Duke Blue Devils
Overall Rank: #21
Conference Rank: #5 ACC
This is a Duke team that will look quite different than the Sweet Sixteen squad of a season ago. Gone are guards Lexie Brown and Rebecca Greenwell and center Erin Mathias. Brown and Greenwell were the team’s top two scorers and all three were extremely productive on the defensive end of the floor. However, Coach Joanne P. McCallie does return a lot of talent and brings in some too. That should be enough for the Blue Devils to compete for an ACC title and easily make it back to the NCAA Tournament.
2017-18 Record: 24-9, 11-5
2017-18 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Joanne P. McCallie
Coach Record: 297-80 at Duke, 613-228 overall
Key Departed Players (starters in bold)
Lexie Brown, Guard, 19.4 ppg
Rebecca Greenwell, Guard, 13.9 ppg
Erin Mathias, Forward/Center, 8.6 ppg
Bego Faz Davalos, Center, 1.8 ppg
Key Returning Players (starters in bold)
Haley Gorecki, Junior, Guard, 11.0 ppg
Leaonna Odom, Junior, Forward, 9.6 ppg
Mikayla Boykin, RS Freshman, Guard, 4.6 ppg
Jade Williams, Sophomore, Forward/Center, 4.0 ppg
Faith Suggs, Senior, Guard/Forward, 2.2 ppg
Jayda Adams, Sophomore, Guard, 1.8 ppg
Madison Treece, Sophomore, Forward, 1.0 ppg
Kyra Lambert, Junior, Guard, DNP last season
Key New Players
Onome Akinbode-James, Freshman, Forward/Center
Rayah Craig, Freshman, Guard
Miela Goodchild, Freshman, Guard
Uchenna Nwoke, Freshman, Center
Projection:
Haley Gorecki was on her way to having a great season before injuring her hip. On the year, she played in 23 games and averaged 11.0 points. If she picks up where she left off, Gorecki will be in for a huge junior campaign. The backcourt also returns Kyra Lambert, who missed all of last season with a knee injury. As a sophomore two years ago she averaged 7.8 points and 3.5 assists. The speedy point guard will help fill the void left behind with Brown, at least in the ball handling department. Mikayla Boykin earned eight starts in ten appearances as a freshman before tearing an ACL. If she can regain her form, Boykin will at least provide quality depth this season. Leaonna Odom, a 6-2 junior, is coming off a great NCAA Tournament where she averaged 21 points per game. She will anchor a frontcourt that will need sophomore Jade Williams to play a few more minutes and add a little more offense to her already impressive defensive presence.
Projected Postseason Tournament: NCAA
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 68.8 (95th in nation, 8th in conference)
Scoring Defense: 56.3 (19, 1)
Field-Goal Percentage: 45.6 (21, 4)
Field-Goal Defense:35.4 (14, 1)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 6.3 (123, 5)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 38.5 (9, 1)
Free-Throw Percentage: 69.2 (204, 9)
Rebound Margin: 4.7 (60, 6)
Assists Per Game:14.8 (85, 6)
Turnovers Per Game: 15.2 (142, 7)
Madness 2018 Women’s Basketball Recruit Rankings:
#82 Uchenna Nwoke
#93 Onome Akinbode-James
#100 Rayah Craig
