After an unanticipated publishing delay, Rob Clough's countdown of the top 10 players in Duke Women's Basketball history resumes with his selection for #3, Monique Currie. Currie wore #25 for the Blue Devils, another number that, in our opinion, deserves to be permanently retired.

Monique Currie

Duke's original bad-ass was achingly close to attaining the one prize lost to the great Alana Beard: a national title. I maintain that Gail Goeskentors should have had faith in her senior and given her the ball every time down the stretch and especially in OT. Monique wasn't just about attitude, she was about performing in crunch time. She was never scared to take the final shot and made more than her share of huge baskets. If she perhaps deferred a bit too much to Beard early in her career, Mo sure made up for it by carrying a young Duke team in 2005 to a regular season title and the Elite Eight as well as teaming up with Lindsey Harding to go all the way to the finals the next season. Monique's savant skill was her raw physical strength. Even as a freshman, she was by far the strongest player on the team, with the most defined physique. This was a huge advantage against physical opponents, as no one ever tried to mess with her twice.

Currie is the #3 scorer in Duke history and only the third player to join the 2000 point club. She is #5 in rebounds and one of just seven players to grab 800 or more boards. She's one of just ten players to dish out 400 assists and one of eleven who has pilfered at least 200 steals. Along with the other two greatest of Duke players, Mo also sank at least 500 free throws. Mo could do anything: go to the rack, hit jumpers off the bounce, set up her teamates, grab the tough board and even block some shots. Her explosiveness dimmed a little after she hurt her knee at the start of her sophomore year and this made her more timid in the 2004 season, but she came on with a vengeance to frequently single-handedly lead her team to wins during her junior season. Currie's teams won 3 ACC regular season titles, 2 tournament titles. She went to the Elite Eight twice and the Final Four twice. Monique was ACC player of the year in 2005, was named to the All-ACC team four times, was twiced named to the WBCA Kodak All-America team and was a finalist for the Honda, Wooden, Naismith and Wade awards.

Like Alana, one always wanted to see what Monique would do on the floor in terms of moves or shots. It was funnest when an opponent made her angry, because that's when she would get payback by scoring in every way imaginable. Like all the great Devils, she made torturing UNC a priority, dropping 30 on them as a frosh in the ACC title game on her way to wining MVP honors for the tournament. Unlike Alana, Currie could intimidate others by dint of her powerful musculature and on-court scowl. Above all else, Currie was about winning and playing with and against the best. When crunch time came, Mo was never afraid of the moment and made a number of go-ahead and game-winning shots in her career. We at DWHoops.com most fervently believe that Currie's #25 should be hanging in the rafters of Cameron. To read more about that case, please click on the Currie banner below.

Our top ten will continue soon with Rob's pick for the second greatest player in Duke Women's Basketball history...