Duke women’s basketball rising seniors Haley Peters and Tricia Liston have been invited to the USA Basketball World University Team Trials. The trials will take place May 16-19 at the US Olympic training complex in Colorado. The 12-member team is expected to be announced on the morning of the 19th. The team will meet again at the training complex for training from June 24-July 1 before heading to Russia.

The team will be coached by Oklahoma head coach Sherri Cole. The 2013 World University Games will take place in Kazan, Russia from July 8-15.

Haley Peters

Peters averaged 12.2 points and a team-high 7.6 rebounds last season. She also had ten double-doubles. Her 273 rebounds on the season is ranked sixth most in Duke’s single season history. Peters became just the fourth player in Duke history to shoot over 50% from the field, 40% from the three point line, and 75% from the free throw line in a season. Here are some of the accolades she received: second team All-ACC selection, All-ACC Academic Team, and Capital One Academic All-District III selection.

Liston averaged 13.5 points and 5.1 rebounds last season. She set a school record with 80 three pointers made during the season. She also became the best free throw shooter in ACC history, as she made 93.1% (81-of-87). Liston scored 20 or more points in six games last season. Here are some of the accolades she received: Norfolk Regional All-Tournament Team, All-ACC Second Team, All-ACC Tournament Second Team, and All-ACC Academic Team accolades

The only other ACC player who accepted an invitation to the trials was Tyaunna Marshall of Georgia Tech.

On Thursday, the Duke women’s basketball team held their annual end of season banquet, recognizing the great season by the 33-3 ladies.

Allison Vernerey

The highlight of the night may have been saying goodbye to senior Allison Vernerey, the team’s only senior. Her 140 games played is tied for second-most in Duke history. Overall, she won four ACC regular season titles, three ACC Tournament titles, and went to four Elite 8′s. She compiled a 62-2 record at Cameron Indoor Stadium and 122-19 overall.

Tricia Liston was named the Player of the Year, as she averaged 13.5 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. She set a school record with 80 three pointers made and was ranked third nationally by making 46.5% of them. Liston also earned the Best Free Throw Shooter award (duh), as she made 93.1% of her attempts. That is best in ACC history (she missed six total free throws all season). She scored twenty or more points six times and was named to the Norfolk Regional All-Tournament team, the All-ACC Tournament second team, an All-ACC second team member, and an Academic All-American in the ACC.

Haley Peters earned three awards on the night. She was named the MMOOC (Meanest Mother on the Court) for her dirty work and floor burns. She was named the Scholar Athlete for the third straight season. Peters led the team with 13 or more games with ten plus rebounds (thus earning the Best Rebounder Award). On the season, she averaged 12.2 points and a team-high 7.6 rebounds per game. Peters became just the fourth Duke player to hit over 50% from the field, 40% from beyond the arc, and 75% from the free throw line in a season. She was named a second team All-ACC selection, an All-ACC Academic member, and a Capital One Academic All-District III selection.

Alexis Jones also took home three awards at the banquet: Most Improved Player, Making Plays, and Assist Maker. After taking over as the point guard after Chelsea Gray‘s injury (the final 11 games), the freshman averaged 13.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 1.3 steals. In the ACC Tournament, she averaged 17.7 points, 6.0 assists, and 5.0 rebounds, thus earning her Tournament MVP honors. Jones finished the season with a team-best 144 assists. She was a Full Court Freshman All-America, All-ACC Freshman Team, All-ACC Academic Team and Norfolk Regional All-Tournament selection.

Speaking of Gray, she shared the Making Plays award with Jones. Before her season-ending injury (25 starts), she was averaging 13.1 points, 5.6 assists, 5.4 rebounds, and 3.7 steals. Those numbers helped Gray earn a share of the ACC Player of the Year award (with Maryland’s Alyssa Thomas). She was also named a WBCA Coaches All-American, as she led the ACC in assists and steals (and was ranked in the top ten nationally in assists).

Chloe Wells took home two awards. She was named the Sixth Player and Best Defender. Against rival North Carolina, she scored a career-high 18 points. Against Florida State, she came off the bench to make 6-of-7 shots (a career-best). Wells scored 13 second half points in helping Duke come back to beat Oklahoma State and advance to the Sweet 16. Her 55 steals was a key reason why Duke only allowed 53.9 points per game.

*The following awards were voted on by team members and coaches: The Player of the Year, Most Improved, Sixth Player, Making Plays, and Best Defender.

**I personally would have given out the awards the same way.

Facing their biggest halftime deficit of the season, the Duke women’s basketball team stormed back in a big way against seven seed Oklahoma State to win 68-59 and head to the Sweet 16. They move on to the Norfolk Region semifinals to play Nebraska on Sunday afternoon.

The Blue Devils were down 34-21 at the half on their home court. They only made eight first half shots and allowed 46.2% shooting for the Cowboys. They committed nine turnovers, but only forced four.

Chloe Wells

Coach P (or maybe Chelsea Gray) must have given a spirited halftime speech because Duke came out with a ton more energy and alot more determination.

Duke started the second half on a 12-2 run to get back into the game. But Oklahoma State kept the lead. That was until there was 5:24 to go. Tricia Liston‘s three pointer gave Duke the 52-51 lead (their first lead since it was 4-2). It went back-and-forth over the next minute and a half before Duke took complete control with 2:50 to go when Elizabeth Williams‘ jumper gave them a three point lead.

The Blue Devils made eight straight free throws to ice the game. Every big play drew a fist pump, yell, and jump from Gray.

Sure, Duke made way more shots in the second half (16 of them) and out-scored the Cowboys 47-25, but it was their defense that pushed them into the Sweet 16. After only forcing four turnovers in the first half, Duke forced 16 second half turnovers. The Cowboys also only made 10-of-29 shots. Duke also got to the offensive glass, getting 15 total o-boards (37 total). Alison Vernerey was also key on defense, making it tough on Toni Young inside, in her final game at Cameron.

It was also a change to the starting lineup in the second half. Coach P went with Chloe Wells over Richa Jackson and it paid off. Wells scored ten second half points and dished out two assists.

Haley Peters dominated in the second half, as she scored nine of her 15 points in the final half. She also hauled in eight of her 13 rebounds in that half. Elizabeth Williams did commit seven turnovers, but turned up her game in the second half. She scored 14 points and hauled in seven boards in the second half.

Alexis Jones, who had two points, three turnovers, and no assists at the half, settled down in the second half. She scored seven points and dished out seven assists to zero turnovers.

Now to the rest of the ACC teams still alive in the NCAA Tournament:

» Continue reading “Duke Women Headed to Sweet 16″

The Duke women’s basketball team once again blew out rival North Carolina on Sunday afternoon (for the second time in three games this season) to take the ACC Tournament title, 92-73. It was the most lopsided title game victory since 2005 (when UNC beat Duke).

The Blue Devils have now claimed the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and await their seeding next Monday night on “Selection Monday”. Have they shown enough to be a number one seed? I think so.

The Blue Devils claimed their eighth ACC tournament title, their third in four years. They used a suffocating defense and shot well over 50% from the field. They also out-rebounded the Tarheels a day after the Tarheels out-rebounded Maryland, one of the best rebounding teams in the country. UNC missed 25 of 28 shots during one of Duke’s patented runs (29-6).

Duke won without much from Tricia Liston (just seven points) or anyone else besides the following:

Alexis Jones had yet another career game against UNC, as she was named the Tournament MVP. UNC Coach Sylvia Hatchell said during the postgame press conference that she thought Duke may be playing better with Jones right now than with Co-Player of the Year Chelsea Gray. Maybe those analysts will finally figure out that this Duke team is really good.

In the title game, Jones scored 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting. She also hauled in eight rebounds and had four steals. She was helped by Elizabeth Williams, who played 36 minutes and scored 24 points and hauled in eight rebounds. She made 8-of-16 shots and it was the 19th straight ACC game she reached double figures in scoring. Oh and she blocked a shot for the 65th consecutive game.

Haley Peters scored 17 points, as she got off to her second straight hot start. She made 7-of-8 shots, but fouled out.

With the huge win, even Jenna Frush got into the action for a minute at the end.

For UNC, Tierra Ruffin-Pratt scored all 26 of her points in the second half when it did not matter. The Tarheels must await their tournament fate on “Selection Monday”.

The Duke women’s basketball team beat Florida State on Saturday afternoon to advance to the ACC Tournament title game for the 11th time in the last 14 years. The Blue Devils won 72-66 over the fourth seeded Seminoles. They have not lost to FSU in four years (since January of 2009) and it was just the second time this season that Duke has won a game by less than ten points.

Haley Peters

Haley Peters rebounded from a rough quarterfinal game to record a double-double in the semis. She scored 17 points and hauled in 13 rebounds. She went 8-of-14 from the field and had six offensive boards. Her basket with 4:06 to go put Duke ahead for good (though they never trailed). It didn’t hurt that FSU missed seven straight shots after her shot.

Tricia Liston rebounded from a rough start to score 17 points. She set the school’s record for three pointers with 69. Alexis Jones scored 12 points and dished out seven assists in the win.

Duke won the battle on the boards, 43-32 and had 17 second chance points.

Coming off a great game against Miami on Friday, Alexa Deluzio struggled against Duke. She scored 13 points, most in the second half. Leading scorer Leonor Rodriguez, who averaged 15.4 points per game, finished with just five points on 1-of-14 shooting. Chelsea Davis scored a game-high 17 points.

So who will Duke play in the finals?

» Continue reading “Duke Women in ACC Tournament Final Against Rival”

On Monday, the ACC announced their all conference teams. The first and second teams were voted on by the league’s Blue Ribbon Panel, which consists of national and local media members and school officials. Head coaches also have their own vote.

Duke women’s basketball players Chelsea Gray and Elizabeth Williams were named to the All-ACC first team for the second straight season, as was Maryland’s Alyssa Thomas. Joining them on the first team were three Florida State players: Leonor Rodriguez, Alexa Deluzio, and Natasha Howard. Howard was a third team selection last season and was named to the All-Freshman team in 2011.

Tianna Hawkins joins her teammate Thomas on the first team, as she led the league in scoring and was second to Thomas in rebounds. Georgia Tech’s Tyaunna Marshall, who was a second team selection last year and named to the freshman team in 2011, was also named to the first team.

Rounding out the rest of the first team honorees are Morgan Stroman of Miami, North Carolina’s Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, and Virginia’s Ataira Franklin.

The coaches had a similar first team, but with UNC’s Xylina McDaniel, NC State’s Marissa Kastanek, and Miami’s Stefanie Yderstrom replacing Howard and  Franklin.

(There was a tie in the voting so an extra player was added.)

The All-ACC second teams were a little different. Tricia Liston of Duke and Chelsea Douglas of Wake Forest were on both lists. Joining them on the Blue Ribbon Panel list are Haley Peters, McDaniel, and Kastanek. Joining them in the coaches list are Howard, Franklin, and Lakevia Boykin of Wake Forest.

The sixth player of the year went to FSU’s Chastity Clayton, a redshirt senior. She averaged 10.5 points per game and shifted in and out of the starting lineup.

Rookie of the Year honors were announced on Tuesday and UNC’s Xylina McDaniel earned the honor from both the Blue Ribbon Panel and the coaches. She was named Rookie of the Week six times and is currently averaging 12.4 points per game and 7.2 rebounds.

Alexis Jones of Duke was named to the All-Freshman team. She gives Duke a freshman on the team for the fourth straight year. Boston College’s Nicole Boudreau started all 29 games and averaged 11.2 PPG. Georgia Tech’s Brittany Jackson was also named to the All-Freshman team.

The Blue Ribbon Panel and the ACC coaches disagreed on who the final member of the All-Freshman team should be. They did agree that the player is a member of Maryland. Guard Chloe Pavlech stepped in when the Terps lost their starting guard tandem and has done a nice job. The coaches thought Malina Howard and her ability to shoot from the outside belonged on the team. In my opinion, I would go with Pavlech because she starts and plays a bigger role on the team. Howard is good, but has only been getting big minutes over the second half of the season.

The ACC Tournament in Greensboro begins on Thursday afternoon with the first round games. All games can be seen on ESPN3.com, with the final on Sunday at 2pm ET on ESPN2.

The Duke women’s basketball team completely dominated host Virginia Tech on Thursday night, with a 77-33 victory. The Blue Devils had more points at halftime (40) then VT scored in the whole game.

Duke played a little two-man game that the Hokies could not stop.

Elizabeth Williams scored 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting. She was perfect from the floor in the first half. She also hauled in seven rebounds and blocked two shots. Haley Peters also scored 25 points but hauled in ten rebounds. She went 4-for-5 from three point land. She also blocked two shots.

Tricia Liston came off the bench to score eight points in the second half on 3-of-3 shooting.

The Blue Devils out-rebounded VT, 35-21 and had 15 assists on 25 made field goals. Duke forced 22 turnovers, had ten steals, and held the Hokies to just 29.2% shooting (14-of-48).

The leading scorer for VT was Alyssa Fenyn, who scored just seven points. She also committed five turnovers.

Next up for Duke is a home game on Sunday against Wake Forest. This will be a Play For Kay game, with the teams wearing pink in honor of the late NC State coach Kay Yow.

The Duke women’s basketball team stayed undefeated in the ACC with a road victory over Virginia, 62-41. The Blue Devils only led 24-22 at the half, but had held the Cavaliers scoreless over the first half’s final 6:12 (UVA led 22-13).

In the first half, Duke had ten assists on 11 made baskets. They were led by Tricia Liston, as she scored nine first half points off the bench.

In the second half, Duke began to pull away with about ten minutes left (leading 36-30). UVA made just six second half shots, while Duke made 14. The Blue Devils also forced 11 second half turnovers (for a total of 21).

The Blue Devils were led by Elizabeth Williams, who scored 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting. She made 5-of-7 in the second half. She also hauled in eight rebounds, dished out four assists, and blocked three shots.

Haley Peters scored 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting (3-of-4 in the second half). She also hauled in four rebounds. After a rough first half for Chelsea Gray, she ended up scoring 14 points (4-of-7 in the second half). She also hauled in six rebounds, dished out four assists, and had two steals.

On the downside, Duke turned the ball over 15 times and were out-rebounded 37-30 (16-11 on the offensive glass). The other negative was their poor free throw shooting: they made just 7-of-14 (and Allison Vernerey only missed two).

For UVA, Ataira Franklin scored 15 points and hauled in nine rebounds. She also had five steals.

Next up for Duke, the much-anticipated matchup with Maryland on Monday night. The game will be played at Cameron Indoor Stadium and broadcast live on ESPN2 at 7pm ET. The Terps won again tonight to stay just one game behind Duke in the ACC.

The Duke women’s basketball team returned home to Cameron Indoor Stadium after two straight games on the road. They beat Boston College for the second time this season, this time by a 80-56 score. It was their 34th straight ACC home victory.

It was a a fairly close game in the first half, as Duke led 48-33 at the half. Duke shot 56% from the field and made 8-of-10 three pointers.

The Blue Devils turned up the defense and held BC to just 24.1% shooting in the second half and they made just one 3-pointer (1-for-13 compared to 5-for-11 in the first half). Duke also won the overall rebounding battle, 45-26 and 15-6 on the offensive end.

Chloe Wells scored a season-high 13 points (5-of-5 shooting) in her second straight start, as four of Duke’s five starters finished in double figures.

Haley Peters recorded a double-double: 15 points and 13 rebounds. The only negative was her five turnovers. Elizabeth Williams scored ten points, hauled in seven rebounds, and dished out five assists. Chelsea Gray scored 12 points, hauled in six rebounds, and had four steals.

Tricia Liston came off the bench to score 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting.

It was such a big win that walk-on Jenna Frush got to play three minutes. She even connected on her first field goal of the season, a three pointer that I am sure got the 5000-plus in attendance cheering.

For BC, Kristen Doherty led the team with 14 points. Kim Shields scored 13 points and Nicole Boudreau added 11 points.

The Blue Devils stay at Cameron for Thursday night’s game against Miami. It will be their first game against the top tier of the ACC. The Hurricanes were briefly ranked in the top 25 in the beginning of the month, but have lost four of six games since.

*At halftime, Duke honored their 2003 team that reached the Final Four. It was the first time that former coach Gail Goestenkors had attended a game since she left for Texas back in 2007.

The Duke women’s basketball team is still the only undefeated team in Division I men’s or women’s basketball. However, they still have not earned the number one ranking. One way to do that is to win on Monday night.

The fourth ranked Blue Devils travel to Storrs to play the third ranked UConn Huskies. They are coming off a victory on Saturday against Syracuse to improve to 16-1. Their only loss knocked them out of the top spot, when they lost to Notre Dame by one point at home.

The game will be televised on ESPN2 at 7pm ET. One of the commentators is of course former Husky Rebecca Lobo, so she will be praising them all night long. Duke is looking for their first victory over UConn since the NCAA Tournament in 2006.

Every year I am hoping for a win, or at least a good game, because Duke tends to get blown out (the last four losses have come by an average of 29.2 points). Last season, they lost 61-45 at Cameron Indoor Stadium to end their 34-game home court winning streak. They actually played pretty well, especially on defense, but could not put the ball in the basket (just 24.6% shooting and missed 19 consecutive shots). No one solidified that better than Elizabeth Williams, who spurned UConn for Duke. She scored ten points, but made just 3-of-15 shots. She also only hauled in three rebounds.

This season, Williams has returned from a stress fracture in her leg with a bang. She is averaging 15.8 points per game and 6.5 rebounds in 25.3 minutes. She is shooting 57.6% from the field and has 52 blocks on the season. Williams has at least one block in every one of her collegiate games.

Chelsea Gray is having an All-American caliber season. She is the only player in the country averaging 14PPG, six rebounds, and six assists per game. She is shooting 89.1% from the free throw line and 44.8% from the three point line. She leads Duke with 57 steals.

Tricia Liston and Haley Peters are both averaging about 12 points per game. Liston is shooting 46.4% from 3 and 88.9%  from the free throw line. Peters is averaging seven rebounds a game and is shooting 50.6% from the field (and 46.4% from 3). However, both need to be more consistent and stop turning the ball over.

Duke is averaging 79 PPG and have a scoring margin of +30.8 (they allow 48.2 PPG). They also have a +10.8 rebounding margin. Opponents only shoot 32.5% from the field and just 29.5% from three point land. The Blue Devils force 23 turnovers a game, but commit 15.6 a game. They average 17.9 APG and 13.8 steals per game.

UConn is very similar. They average 83.8 PPG and have a scoring margin of +37.2 (they allow 46.6 PPG). They also have a +10.1 rebounding margin. Opponents shoot 30.2% from the field and 30% from 3, while UConn shoots 49.8% from the field. The Huskies defense forces 22.3 turnovers a game and they commit 14 of them. They average 12.4 steals per game.

So on paper this should be a GOOD matchup that goes down to the wire (fingers crossed).

» Continue reading “#4 Duke @ #3 UConn WBB Preview”