The Nutshell The inaugural, official
Blue-White game for the women's team showed the defense to be way ahead of
the offense at this juncture. Considering the ferocious nature of the
team's post rotation and the somewhat unsettled situation at point guard,
this shouldn't come as a huge surprise. The event was an enormous
success, drawing about 1,500 or so fans a day after new coach Joanne P
McCallie co-hosted a "game day" event prior to the men's Blue/White game.
Among other things, this game saw Coach K attend a women's game for
possibly the first time (at least in my memory), 45 turnovers, and
frenzied hustling for loose balls. The game was split into four quarters,
with each quarter shuffling the lineup for both teams. At the end of the
day, Coach P noted that Abby Waner (12 points, 6 rebounds), Chante Black
(16 points, 8 rebounds) Wanisha Smith (12 points, 4 assists) and Carrem
Gay (14 points, 14 rebounds) distinguished themselves. The three frosh
also had their moments, while Joy Cheek showed off her sleeker frame and
expanded game. It's always hard to gauge too much from these sort of
games and project exactly how it will affect the season to come. That
said, it's obvious that all three freshmen are ready to be impact players
and that Duke should have a strong eight or nine woman rotation. In the
meantime, the team's identity is that of a quick defensive powerhouse that
never gives up on plays, especially in transition.
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