The first-place team in the ACC will take on the last-place team at Cameron Indoor Stadium tonight at 7 p.m.
Duke, although holding the clear advantage in the standings, may face a tough fight from 11th-place Clemson. The No. 3 Blue Devils (23-2, 9-1 in the ACC) will have faced all their in-conference opponents at least once this season after playing the Tigers (7-16, 1-9).
Duke, battling inexperience all season, is now also challenged by an injury to Monique Currie. The junior managed to play 33 minutes in Sunday’s win over Maryland but has a stress fracture in her foot.
Much like the Blue Devils, the Lady Tigers have also had to retool their roster—Clemson graduated four of last year’s starters. Only junior Amanda White returned to her old position, leaving head coach Jim Davis with many holes to fill at the start of the season.
Davis has started 12 different players—11 in the last four games—but four juniors, as well as freshman D’Lesha Lloyd, play the majority of the minutes.
“I’ve watched them play on tape a couple of times, and they’re one of those very, very scary teams,” head coach Gail Goestenkors said. “[They] have a lot of new faces, and they continue to get better and better.”
Duke has had little trouble adapting to adversity this season. After Lindsey Harding’s suspension, freshman guard Wanisha Smith took over the point guard position, and although she has struggled with turnovers she has led Duke to a perfect home record and just a pair of road loses.
Meanwhile Clemson has floundered all season with its new lineup, and after losing to four consecutive top-25 opponents the Tigers will try to improve their ACC-worst record against a top-five opponent.
“We need to focus more on what we can do to grow,” Davis said. “I always feel we spend too much time reading scouting reports. We’re just trying to focus on doing what we do and trying to hone our skills.”
Duke holds a huge size advantage over Clemson and will look to use centers Alison Bales and Chante Black to continue to block shots and control the boards against the Tigers.
With no starting player as tall as Bales or Black, Clemson may be forced to shoot from the perimeter, where it has struggled all season. The Tigers make just 37 percent of their shots from the field.
“There are times when we play pretty well and times when we don’t play so well,” Davis said. “One reason is we haven’t been able to avoid the turnover bugaboo.”
The Blue Devils have also been bothered by turnovers all season. When starting Smith, a converted shooting guard, at the point, Duke has averaged 17.2 turnovers per game, but the Lady Tigers have been turning the ball over 21 times per game.
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