After being picked to finish sixth in the ACC entering the season, the Blue Devils are now in position to land a top-four seed in the conference entering the postseason.
But as the likely favorite to win its final seven games, Duke will have to be careful not to get complacent with N.C. State and Syracuse currently tied with the Blue Devils in the league standings.
No. 15 Duke will continue the softer part of its ACC schedule Thursday when it hosts Clemson at 7 p.m. at Cameron Indoor Stadium. After playing five ranked opponents in their first eight league games, the Blue Devils play two in their final seven, with both of those contests coming at home—where Duke is a perfect 12-0 this season.
After taking on the Tigers, the Blue Devils will hit the road to face Virginia Sunday at 1 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena. Duke star Lexie Brown has taken her game to another level lately, scoring at least 20 points in her last four games on 55.2 percent shooting. The Maryland transfer will look to stay hot with the postseason rapidly approaching and lead the Blue Devils—who missed the NCAA tournament last year—to two more wins this week, which would match their total from the entire 2015-16 season.
“I know Lexie as a terrific player and I just feel like the sky is the limit,” Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “She’s got intensity on both sides of the ball. She benefits from great offense, but also from all the hustle she puts into her defense. She’s continuing to get better and has done a nice job.”
Duke (18-4, 6-3 in the ACC) is coming off a 71-43 rout of Wake Forest Sunday in which the Blue Devils once again completely took an opponent of its offense. Led by Brown's 3.0 steals per game, Duke's matchup zone has given opponents plenty of headaches and led to Blue Devil transition points.
McCallie's team only allow 55.1 points per game, which will pose a major challenge for two teams that struggle to score in Clemson (12-10, 1-8) and Virginia (14-7, 3-5).
Even with senior forwards Kendall Cooper and Oderah Chidom splitting time in the frontcourt alongside freshman Leaonna Odom, Duke's defense has been a constant positive since an early-season slip-up at Vanderbilt.
“This team is really beginning to understand their roles and is really getting after it with their ball pressure and intensity,” McCallie said. “I think our defensive personality is coming out a bit more, and we are really making people pay for each shot.”
Against a team in Clemson that shoots worse than 40 percent from the field and has cleared the 60-point mark just three times in its last nine contests, the Blue Devils' focus will likely be on the offensive end. In addition to leaning on transition opportunities and Brown's hot shooting, Duke hopes to get redshirt junior Rebecca Greenwell on track offensively.
Greenwell, a preseason All-ACC selection, has seen her field goal percentage dip to an ice cold 33.3 percent in conference action but has a chance to get on track against two teams in the bottom half of the conference.
The Tigers and Cavaliers rely on a number of players for balanced scoring, and will likely need to get hot from the outside and hope the Blue Devils go cold themselves to stay in the games this week. Virginia also recently showed it is capable of getting hot and playing off its own tough defense that only allows 53.4 points per contest in a 76-27 rout of Virginia Tech last week.
And with Duke's inconsistencies on the road this year, the Blue Devils are being careful not to overlook any opponents with their preseason goals now within reach.
“What stands out to me is that our team is not satisfied,” McCallie said. There’ve been some real stinger games where we feel like we underachieved, and we want to apply that energy and venom to every game that we play. Every game is the same, they’re all valued the same so we want to bring the same intensity to each one.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.
Digital Strategy Director for Vol. 115, Michael was previously Sports Editor for Vol. 114 and Assistant Blue Zone Editor for Vol. 113. Michael is a senior majoring in Statistical Science and is interested in data analytics and using data to make insights.