Former Duke women’s basketball player Karima Christmas and her Indiana Fever teammates beat the defending champion Minnesota Lynx in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals to win the WNBA Title.

In the Game 4 clincher, Christmas scored seven points and hauled in five rebounds in just over 14 minutes of action off the bench.

In Indiana’s Game 3 blowout over the Lynx, Christmas scored just two points in a little over 17 minutes.

Prior to those two games, Christmas only appeared in their loss in Game 2 for less than three minutes. She was forced into action with injuries to two guards (Katie Douglas and Jeannette Pohlen).

The postseason has arrived in the WNBA and a few former Duke women’s basketball players are participating. The others are enjoying some time off and getting ready for the international season.

Let’s take a look at how the Duke alumni have done this season:

Alana Beard: She finished the regular season averaging 30.8 minutes per game. She scored 11.4 points per game and made 43.6% of her shots.

The LA Sparks have advanced to the Western Conference Finals with a sweep over the San Antonio Silver Stars. Beard started both games and averaged 32.5 minutes. She lit up the Silver Stars by averaging 17.5 points and shooting over 60% from the field.

The Western Conference Finals begin on Thursday, as the Sparks face the top team in the league, the Minnesota Lynx. Game 1 will be broadcast live on ESPN2.

Karima Christmas: After being traded to the Indiana Fever, she played in 16 games off the bench for the Eastern Conference Finals participant. She has not played in a playoff game yet, but the Finals begin on Friday night on ESPN2.

During the regular season, Christmas averaged just 2.9 points in 10.9 minutes with the Fever. In her final game on September 23rd, she scored ten points and hauled in seven rebounds in a Fever victory.

Mistie Mims: As a member of Eastern Conference finalist Connecticut Sun, she averaged eight points and 4.5 rebounds over 18.7 minutes (ten starts in 32 games).

Mims played in both games of the Eastern Conference semifinals, as the Sun swept the NY Liberty. So far in the postseason, she is averaging seven points and 4.5 rebounds in 16 minutes. Pretty similar to her regular season stats.

» Continue reading “Duke in the WNBA Update”

With about a month left in the WNBA season (and after spending a month off due to the Olympics), now is a great time to take a look at how the former Duke players are doing in the league.

Alana Beard has returned to form after two injury-riddled seasons. Now with the LA Sparks, she is averaging 10.3 points in 31.4 minutes. She has started all 24 games she has played in, as the Sparks have won nine in a row and have clinched a playoff spot in the Western Conference.

SportsPageMagazine.com has a great article on Beard‘s return.

Chante Black has started ten of the 21 games she has played in for the Tulsa Shock (who are just 1-10 on the road). She is averaging 3.4 points and 3.2 rebounds in 13.6 minutes per game.

Karima Christmas had played in seven games since being traded to the Indiana Fever (who are 15-9 and in second place in the Eastern Conference). She has averaged 2.3 points in just 7.1 minutes.

Monique Currie has started 18 of the Washington Mystics‘ 24 games. The Mystics are in last place in the Eastern Conference and are just 1-11 on the road. Currie is averaging 10.6 points and 3.5 rebounds over 23 minutes.

Her teammate on the Mystics, Jasmine Thomas, has started 13 of the 24 games. In twenty minutes, she is averaging 6.8 points , 2.1 rebounds, and 2.7 assists.

» Continue reading “Duke in the WNBA Update”

The WNBA season is in full gear and eight former Duke women’s basketball players are scattered across the league.

Alana Beard has gotten better as the WNBA season has rolled on. Five of her last seven games for the LA Sparks has resulted in double-figure scoring. In her last game (June 28th), she dished out ten assists while scoring 14 points. The Sparks sit in second place in the Western Conference at 10-6.

With the Tulsa Shock, Chante Black started five of their first six games. Since, she has started just one of the next five games. On June 26th, she scored eight points on 3-of-3 shooting over 23 minutes. Black also hauled in five rebounds. The Shock are in last place in the Western Conference at 2-12.

Karima Christmas was traded from Tulsa to Indiana and will play her first game with the Fever on Thursday (July 5th). Prior to the deal, she led the WNBA with 2.33 steals per turnover (14 steals to six turnovers). Christmas’ new team is in second place in the Eastern Conference at 8-5.

Monique Currie has tallied two 20-point games in her last five for the Washington Mystics. She is averaging 10.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game for the last place team in the Eastern Conference (3-10).

Jasmine Thomas has started five games as a teammate of Currie’s on the Mystics. She has scored in double-figures just once this season and has struggled with her shot of late (just 14-for-56 which is 25%).

» Continue reading “Duke in the WNBA Update”

The WNBA season is underway and Duke has eight former players across the league. There are a few more roster spots open due to the Olympics (and many ladies will be leaving to play in London).

Alana Beard, who is finally healthy, had started all six games with her new team, the LA Sparks (who are 5-1). She has averaged 8.8 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game.

The Tulsa Shock, who are 0-6, have two former Blue Devils on their roster. Chante Black returns to the WNBA and has started five of their six games. She is averaging 2.7 PPG and 2.8 RPG. Karima Christmas has played in all six games (one start). She is averaging four points and 2.2 RPG.

The Washington Mystics again have two former Blue Devils, as they welcome back the fully-healthy Monique Currie. She has started all five games (1-4) and is averaging 12.4 PPG and four rebounds per game. Jasmine Thomas is back with the Mystics and is coming off the bench. She has averaged 7.4 PPG and two assists. Her best game was her last (June 3rd) when she scored 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting (3-for-4 from three point land).

Lindsey Harding is back with the Atlanta Dream, who is 2-4. She has started all six games and is averaging 13.7 PPG, 2.7 RPG, and 3.5 APG.

Mistie Mims returned to the WNBA and plays for the Connecticut Sun (4-1). She has played in all five games, averaging five points and four rebounds a game.

The Phoenix Mercury are 2-4 and brought back Krystal Thomas. She has played in two games and is averaging two points.

The WNBA playoffs are fully underway and three former Duke players are still active in the postseason. Here is a recap of those three players and how their teams are performing.

The Atlanta Dream took Game 1 at Connecticut, 89-84 behind the play of former Blue Devil Lindsey Harding. She scored ten of her 21 points in the fourth quarter as the Dream made the comeback. Alison Bales played nine minutes off the bench and went 1-for-3 with three rebounds.

The Dream took Game 2 at home to finish a sweep of the Sun. Despite an off game by Angel McCoughtry, the Dream used another fourth quarter surge to rally for their second straight Eastern Conference Finals appearance. In two games, the Dream outscored the Sun 53-29 in the fourth quarter. Harding had 12 points, six in the final quarter. She also had six assists. Bales played 15 minutes off the bench and went 2-for-4 from the field for five points. She also hauled in five rebounds.

The Dream will face the Indiana Fever in the Eastern Conference Finals beginning on Thursday night at 7pm ET on ESPN2. The series will begin in Indiana.

After losing Game 1 in Seattle, the Phoenix Mercury fought back to take the series 2-1 over the Storm and head to the Western Conference Finals.

The Mercury took Game 2 at home, 92-83. They did so behind the play of former Temple star Candice Dupree (who I had a class with back in our Temple days), who scored 29 points (on 12-of-14 shooting). Former Blue Devil Krystal Thomas played just 44 seconds, but that was enough time for her to pick up a foul.

In the Game 1 loss, Thomas played a little over 12 minutes and went 1-for-1 from the field (2-for-2 from the free throw line) for four points. She also hauled in seven rebounds (four from the offensive end).

Down 39-30 at the half in Game 3, the Mercury stormed back to take the series at Seattle, 77-75. Dupree’s putback with 1.9 seconds left was the game winner (two of her 20 points). Thomas played just one minute in the clincher.

The Mercury await the winner of the Minnesota-San Antonio series, which is tied at 1-1.

The WNBA regular season came to an end on Sunday, as two teams with former Duke Blue Devils on its roster are headed to the postseason. The Atlanta Dream locked up the third-seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. They will face the Connecticut Sun in the semifinals. The Phoenix Mercury locked up the third-seed in the Western Conference and will begin play on Thursday against the Seattle Storm.

Here is the WNBA update for the former Blue Devils playing in the league from August 30-September 11:

Tuesday August 30th: Atlanta beat Indiana, 92-90. After starting the season 3-9, the defending Eastern Conference champs are once again one of the WNBA’s top teams. The Dream trailed 88-83 with a little over two minutes left. Sancho Lyttle’s jumper with 0.9 seconds left gave them the win over the first-place Fever. Lindsey Harding played 33 minutes and went 5-for-11 from the field with 11 points. She had six assists and two steals. Alison Bales played nine minutes off the bench and hauled in two rebounds.

Minnesota beat Washington, 73-56. The Mystics scored just six points in the third quarter after trailing just 36-33 at the half. It was the Mystics ninth straight loss. The Lynx had already clinched the Western Conference title. Jasmine Thomas cracked the starting lineup for the Mystics for the first time in her rookie season. She played 37 minutes but went just 2-for-11 (1-for-6 from the three-point line) from the field. She did have three rebounds and three assists (but she had four turnovers).

Phoenix beat Tulsa, 96-74 in a battle of two Blue Devils rookies. Krystal Thomas played the most minutes so far in her rookie season with the Mercury (16 minutes). She was 2-for-3 from the field. Karima Christmas played 13 minutes off the bench for the Shock, going 3-for-5 (six points).

Thursday September 1st: Washington beat Atlanta, 85-81 to break their nine-game losing streak. Matee Ajavon scored 11 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter. Monique Currie made her season debut after recovering from a torn left ACL. In 9:30 minutes, she had eight points and three rebounds. J.Thomas started her second straight game and went 5-for-14 with 12 points. She also had four rebounds, five assists, and two steals in the win.

Bales was back in the starting lineup for the Dream and went 4-for-8 (11 points) from the field in 29 minutes. She added six rebounds and two blocked shots. Harding played 38 minutes and went 4-for-13 (ten points). She had five rebounds and eight assists in the loss.

San Antonio beat Phoenix, 86-68. K. Thomas played almost ten minutes and went 1-for-2 from the field (three points).

Friday September 2nd: Atlanta beat Washington, 95-73. Bales had a career-high 15 points and her three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter helped the Dream pull away. In her second straight start, Bales was 6-for-7 from the field in 29 minutes. She also had five rebounds, two assists, and two blocked shots. Harding went just 2-for-5 from the field, but had seven rebounds and three steals.

J. Thomas scored a career-high 19 points (7-for-14) in her second straight start (28 minutes).

Seattle beat Tulsa, 78-72 in a comeback effort. Christmas played 14 minutes and scored nine points in the loss, but went just 3-for-10 from the field.

» Continue reading “WNBA End of Season Update”

Just this season, former Duke women’s basketball player Joy Cheek was in the WNBA. She played in three games with the Washington Mystics and scored three points in six minutes against the Chicago Sky on July 5th.

Now, she is re-joining the Blue Devils, as the new assistant coach. Cheek played at Cameron from 2007-2010, with the last three seasons being played under current Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie. She replaces Trisha Stafford-Odom, who was named rival UNC’s assistant coach.

Cheek will work alongside fellow assistant Al Brown with the post players, along with serving as one of two recruiting coordinators and assist with summer camps.

She had planned to play professionally in Spain (she had previously played in both the WNBA and Poland) but couldn’t pass up the coaching opportunity at her alma mater.

Cheek on what she wants to bring to the Duke program, “From a recruitment standpoint, I’m the only one from Duke and played for Coach P. I’m really a testament to what our program is about. And also what players can do once they leave Duke, how they can benefit from Duke and just really be a selling point just to show how great of a university this is — academically and athletically.”

Cheek is one of 26 Blue Devils to register 1,000 career points and was a finalist for the Lowe’s Senior Class Award in 2010. She started all 36 games as a senior and averaged 8.4 points and five rebounds.

You can check out the video of Cheek and Coach McCallie’s interview with GoDuke.com HERE.

The WNBA season is coming down to the final push, with playoff spots on the line. Here is the WNBA update for August 18th-August 28th, highlighting the former Duke women’s basketball players.

Thursday August 18th: Minnesota beat Washington, 81-62. In the loss, Jasmine Thomas played close to 14 minutes off the bench. She went 2-for-7 from the field (1-of-4 from three-point land) for five points.

Friday August 19th: Atlanta beat Connecticut, 94-88 in overtime. Angel McCoughtry blocked a shot at the end of regulation to force overtime and hit two big baskets for the Dream to win it (she had 26 total points). Lindsey Harding started and played 43 minutes. She went 10-for-14 for 21 points. She also had five assists and two steals. Alison Bales played 11 minutes off the bench, but went just 1-for-6 from the field (she did go 3-for-3 from the free-throw line). She had five rebounds and two blocked shots.

Saturday August 20th: Chicago beat Washington, 71-70. Epiphany Prince made two of three free-throws with 0.7 seconds left to give the Sky the victory. There were 18 lead changes in the game. Matee Ajavon missed two free throws for the Mystics and fouled Prince on a long jumper at the buzzer. The referees reviewed the play and sent Prince to the line, where she missed the final FT on purpose.

J. Thomas played 14 minutes off the bench but went 0-for-4 from the field. She did have four rebounds and four assists.

Sunday August 21st: Connecticut beat Atlanta, 96-87. Harding played 36 minutes and went 5-for-13 from the field for 14 points. She had four rebounds and nine assists. Bales played 16 minutes off the bench and went 3-for-4 from the field (six points). She had two assists but just one rebound.

» Continue reading “WNBA Update”

This is a WNBA Update of the former Duke women’s basketball players who are in the league. It is an update from August 8th through August 16th. Rookie Krystal Thomas has signed a seven-day contract with the Phoenix Mercury. Her first active game with the Mercury was on Tuesday August 16th against the team that drafted her, the Seattle Storm (she did not play).

 Tuesday August 8th: Atlanta beat Washington, 72-70. Sancho Lyttle hit a 13-footer with less than a second remaining to give the Dream the comeback win. Lindsey Harding started but played just 18 minutes. She was 2-for-4 from the field with four points. She also had three assists. Alison Bales played 18 minutes off the bench and went 2-for-2 from the free throw line (two points). She also had eight rebounds, two assists, and four blocked shots in the win.

In the loss, Jasmine Thomas went just 1-for-6 from the field (two points) in 16 minutes off the bench. She also had two rebounds.

LA beat Tulsa, 71-66, despite the Shock’s comeback. Karima Christmas had a steal in her two minutes of action off the bench in the loss.

Thursday August 11th: Phoenix beat Atlanta, 109-95. The Mercury didn’t score less than 22 points in a quarter. Neither Harding nor Bales started for the Dream. Harding played 23 minutes off the bench, but went just 2-for-8 from the field. She scored seven points, helped out by a 3-for-4 showing from the free throw line. She also had three rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Bales played in 25 minutes off the bench and scored eight points (3-for-5 from the field and 2-for-4 from the free throw line). She hauled in five rebounds, blocked two shots, and distributed four assists.

Seattle beat Tulsa, 77-63. The Shock mounted a comeback, but fell short. They were outscored by the Storm 50-28 in the first half, but outscored the Storm 35-27 in the second half. Christmas played a little over two minutes off the bench and went 1-for-2 from the field and hauled in a rebound.

Friday August 12th: Washington beat NY, 64-63. The Mystics rallied from nine points down in the fourth quarter to win. They took the lead for good on Matee Ajavon’s (Rutgers) pair of free throws. Jasmine Thomas went 2-for-8 off the bench to total five points. She also had three rebounds and a steal.

Saturday August 13th: Connecticut beat Washington , 82-75. Jasmine Thomas played 22 minutes off the bench and went 3-for-6 from the field (six points). She had four rebounds, an assist, and a steal in the loss.

Atlanta beat Seattle, 92-63. The Dream pulled away after holding a one point lead after the first quarter. Harding was back in the starting lineup for the Dream, as she played 25 minutes and scored 12 points (6-for-8 from the field). She had four rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Bales again came off the bench and went 3-for-5 (six points) in 22  minutes. She also hauled in four rebounds.

Tuesday August 16th: NY beat Washington, 69-66. The Liberty’s Cappie Pondexter (Rutgers) made a driving basket with 13.5 seconds left to put the Liberty up for good. Jasmine Thomas went 2-for-4 from the field (2-of-3 from the three-point line) for six points. In 18 minutes off the bench, she had three rebounds.

Atlanta beat LA, 84-79. The Dream ruined the return of All-Star Candace Parker (from a knee injury). Parker was also ejected in the closing seconds of the game. Harding started and played 35 minutes, while going 6-for-8 from the field (12 points). She also had three rebounds and five assists. Bales played just ten minutes off the bench and went 1-for-3 from the field.

*The Tulsa Shock still have just one win on the season.