for much of the first half. The Premier Players led Duke 29-28 with 6:24 left in the half, and Beard was momentarily confined to the bench with a leg cramp.
It appeared as if the Blue Devils had no answer for Tere Williams and Tonya Washington, who combined to hit four three-point shots over a three minute interval in the first half to keep the game close.
"Initially when [the Premier Players] were hitting the threes, we didn't do a good job adjusting...[and on offense] it took us some time to adjust to their zone and start attacking the gaps," Goestenkors said.
After Beard reentered the game with five minutes to play in the first half, she promptly stole the ball off the Premier Players' inbound, put back her own rebound for the basket and finished off a three-point play with a free throw to establish a 37-29 Duke lead.
The Blue Devils responded to their leader's return by going on to post a 20-0 run. Duke finished the half leading 53-34 and never looked back, outscoring its opponents 65-22 in the second half.
"I don't think we were nervous at any point in time," Tillis said.
"Once we called time out [while trailing 29-28] and settled down, we pulled ourselves together."
The Blue Devils' low post play was particularly noteworthy. Duke out-rebounded its opponent 54-22, and scored 33 second-chance points. The Blue Devils scored 68 points in the paint, and held their opponents to a mere 16 points from inside the box.
Freshman Brittany Hunter played a crucial role in Duke's revamped inside game; she netted a total of 14 points and grabbed 6 boards in a mere 18 minutes until a hamstring cramp forced her out of her first game as a Blue Devil.
"I was nervous, but I was just really excited," Hunter said. "I just loved the intensity everybody had tonight. It's very different from playing in high school."
Tillis also helped down low with her unique inside-outside finesse game. The senior hauled down 13 rebounds, and simultaneously shot 3-for-4 beyond the three-point arc. She finished the game with 23 points. Duke also played impressively in transition, scoring 38 points off turnovers and 24 points off the fast break.
"We want to push the ball more this year than we did last year," Goestenkors said. "I don't think initially we were pushing the ball; I thought as the game wore on we really looked to attack the basket at little bit more, and that's the style of play we want." Lindsey Harding contributed greatly to the transition offense by tallying four steals and a team-high eight assists, earning high praise from her coach.
"I think Lindsey does a great job pushing the basketball; she attacked the basket and made great decisions...she just got better as the game wore on," Goestenkors said.
Premier Player Tere Williams summed up the Blue Devils' dominance after the game.
"They were strong, athletic, very good in transition, smart and they worked very well together," she said.
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