Duke women's basketball player of the week: Week 7

Lexie Brown

The statline:

Wednesday vs. Villanova: 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting, six rebounds, three assists and three steals.

The good: After an up-and-down start to her Duke career, the All-American junior guard and Maryland transfer has brought an up-tempo element to the Blue Devils’ offense, and Wednesday was no exception.

Brown showed no signs of rust after a nearly two-week break for final exams, finishing a perfect 2-for-2 from both the free-throw line and beyond the arc. The Suwanee, Ga., native also shot 63.6 percent from the field to help No. 17 Duke down Villanova 68-50. Brown was instrumental in disrupting the Wildcats’ five-out offense, notching a team-high three steals against the team with the fewest turnovers in the nation. Villanova's sharpshooting team, boasting four players with at least 10 treys before Wednesday, finished the day making just 10-of-41 3-point attempts.

The bad: Brown didn’t do much wrong in the Blue Devils’ win. When pressed for flaws, one can find that Brown could have been a little more careful with the ball, as she committed two turnovers. Although she leads the team in free-throw attempts this season, she made it to the line just once Wednesday—she could have been a bit stronger driving to the basket.

The bottom line: Just 12 games into her Duke career, Brown has proven that she can be an elite scorer, from inside and beyond the arc. Although she had a few subpar shooting nights before the final exam break, she brings consistent energy to the table that has reinvigorated head coach Joanne P. McCallie’s squad.

She seems to have brought a new sort of mojo to the team and has taken pressure off star redshirt junior guard Rebecca Greenwell, who delivered a monumental 29-point effort against then-No. 3 South Carolina Dec. 4. Although Brown has a team-high 30 turnovers, Duke has been much better at preventing giveaways under her watch, now tied for 94th in the nation in turnovers, a marked improvement from 306th last season.

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