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Blue Devils Head To California For LMU Marina Beach Classic...
The fourth-ranked Duke women's basketball team will head to California on Friday for the LMU Marina Beach Classic, which will be played Dec. 28-29 in Los Angeles, Calif. It is hosted by Loyola Marymount University and the games will be played at the Gersten Pavilion.
Duke (7-1) will first take on Hampton (1-6) on Sunday at 6:00 p.m. (EST), while Loyola Marymount (8-2) will face Northwestern (6-3) following the first game. On Monday, the winning teams will play at 10:00 p.m. (EST), while the losing teams will play at 8:00 p.m. (EST). Both Duke games will be aired live on WDNC-AM 620.
The Blue Devils have won seven straight contests by a 46.6 point margin since opening the season with a loss to Texas. Two of the five victories have come against ranked opponents-- Auburn and Purdue.
Noting The Blue Devils...
On Dec. 17, Duke had all 13 players practice for the first time this season due to injuries ... the Blue Devils have won the past 19 consecutive true road contests ... over the last four years, Duke is 25-7 against ranked opponents ... as of Dec. 12, Duke has notched 3,840 season ticket holders, which is over 500 more than last year's number of 3,328 ... of Duke's 13 members on the team, 10 are high school All-America selections ... sophomore walk-on Dana Morgan, senior walk-on Kalita Marsh and Australian native Jessica Foley are the only players who weren't All-Americas.
A Look At Hampton...
Hampton enters the tournament with a 1-6 record with its only victory coming against Norfolk State on Dec. 6 (65-48). The Lady Pirates are led by Nicole Brathwaite (14.4 points, 9.6 rebounds), Lynetta Sullivan (11.0 points, 5.0 rebounds) and Sharema Dean (10.6 points, 4.3 rebounds) and are coached by Patricia Cage Bibbs, who is in her seventh year at Hampton.
The Series With Hampton...
Duke and Hampton will meet for the third time in school history. Last season, the Blue Devils defeated the Lady Pirates 71-34 in the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas, USVI. Alana Beard (15 points) and Iciss Tillis (14 points) led Duke to the victory.
The other meeting came on Dec. 8, 1998, in Cameron Indoor Stadium as the Blue Devils downed Hampton 83-47 led by Georgia Schweitzer and Peppi Browne's 12 points each. Duke shot 54 percent from the field in the contest.
Duke Vs. The MEAC...
Duke owns an all-time record of 9-2 against the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference-- Howard (2-0), Norfolk State (1-0), Hampton (2-0), Florida A&M (1-0), Md.-Eastern Shore (1-2), N.C. A&T (1-0) and Morgan State (1-0). Coach G has not lost to a MEAC team since arriving at Duke in 1992-93 (6-0).
A Look At Northwestern...
Northwestern enters the LMU Marina Beach Classic with a 6-3 record and has won its last three straight contests. Head Coach June Olkowski is in her fifth year with the Wildcats and her 15th year as a head coach. Leading the Wildcats are Samantha McComb (13.6 points), Ifeoma Okonkwo (11.4 points, 7.1 rebounds) and Sarah Kwasinski (10.6 points).
A Look At Loyola Marymount...
Loyola Marymount enters the LMU Marina Beach Classic with an 8-2 record and is coached by Julie Wilhoit. After opening the season with an 84-50 loss to N.C. State, LMU won its next eight games before falling 59-48 to Cincinnati on Dec. 21. Senior Kate Murray led the Lions with a 15.6 scoring average last season and continues to lead LMU in scoring this season.
Next On The Schedule...
Duke will return home on Dec. 30 and then will have four days until traveling to top-ranked Connecticut on Jan. 3 to play at 2:00 p.m. on CBS. It will be a rematch of last year's 77-65 Husky victory over the Blue Devils in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Connecticut owns a 68-game winning streak at home and plays N.C. State on Dec. 29 at home before the Blue Devils arrive on Jan. 3.
Everyone Expected To Play In LMU Marina Beach Classic...
When the Blue Devils travel to Los Angeles, Calif., after Christmas, head coach Gail Goestenkors will have the luxury to have all 13 players healthy and able to play in games for the first time this season.
Freshman Brittany Hunter will be available after having knee surgery on Nov. 25, junior Wynter Whitley is expected to be ready to go after recovering from ankle surgery in July and redshirt freshman Caitlin Howe is returning from three torn ACL injuries over the
past three years.
Junior Wynter Whitley saw her first practice time of the year on Dec. 17, after missing the first seven games recovering from ankle surgery in July. She was able to practice for 15 minutes on Wednesday and her time will increase each day as she improves. Whitley has averaged 6.0 points and 3.8 rebounds over the first two years at Duke and started 21 career games.
After a very successful showing in the first two games of her collegiate career, Hunter, the 2003 Parade High School National Player of the Year, was injured against Purdue in the first six minutes of the contest. Hunter had a slight tear in her lateral meniscus and will miss approximately four weeks, after undergoing surgery on her right knee. The surgery was performed on Nov. 25 by Dr. Alison Toth.
In her collegiate debut, Hunter had 16 points, five rebounds and five blocks off the bench. The Columbus, Ohio, product hit 8-of-11 from the field for the contest.
In her second game against Elon, Hunter hit 6-of-10 field goals and finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and three steals. In the two games, Hunter averaged 15.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.0 blocks and 3.0 steals, while hitting 66.7 percent of her field goals.
Caitlin Howe Cleared To Play...
After missing most of the last three years of basketball, Duke redshirt freshman Caitlin Howe returned to practice on Dec. 16 in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Howe was cleared to practice on Sunday, Dec. 14 and participated in practices on Dec. 16-18. On the trip to Northwestern State, Howe became ill with the flu and didn't play in the game.
A native of Rochester, N.Y., Howe suffered torn ACL injuries during her junior and senior years of high school and last season at Duke. She played in an exhibition game in 2002-03 for the Blue Devils but never had enough stability in her knee to play in a regular season contest and ended up having surgery.
Howe was a McDonald's High School All-America selection in 2002 and scored 2,001 points in her varsity career, which began in seventh grade. In her first game of her senior year, Howe scored two points to go over 2,000 points in her career before suffering her second torn ACL shortly after. As a junior, she averaged 24.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 3.6 steals.
Streaking...
Duke has won the past seven contests in a convincing fashion, winning by an average of 46.6 points since the season-opening loss to Texas. During the streak, the Blue Devils are averaging 95.6 points, allowing only 49.0 points and hitting 53.7 percent from the field, 36.0 percent from three-point land and 71.8 percent from the free throw line.
The Blue Devils are averaging 44.6 rebounds a game and are outrebounding their opponents by 19.7. During this stretch, Duke has eight players averaging 8.0 points or more.
Alana Beard Receives Mock Cover...
It all started with a Sports Illustrated Question & Answer in the Dec. 1 issue. In the article, Alana Beard was asked "You once said that if you could be on the cover of any magazine, it would be FORTUNE. What's the headline?"
Beard responded, "Alana Beard: The Second Wealthiest African-American Woman in the World Behind Oprah Winfrey."
The staff at FORTUNE saw this Q&A and wanted to make Alana's dream come true and they sure did. On www.fortune.com, Andy Serwer writes a column called "Street Life" and in the section of Loose Change, he wrote the following-
From Kate B.: "When we saw a recent SI Q&A with the stunningly talented Alana Beard of the Duke women's b-ball team, we were pleasantly surprised to see FORTUNE's name pop up. Beard said that if she could be on any magazine cover, it would be ours, with a coverline of her design. Well, Alana, take a look at what we've done for you-here is (not real-just a mockup of course) your cover, complete with said cover line. Now it's up to you to make it come true!"
Krapohl Sets Career High...
Senior Vicki Krapohl was on fire against Northwestern State as the Mount Pleasant, Mich., product connected on 5-of-6 three-pointers and hit two free throws to finish with a career-high 17 points. The 5-5 point guard also dished out five assists, grabbed five rebounds, had one steal and notched her fourth career blocked shot. The biggest stat of all was Krapohl didn't turn the ball over at all.
Krapohl leads the team with 16 three-pointers made on the season and is hitting 47.1 percent from downtown.
Top Scorers...
Through games of Dec. 22, Duke owns four players in the top nine of the ACC stats- Alana Beard (3rd, 18.1), Iciss Tillis (5th, 15.8), Monique Currie (T-7th, 14.0) and Mistie Bass (9th, 13.6). Beard leads the ACC with a 3.38 steals average, Bass leads the ACC with a 68.4 field goal percentage and Tillis leads with a 100.0 free throw percentage.
