Azurá Stevens
The statline
Thursday vs. Virginia: 14 points on 6-of-15 shooting, 15 rebounds, two blocks and one steal.
Friday vs. Notre Dame: 19 points on 7-of-17 shooting, 10 rebounds, one assist and one steal.
The good: After missing seven games with a plantar fascia injury, Stevens was re-inserted right into the starting lineup for her team in the ACC tournament and performed admirably as the go-to scorer for the Blue Devils. Stevens was active on the glass despite being visibly hobbled by her nagging injury, grabbing 12 offensive rebounds in the two contests combined.
The Fighting Irish specifically planned their defense to limit Stevens’ production, but she was till able to use her size and shooting abilities to be Duke’s one consistent scorer throughout the blowout. Notre Dame threw double- and even triple-teams in its zone at the sophomore and also collapsed the paint to stop the sophomore. But ultimately, the Raleigh native was too much to handle in the post and even showed off her range—making two 3-pointers when opposing defenses gave her room beyond the arc.
The bad: Considering the conditions under which Stevens returned to the lineup, the mere idea that she could still function as the de facto offensive threat is unbelievable. After just limited time on the court before the game, the forward was tentative in the opening periods of both games. Stevens early struggles where magnified by the fact that her team let Virginia and Notre Dame began to pull away from the Blue Devils. Although her production was valuable in both games, many of her points came when the final outcome was already decided.
Honorable mention: Although she struggled with turnover problems—committing 11 in the two tournament games combined—Chidom grabbed 11 offensive rebounds total this week and starred in the win against Virginia. The Oakland, Calif., native thrived early by establishing position in the post with Stevens hanging around on the outside. Chidom played a large part in the Blue Devils’ domination on the glass against Virginia as Duke outrebounded the Cavaliers by 17 boards. It was Chidom who successfully boxed out on the final possession to preserve her team's win against Virginia.
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