Elizabeth Williams
Statline: Friday vs. Wake Forest: 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting, 16 rebounds, six blocks and five assists in 34 minutes. Saturday vs. No. 2 Notre Dame: 15 points on 7-of-17 shooting, eight rebounds, one assist, one block and one still in 34 minutes.
The good: Senior center Elizabeth Williams was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year and a first team All-ACC player Tuesday, both for the fourth time in her career as a Blue Devil. These two honors recognized the Virginia Beach, Va., native’s strong season in which she averaged 14.7 points and 8.9 rebounds per contest.
Despite not being the Blue Devils’ top scorer in No. 16 Duke’s win against Wake Forest 77-68 Friday for the ACC tournament quarterfinals, Williams had a solid performance on both ends of the court. The 6-foot-3 center registered a double-double as she scored 11 points and delivered 16 rebounds against the Demon Deacons. She added six blocks to bring her total to 84 this year.
The Blue Devils couldn’t stop the Fighting Irish and guard Jewell Lloyd, ACC Player of the Year—who scored a game-high 21 points—in the loss against No. 2 Notre Dame 55-49 Saturday in the semifinals. Although Duke registered its lowest-scoring numbers of the year, Williams still led the team in scoring and rebounding and took over as Duke made its comeback in the second half. She finished with 15 points and eight rebounds.
The bad: The loss against the Fighting Irish was heartbreaking because of the several opportunities the Blue Devils missed throughout the game. Just in the opening eight minutes, Duke missed 14 shots out of 15. In the second half, they missed 25 attempts compared to Notre Dame’s 19. Despite her 15 points, Williams was not immune to this issue, as she only delivered four in the opening 20 minutes and missed three shots and one free throw in the first four minutes of the second period.
The bottom line: Despite their poor shooting against Notre Dame, the Blue Devils managed to reduce an 11-point deficit when coming back from the locker room thanks to their fighting spirit. With three minutes left in the game, Williams scored two buckets in the paint that reduced Notre Dame’s lead to five points. Although the game fell short for a potential comeback, Duke will be a hard rock to break if the 6-foot-3 center and her teammates can put up consisting scoring numbers and consistently battle in the NCAA tournament.
Honorable mention: Williams wasn’t the only Blue Devil picking up conference honors this week. Freshman forward Azura Stevens was selected to the ACC’s All-Freshman team and the All-ACC second team. The Raleigh, N.C., native averages 14.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game and scored in double figures in both ACC tournament games this weekend.
Against the Demon Deacons, Stevens dominated both the offensive and defensive aspects of the game, delivering a double-double with 15 points on 3-of-12 shooting and grabbing 10 rebounds in 36 minutes. The 6-foot-5 forward did a perfect job from the charity stripe, netting eight to make up for a lackluster shooting performance. In the semifinals against the Fighting Irish, the freshman scored 11 points on 5-of-12 shooting and chipped in six rebounds and three assists in 35 minutes.
Stevens, as the rest of the team, will have to put up better numbers from beyond the arc if they want to get far in the NCAA tournament. The women’s squad made only three 3-pointers out of 13 attempts against Notre Dame and two out of 10 against Wake Forest. The Raleigh, N.C., native totaled one 3-pointer in these two games, and though outside shooting is not her forte, Stevens has shown the ability to connect from distance if left alone. Any boost she could give her teammates from the outside could go a long way in improving Duke's chances at a deep tournament run.
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