The starting five that led Duke to the Elite Eight last season all return with hopes of capturing the national championship trophy that has always eluded the Blue Devils.
"We're a few steps ahead of where we might have been in years past," senior forward Haley Peters said. "You can tell in practice when Coach is emphasizing certain points it's things that we've heard before, and so it's not like were learning it for the first time."
Many believed that Duke could have gone all the way last year if not for the season-ending injury to All-American point guard Chelsea Gray that forced her to miss the last 11 games of the regular season and the ACC and NCAA tournaments. Gray dislocated her kneecap in a contest against Wake Forest.
She was averaging 12.6 points per game along with 5.4 assists as well as making a school-record 37 straight free throws. She was possibly having one of the best individual seasons in school history before she was sidelined.
“Chelsea is the most versatile guard in the country—bar none,” McCallie said. “There’s nobody that can take somebody off the bounce and then shoot that three and then create like Chelsea can.... Having Chelsea off the floor is an enormous loss."
Alexis Jones was forced to take over the point guard position due to Gray’s injury last year and really step up her game and role as a leader despite her inexperience.
The ACC tournament MVP averaged 9.4 points per game and 4.5 assists prior to Gray's ailment and then raised her offensive input to 13.8 points per game and 6.1 assists after Gray's injury. A crafty and attacking guard, Jones will look to benefit greatly playing alongside Gray once again in an offense geared towards scoring points in transition.
"Lex was just a freshman. Freshmen take a while to come along," McCallie said. "I dont have any doubt that Chelsea can mentor Lex and Lex can show Chelsea some things that she's developed. They can exchange on them, but more than that on the court they can just play off each other, and make it special."
Also returning is one of the nation's best shooters in Tricia Liston. She hit 80 3-pointers last year to break the school record as well as totaling six games with 20 points or more.
Liston will play an integral role in a three-guard offense that will test her versatility and see her, Jones, and Gray all trade off taking the ball up the court.
"Tricia's gonna play one and two, two and one. She developed that last year with her conditioning," McCallie said. "At one point it was just shooting mostly off the pass, coming off screens. Now she's all over the place—coming off screens, putting the ball on the floor, [and] posting up."
Junior center Elizabeth Williams and senior forward Haley Peters round out the starting lineup. Williams recorded six double-doubles and a block in every game last year, ranking eighth nationally with 3.0 blocks a game. Peters averaged 7.6 rebounds per game last year while also posing as a threat from beyond the arc, shooting 47.4 percent on 3-pointers.
In addition, having all five starters return will allow Duke's top-rated freshmen to develop at a comfortable pace and learn under the guidance of the accomplished players ahead of them. Freshmen Kendall McCravey-Cooper and Oderah Chidom will look to thrive off the bench and provide needed support in the paint.
"Our post group is very deep this year," McCallie said. "If teams are going to double and triple [Elizabeth] as they have in the past, they're gonna find that they're gonna miss a lot of O-boards that are gonna be picked up by people like Kendall Cooper and Oderah Chidom."
Coming into the season ranked No. 2 in the country, there is no question that if this starting five is excited for the road ahead.
"We're all just ready and happy to come back and play," Jones said.
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