In what has seemed like ages since their last home bout, the Blue Devils might have forgotten what the confines of Cameron felt like after breaks for exams and the holidays.
They’ll get to run out on that court Friday, however, as Duke returns to Cameron Indoor Stadium for one of its last non-conference games of the season.
Duke will take on East Carolina Friday at home at 7 p.m. The last time the Blue Devils played at home was a convincing win over UNLV Dec. 6, and since then there has been a cancellation vs. South Carolina and a west coast trip to Oregon State where Duke couldn’t handle the No. 11 Beavers.
“It’s important that we stay focused and it’s important that we play super hard,” head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “They’ll be some bumps in the road tonight because we haven’t played a game in a while, but hopefully we can take some of the things against Oregon State and transfer them to tonight.”
The Pirates (9-2), who lead the all-time series between the two schools 9-6, will take the floor under new leadership as assistant coach Nicole Mealing will serve as the interim head coach for Chad Killinger, who temporarily stepped down to address a medical issue. Mealing is in her seventh year at ECU and takes over a team which has won its last four games in the midst of one its best starts in program history.
Junior Raven Johnson has carried the Pirates to their success thus far, leading the team in points and rebounds per game. Her best performance this year came against another ACC school, as she scored 24 points en route to an upset win for ECU over Wake Forest.
For Duke (6-4) to limit Johnson’s scoring and rebounding presence, the team will need sophomore forward Jade Williams to step up and play commanding defense like she has done against other talented forwards thus far. But, McCallie stresses that it will be a team effort for a Blue Devil team having a lot of success on the defensive end.
“Hopefully, again, it’s a team effort,” McCallie stressed. “We play a variety of defenses, so it’s not a one on one thing for Jade. It’s going to be a post situation and a guard situation. You want to keep it really tight and take away the inside passing angles and make them play on the perimeter. They’re a terrific, quick team in terms of penetration, they go, go, go. We want to keep them in front and keep the posts from playing high-low.”
Where the Pirates have struggled all year is in the rebounding department, where they rank 307th in the NCAA in rebounding margin. The Blue Devils can use this advantage to leak extra players down the floor in transition as well as crash the offensive glass and get extra possessions. Team leading rebounder junior Leaonna Odom, who assumes some point guard duties, also has the ability to take it coast to coast for easy baskets.
“We need more people [to rebound]”, McCallie said. “You’re looking for two people in double figures and then beyond that. So, guards and posts, a total team effort.”
Next up for the Blue Devils will be their final non-conference game against Florida Gulf Coast next Sunday before ACC play kicks off in Raleigh against N.C. State. A game against national powerhouse Louisville also looms for a Duke squad needing a signature win for its tournament hopes.
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