Virginia Tech -- Sunday, January 15th 2012 @ 2:00pm (Cassell Coliseum)

2011 Virginia Tech Snapshot: 11-19, 1-13 ACC, No Postseason Play

Last Meeting: Devils Carve Hokies, 90-40.

Current Records: Duke 13-2, 4-0 ACC. Virginia Tech 6-11, 2-2 ACC

Current Rankings: Duke #7/#6 (AP/USA Today), Virginia Tech is unranked.

Significant Losses: Leading scorer Shanel Harrison (12 ppg, 5.5 rpg) was kicked off the team in the offseason. Point guard Nikki Davis (6 ppg, 3 rpg, 4.5 apg) and post Brittany Gordon (4 ppg, 5 rpg), both starters, graduated. Backup post Elizabeth Basham (3 ppg) also graduated. Post Abby Redick (1 ppg) and guard Kyani White (1 ppg) both transferred.

Returning Players: Junior wing Alyssa Fenyn (9 ppg, 4 rpg) and soph wing Monet Tellier (8 ppg, 4 rpg) lead the sparse Hokie attack. Junior guard Aerial Wilson (5 ppg, 2 rpg) and soph wing Nia Evans (5 ppg, 3 rpg) are also likely starters. Junior posts Taylor Ayers (4 ppg, 4 rpg) and Porschia Hadley (4 ppg, 5 rpg) will also fight for starts. Soph wings Latorri Hines-Allen (3 ppg, 2 rpg) and Brittni Montgomery (2 ppg, 2.5 rpg) will be in the mix.

The Skinny: The Hokies are as overmatched as predicted, but they are playing with a great deal of pride and toughness. Their defensive effort is admirable, and their mental toughness has shown in recent close wins against UMBC and Boston College. Their problem is that this roster is depleted (only seven regular rotation players) and there's just not much scoring talent. Tellier, Wilson and Fenyn are the three rocks of this team, each averaging over 32 minutes per game. However, I'm not sure any of these players would be starting on any top nine ACC club. Wilson has had to learn how to run a team on the fly (10 ppg, 3.5 apg, 3 rpg) and has done a solid job. Without her, this team wouldn't be within thirty points of anyone, much less having picked up two ACC wins already. Tellier has talent but is highly erratic; she leads the team with 13.5 ppg and can score inside and out. Fenyn is the best long-range shooter (34%) on a poor-shooting team; like Tellier, she's dishing out close to 3 apg and is grabbing 5 rpg. Beyond that group, Hines-Allen is averaging 6.5 ppg and 6.5 rpg in the post while fellow big Porschia Hadley puts up 4 and 4.

If any of these players gets tired or gets in foul trouble, then VT is in big trouble. They simply don't have the bodies to back up the admittedly modest production of its starting lineup. The Hokies play a very slow tempo as a result, averaging just 52 ppg. They do hold opponents to 59 ppg, which obviously hasn't been good enough to get many wins. The Hokies do still draw a couple of thousand to every game, and they are very loyal up in Blacksburg. As a young team, Duke can't afford to take any road game for granted, especially when traveling to a building that's going to be loud. Duke simply needs to press their advantage in transition, control the boards and be wary of giving the Hokies easy opportunities to score. Duke must be patient and use its depth effectively while working to get Elizabeth Williams good looks. I sense that VT is going to come after her on defense with multiple double-teams, so she simply needs to be ready and anticipate the double-team before she can safely pass away the ball. VT will probably pack into a zone at times, and so the Devils must be ready to move the ball around in order to bend and break the zone, either with good cuts or sharp passes that force defenders to move. As long as Duke takes every opponent seriously, they'll be in good shape.

Taking the Hokies for granted on the road.

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