Today’s scrimmage showed the Blue Devil faithful that though they lost familiar faces, change can be a good thing.
At the Blue-White Scrimmage at Cameron Indoor Stadium Sunday, Duke’s highly touted second-ranked incoming class—along with redshirt Rebecca Greenwell and transfer Mercedes Riggs—made their first public appearance. Combining for 63 points, more than half of all points scored all afternoon, the Blue Devil newcomers are ready to make their presence felt in the ACC and beyond.
"It was just great to get a team out there," Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "I just liked the things I saw and saw myself just watching."
The game started off with multiple missed shots by both sides, only to have the first field goal hit by Greenwell. The 6-foot-1 guard—who sat out the entirety of last season due to a torn ACL—made her return to Cameron known with 18 points, 15 of which came via the long ball.
"It's a great feeling to finally get out there," Greenwell said. "[I was] kind of nervous before the game, but once I got on the floor and made my first shot I gained some confidence."
The Kentucky native was not the only new face to have a good game. The possession immediately following Greenwell’s first basket was responded to by Riggs with a triple of her own. Transferring from Salt Lake Community College—where she averaged 8.9 points, 5.1 assists and 2.5 steals per game—the Utah native looked to continue her strong performance in Durham. Riggs was the primary ballhandler for the white squad and did a fair job, scoring 13 points and turned the ball over just once.
"Mercedes goes forever; if you notice Mercedes never got tired," McCallie said. "There's a tremendous value in that, if you think about subbing her in during a game when the other team could be fatigued, Mercedes can go by and shoot a three, get a steal."
True freshman Azura Stevens wasn’t one to miss out on the fun. Although she had a slow start with a missed three and a turnover on her first post-up opportunity, ESPN's 23rd-ranked recruit quickly recovered with a rebound off of an air ball and had a strong putback to cap of the play. On her team’s next trip down the court, she found the bottom of the basket on a 3-pointer. The Cary, N.C., native also showed her ability to play in the post with a nice spin off the block in the fourth quarter.
"This was just a really great experience and it was fun to get out there with my teammates," Stevens said. "[I was] really just [seeing] how I could help out my team in any way possible. So the next look I had I took the shot and it worked out."
Although there were some very promising performances, McCallie feels there are still improvements to be made.
"Blue-White is Blue-White." McCallie said. "We did fine. [There were] a couple things I really liked. But, we have to play a lot harder. [We need to work on] ball pressure. The second half was a lot more gritty and something you'd see during 40 minutes from us."
The Blue Devils will have their first game against another school in an exhibition against Limestone Oct. 30.
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