When stuck in a rut, teams often look to their star players to lead the way. But for Duke, that option has not been available, because its stars have been found sitting on the sidelines during practice.
Both Azurá Stevens and Rebecca Greenwell have missed recent practices as the season-long injury bug that has affected most of the Blue Devil roster has now reached the teams's two leading scorers. Stevens has missed four straight games with a torn plantar fascia but is listed as day-to-day, and Greenwell is not expected to miss any game action, so help may be on the way.
With a limited bench, Duke finds itself mired in a three-game losing streak as the Blue Devils travel to Blacksburg, Va., to take on Virginia Tech at 7 p.m. Thursday at Cassell Coliseum. With redshirt freshman Lynée Belton officially out for the season with a torn meniscus, Duke had just nine available players for Sunday's loss at Wake Forest and will have to piece things together on the offensive end as the Blue Devils look to break 60 points for just the second time since Stevens was hurt Feb. 1 against then-No. 3 Notre Dame.
“I think [the available players are] learning to play with each other, and that’s really important,” Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “We are so fortunate that they are all so young and that they all come back—they all benefit from this, and that’s key.”
The thin bench has opened up playing time for some of the younger Blue Devils, including McCallie's four healthy freshmen. Point guard Angela Salvadores has taken advantage of late, stepping into the starting lineup and blossoming offensively. The preseason National Freshman of the Year is averaging 12.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game in her last four contests.
Salvadores has also cut down on her turnovers of late—something that was plagued the Leon, Spain, native early in the season—committing just three giveaways in her past three games and doling out 10 assists.
“I think [Salvadores] sees the difficulty, she sees the adversity that we’re facing, and I think that Angela is the type of kid that rises [to the occasion],” McCallie said. “She’s got so much playing experience and she’s such a competitor and [the technical foul against the Fighting Irish] might’ve not been the greatest thing, but it did show us a certain intensity and fight, and we need that.”
Since taking over starting point guard duties Feb. 7 against Miami, Salvadores has been a bright spot on an otherwise dull offense during Duke's recent skid. First halves have particularly unkind to the Blue Devils (17-10, 6-7 in the ACC), who have managed just 53 total points before halftime in their last three games.
Throughout the season—especially in games against Army, then-No. 16 Miami, Notre Dame and Wake Forest—Duke has emerged from the locker room playing inspired basketball, but against the Hurricanes, Fighting Irish and Demon Deacons, the second-half efforts were not enough.
Salvadores will have her hands full defensively once again Thursday, as she will be tasked with shutting down the sharp-shooting duo of Hannah Young and Vanessa Panousis, who come into the contest shooting 40.8 and 32.9 percent from 3-point territory this season, respectively. The Australian guards combine for 19.5 points per game, with Young leading the Hokies (15-10, 3-9) at 10.1 points per contest.
With six different Duke players committing at least three fouls in Sunday’s 64-58 loss at Wake Forest—which snapped a 44-game winning streak against the Demon Deacons—and limited bench depth, McCallie might have to adjust her defenses accordingly, as Greenwell and forward Oderah Chidom have struggled with foul trouble with Stevens not along the back line of the team's traditional zone as the anchor of the defense.
Salvadores poured in 16 points and dished out six assists in Sunday's loss, but was victimized defensively against Wake Forest guard Amber Campbell. The sophomore scored a career-high 27 points on 9-of-18 shooting, meaning the Blue Devil rookie will have to clamp down defensively heading into Thursday's game against a Virginia Tech team that shot their way past traditional powerhouse Tennessee earlier this season.
The foul problems and bench depth against Wake Forest forced McCallie to cobble together some irregular lineups. Freshman forward Faith Suggs saw 18 minutes of action—well above her 8.5 minutes per game average—stepping into the Duke frontcourt with Chidom and fellow starter Amber Henson saddled with foul trouble. Suggs scored just one point but grabbed a career-high eight rebounds, five of which came on the offensive glass.
With Stevens' availability in question and Henson nursing a knee injury, some of the freshmen will once again have to step up and fill their roles in order to stop the three-game slide as they try to pick up just their fourth true road win of the year. Duke is unlikely to host the opening round of the NCAA tournament this year, so if the Blue Devils make the tournament field, they will need to be able to win games on the road. Thursday can be a step in developing the necessary confidence to close out games away from Cameron Indoor Stadium.
"If you’re going to be successful at any time and win six games in the NCAA tournament, those games aren’t going to be at home,” McCallie said. “You have to have success on the road. It’s just a maturing thing—obviously we enjoy Cameron and we enjoy our fans, but that’s not what it’s all about. It’s about playing a certain way regardless of where you are.”
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