WBB Game Notes: NCAAs, Samford, March 18, ESPN2

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NCAA Tournament First Round
Samford (20-12, 12-8) vs. #6/6 Duke (24-5, 15-1)
Sunday, March 18, 2012 • 7:30 PM   • ESPN2 HD
Nashville, Tenn. • Memorial Gymnasium (14,316)

Media Information
TV: ESPN2 HD - Dave Pasch (PXP), Debbie Antonelli (Color)
Radio: www.GoDuke.com; Steve Barnes (PXP), Morgan Patrick (Color)
Live Stats: www.GoDuke.com
Live Blog: www.GoDuke.com
Twitter: Duke_WBB & CoachPDuke
Facebook: Duke Women’s Basketball
Series History: First Meeting

Inside Duke
Record: 24-5, 15-1 ACC
Ranking: #6 (AP), #6 (Coaches)
Last Result: L, 73-75 vs. N.C. State, 3-2-12
Head Coach: Joanne P. McCallie (5th Year)
Duke Record: 139-30 (5th Year)
Career Record: 455-178 (20th Year)

Inside Samford
Record: 20-12, 12-8 Southern
Ranking: NR (AP), NR (Coaches)
Last Result: W, 54-43 vs. Appalachian State, 3-5-12
Head Coach: Mike Morris (10th Season)
SU Record: 182-120 (10th Year)
Career Record: Same

Blue Devils Open NCAAs With Samford in Nashville on Sunday...
    Seeing action in its 18th straight NCAA Tournament, the sixth-ranked and second-seeded Duke women’s basketball team (24-5) will take on 15th-seeded Samford (20-12) in the first round on Sunday, March 18, 2012 at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tenn. The game will be televised live on ESPN2 HD and will tip at approximately 7:30 p.m.
    In the first game in Nashville on Sunday seventh-seeded Vanderbilt (22-9) faces 10th-seeded Middle Tennessee State (26-6) at 5:10 p.m. Both games will be called by Dave Pasch (PXP) and Debbie Antonelli (Color) on ESPN2 HD.
    Fans can also hear the Blue Devils on the Blue Devil IMG Network’s on WDNC AM 620 with Steve Barnes (PXP) and Morgan Patrick (Color).
    The winners of both games on Sunday will advance to the second round on Tuesday, March 20 at 9:30 p.m., on ESPN2. The second round winner will then move forward to the Fresno Regional.
    Duke is currently ranked No. 6 in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Division I Coaches Poll. The Blue Devils boast an 18-game winning streak in NCAA Tournament first round games.

Noting Duke...
    Duke is one of four ACC schools to have 10 players hit at least one three-pointer this season (BC, NCSU, WFU) ... Elizabeth Williams hit her first career three-pointer at Florida State ... Allison Vernerey has played in a team-best 101 straight contests ... nine different Blue Devils have registered double-figure scoring so far on the season ... Chelsea Gray is doing a blog for espnW during the tournament.

NCAA Tournament Tidbits...
    • The Basics...Duke is making its 18th consecutive and 19th overall trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Blue Devils have been seeded No. 2 for the sixth time in school history and for the third straight year. The Blue Devils have played in the postseason on two other occasions, making it to the Women’s NIT in 1986 and the NCAA Tournament in 1987.
    Duke now owns an all-time record of 46-18 in NCAA Tournament play and is 47-19 in all postseason action. The Blue Devils have hosted NCAA Tournament games 10 times out of 19 appearances.
    Duke previously hosted first and second round games in Cameron Indoor Stadium from 1998-2002, in 2004 and 2010. The Blue Devils have won 16 consecutive games during NCAA Tournament play in Cameron. Overall, Duke owns an 18-2 record in NCAA Tournament play in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
    • The History...Each time Duke has been in the NCAA Tournament, it has won at least one game. The Blue Devils have made it to a regional in 13 out of the last 14 years, while Duke had advanced to at least the Sweet 16 in 11 consecutive years prior to a loss to Michigan State in 2008-09 in the second round. Duke has made it to the Elite Eight in nine of the last 14 years, including two straight.
    Duke also advanced to the Elite Eight in 1998, 2004 and 2005, the National Championship game in 1999 and 2006, the Final Four in 2002 and 2003, the Sweet 16 in 2000, 2001, 2007 and 2008. The Blue Devils own a 36-13 record in their last 49 NCAA Tournament games.
    The Blue Devils have played only two NCAA Tournament games in the state of Tennessee. In 2005, Duke played in the Chattanooga Regional knocking off Georgia in the Sweet 16 (63-57) before falling to LSU (49-59) in the Elite Eight.
    • The Coach...Head Coach Joanne P. McCallie is making her 16th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, including her 10th straight, while producing a 19-15 record. While at Maine, she totaled a 1-6 record that included an upset victory over seventh-seeded Stanford (60-58) in 1999. Her Maine squad was seeded 10th and then fell to Old Dominion on its home court, 72-62, in the second round.
    During her time at Michigan State, McCallie guided the Spartans to a 9-5 mark. She led MSU to five straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament and won at least one game in four consecutive years. In 2005, McCallie’s squad had an incredible run through the tournament knocking off Alcorn State, USC, 18th-ranked Vanderbilt, top-ranked Stanford and third-ranked Tennessee before falling to fifth-ranked Baylor in the national championship game. McCallie was awarded National Coach of the Year for her efforts.
    As a player, McCallie led Northwestern to the 1987 NCAA Tournament her senior year. The Wildcats traveled to Louisiana Tech and lost, 82-60, in the first round. Coach P is one of only 20 current head coaches in Division I who have both played and coached in the NCAA Tournament.
    McCallie owns two members of her coaching tree that took their teams to the 2012 tournament -- Katie Abrahamson-Henderson (Albany) and AnnMarie Gilbert (Eastern Michigan).
    • The Seedings...The last 18 seasons Duke has been no lower than a No. 5 seed and a total of seven times Duke has been a No. 1 seed. The Blue Devils have been seeded no lower than third since 1998. Duke’s seven No. 1 seeds rank as the fifth-most in NCAA Tournament history. Leading the list is Tennessee (21), followed by Connecticut (16), Louisiana Tech (10), Stanford (9) and Duke (7).

Depleted Roster...
    Duke has now lost three potential starters -- Richa Jackson, Chloe Wells and Amber Henson since the season started. Two of these student-athletes were McDonald’s All-America selections -- Jackson and Henson. Wells had started the first 10 games and Henson played in eight contests before having surgery. The Blue Devils are down to eight scholarship players.
    The bench will be counted on for key minutes. Jackson had started 17 contests this season (, while Wells started 10.
    Since Jackson went out with her ACL injury, Duke has posted a 3-2 mark. In those games, the Blue Devils’ scoring average has dropped to 68.8, the shooting percentage has fallen to 44.4 and Duke has hit only 29.5 percent from downtown. On the boards, the Blue Devils have been outrebounded 39.0-38.8.
    Chelsea Gray (16.0), Elizabeth Williams (15.0) and Tricia Liston (12.6) have picked up their scoring since the injury.

Storylines/Other Blue Devil Notes...
    •    Duke has never lost an NCAA Tournament first round contest, while totaling a 18-0 all-time record.
    •    The Blue Devils have earned one of the top eight seeds in 11 out of the last 12 years in the NCAA Tournament and are coming off back-to-back Elite Eight appearances.
    •    With one more victory, Duke will not 25 wins for the 14th straight year.
    •    The Blue Devils own a 5-0 all-time record against teams seeded No. 15.
    •    Elizabeth Williams’ 109 blocked shots is more than 201 teams in NCAA Division I.
    •    Over the last three games, Duke has hit 49.2 percent of its field goals. The Blue Devils have turned the ball over 22 times in each of the last two games.
    •    Duke owns 18 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, which is more than the entire ACC combined -- Maryland (9), Georgia Tech (6) and Miami (2).
    •    With its win over No. 5 Miami, Duke posted its second victory over a top 10 team this season, the fifth win over a top five team in Coach P’s five years at Duke and Coach P notched her 10th win against a top 10 team in her five years.
    •    Freshman Elizabeth Williams has averaged 15.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.5 blocks, 1.8 steals and 1.8 assists the last four contests. She has hit 52.8 percent of her field goals. Williams owns a team-best nine games with 18 or more points this season.
    •    Duke has struggled from three-point land the last three games hitting only 10-of-25 (28.6%).
    •    Elizabeth Williams is the first freshman in ACC history to notch over 100 blocked shots.
    •    Over the last three games, Allison Vernerey has averaged 7.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 1.0 steals. She has hit 11-of-20 field goals (55.0%) in those games. Vernerey scored double-figures in back-to-back games for the first time this season against Miami and UNC.
    •    Tricia Liston has gone to the free throw line a total of 19 times the last five games, while making 17 of her attempts (85.9%).
    •    Freshman Elizabeth Williams has notched double-figure scoring in 15 straight games. In those contests, she has averaged 15.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.5 blocks, 1.7 steals and 1.4 assists.
    •     In 16 league games, Duke had five double-figure scorers -- Williams (15.4), Jackson (11.1), Gray (12.1), Peters (11.6) and Liston (11.2). The Blue Devils hit 48.4 percent from the field in ACC contests.
    •    Duke has shot 50.0 percent or better in the second half of 12 games this season.
    •    Four of Duke’s five losses this season have come against then ranked No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Connecticut, No. 8 Maryland and No. 7 Kentucky.
    •    Duke owns five different players who have registered double-doubles on the season - Williams (6), Gray (2), Peters (1), Jackson (1) and Liston (1). The five players is the second-most in a single season in Blue Devil history -- 6 in 2009-10 and 2003-04. Duke has posted five on six different occasions. In 2011-12, Duke and Georgia Tech are the only teams in the league with five different players with double-doubles.
    •    With under three minutes left in games, Chelsea Gray is hitting 63.6 percent of her field goals and has scored 56 of Duke’s 168 points. In her Blue Devil career, she has hit 27 of 47 field goals (57.5%) in the final three minutes of games. She scored 12 points in the final 3:23 at Boston College.
    •    Over the last 16 games, five different players lead the Blue Devils in scoring -- Haley Peters (3), Elizabeth Williams (4), Richa Jackson (1), Tricia Liston (5) and Chelsea Gray (3).
    •    In Duke’s 24 wins, the Blue Devils have hit 48.8 percent from the field and averaged 77.5 points. In the five losses, Duke has hit only 37.5 percent from the field and averaged 59.6 points.
    •    Haley Peters has hit 10 out of her last 19 three-point field goal attempts and has drained a career-best 15 treys on the year.
    •    Duke has held four opponents to under 40 points this season. In Coach P’s five years at Duke, the Blue Devils have held 21 opponents to under 40 points.
    •    The Blue Devils are averaging 40.1 points in the paint on the season and 23.9 points off turnovers.
    •    Blue Devil signees Alexis Jones and Sierra Moore have been named to the McDonald’s All-America team, while Jones was also selected to the WBCA All-America game.
    •    On the year, the Blue Devils have hit 50.0 percent of their field goals or better a total of 11 times.
    •    The Blue Devils have been ranked in the top 10 the past 52 straight weeks. Duke leads the ACC with 224 all-time weeks ranked in the top 10. Next closest is UNC with 193.
    • Duke is averaging 74.4 points this season, which is the most for a Blue Devil squad since 2005-06 with an 86.0 ledger. The most for a Coach P squad in her previous four years was 72.1 in 2008-09.
    •     Sophomore Tricia Liston has notched eight contests with 18 or more points - 23 vs. Gardner-Webb, 23 vs. North Carolina, 22 vs. Western Kentucky, 20 at Temple, 19 against Pittsburgh, 20 vs. Florida State, 18 versus UNCW and Virginia. She owns a team-high five games with 20+ points. A year ago, Jasmine Thomas had a total of five.
    •    The Blue Devils have gone 161 contests since back-to-back losses, which ranks second nationally to Connecticut (687). In the ACC, only Duke and Miami have gone without back-to-back losses in this season. Miami’s 71 games without back-to-back losses is the second-best in the league.
    • The average age of Duke’s squad this season is 19 years old. This is the youngest since the 2000-01 squad that had an average age of 18.2. The Blue Devils currently have three players that are 18 and four are 19.
    • Over the last 12 years, Duke owns the third-most wins in the nation -- Connecticut (406), Tennessee (367) and Duke (359) heading into the NCAA tourney.
    •    The Blue Devils have won 30 straight games in Cameron Indoor Stadium against ACC opponents. Duke has not lost an ACC contest at home since Maryland posted a 76-69 win on Feb. 17, 2008. Coach P is 33-2 at home against ACC opponents in her five years at Duke.
    • Duke lost 45.8 percent of its scoring from a year ago with the graduation of Jasmine Thomas, Krystal Thomas and Karima Christmas. All three were selected in the 2011 WNBA Draft.
    •    Follow @Duke_WBB and @CoachPDuke on Twitter to get the latest updates on Duke women’s basketball. Also, “Like” Duke Women’s Basketball on Facebook to get the latest video, pictures and more. Join both now as they are free! You can win free prizes each week on both Twitter and Facebook, so make sure you follow closely.

A Look At Samford...
    The Bulldogs captured their second consecutive Southern Conference Tournament title last week, defeating Appalachian State, 54-43, in the tournament final. With the championship title, 15th-seeded Samford earned its second-straight NCAA Tournament bid, and reached the 20-wins mark for the fifth consecutive season with a ledger of 20-12. The program received its first bid to the NCAA Tournament last season after claiming its first Southern Conference championship, falling to 15th-ranked Florida State in the first round.
    Paige Anderson (12.4 points, 3.1 rebounds), Ruth Ketcham (8.8 points, 4.3 rebounds) and Taylor Reece (8.8 points, 3.1 rebounds) lead the Bulldogs heading into NCAA Tournament play.
    Head coach Mike Morris is in his 10th year at the helm of the program. Under Morris’ direction, Samford has collected the program’s only five 20-win seasons and earned two trips to the NCAA Tournament.

The Series With Samford...
    Duke and Samford will meet off for the first time in program history. Head coach Joanne P. McCallie will face the Bulldogs for the second time in her career. She guided Michigan State to a 63-35 victory over Samford on Dec. 8, 2000 in her first season with the Spartans.

Duke Versus the Southern Conference...
    Duke owns an all-time record of 36-15 against teams from the SoCon -- Appalachian State (10-4), College of Charleston (1-0), Davidson (3-1), Elon (3-4), Furman (4-0), Georgia Southern (2-1), UNC-Greensboro (10-2) and Western Carolina (3-3).
    McCallie owns an all-time mark of 4-1 against Southern Conference members.

Lack of NCAA Tournament Experience...
    Duke features a combined eight games started in the NCAA Tournament on the 2011-12 roster -- Shay Selby (2), Chelsea Gray (2), Haley Peters (2) and Allison Vernerey (2).
    As a freshman, Chelsea Gray became the second Duke freshman to register double-figure scoring in each of her first three NCAA Tournament contests (Alana Beard). In fact, Beard scored double-figures in her first 13 NCAA Tournament contests. Gray averaged 11.0 points, 2.8 steals, 2.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists in the tournament last year. She hit 16-of-26 field goals for a 61.5 percentage.
    Haley Peters posted double-figure scoring in her first two tournament games last year joining Gray as two of only nine rookies in school history to produce 10+ points in their first two career tournament games.
    Other Blue Devils to do so were Jasmine Thomas (2007-08), Jessica Foley (2002-03), Monique Currie (2001-02), Alana Beard (2000-01), Rometra Craig (2000-01), Payton Black (1995-96) and Sue Harnett (1986-87).
    Gray also notched double-digits against DePaul joining only Alana Beard as Duke players to notch 10+ points in her first three NCAA Tournament games. In fact, Beard scored double-figures in her first 13 NCAA Tournament contests.

McCallie In Tournament Play...
    In her 20 years as a head coach, Joanne P. McCallie has taken 16 teams to the NCAA Tournament and produced an 19-15 record. While at Maine, she totaled a 1-6 record that included an upset victory over seventh-seeded Stanford (60-58) in 1999. Her Maine squad was seeded 10th and then fell to Old Dominion on its home court, 72-62, in the second round.
    During her time at Michigan State, McCallie guided the Spartans to a 9-5 mark. She led MSU to five straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament and won at least one game four consecutive years.
    In 2005, McCallie’s squad had an incredible run through the tournament, knocking off Alcorn State, USC, 18th-ranked Vanderbilt, top-ranked Stanford and third-ranked Tennessee before falling to fifth-ranked Baylor in the national championship game. McCallie was awarded National Coach of the Year for her efforts.
    As a player, McCallie led Northwestern to the 1987 NCAA Tournament her senior year. The Wildcats traveled to Louisiana Tech and lost, 82-60, in the first round.
    In five years at Duke so far, Coach P has led Duke to an 9-4 record in four NCAA appearances. McCallie has won at least one game in the NCAA Tournament in eight consecutive years.

Wins In the NCAA Tournament...
    Duke has posted the third-best win total in the last 15 years of the NCAA Tournament. The Blue Devils own 42 victories and rank only behind Connecticut (61) and Tennessee (54). Stanford (33), LSU (32) and Purdue (32) are the next closest teams.
    Overall, Duke’s 46 wins in the NCAA Tournament rank sixth all-time -- Tennessee (109), Connecticut (81), Louisiana Tech (65), Stanford (65), Georgia (52), Duke (46), Purdue (43) and North Carolina (41).

Consecutive Appearances...
    The Blue Devils are one of only five teams competing in their 18th straight NCAA Tournament-- Tennessee (31), Stanford (25), UConn (24), Duke (18) and Georgia (18).

Duke As a No. 2 Seed...
    The Blue Devils are a No. 2 seed for the sixth time in school history. Duke owns an all-time record of 13-5 when seeded No. 2. The Blue Devils previously earned No. 2 seeds in the 1998, 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2011 tournaments. Joanne P. McCallie has led a team to a No. 2 seed for the third time in her coaching career.

Coach P in Elite Company...
    Blue Devil Head Coach Joanne P. McCallie is one of only 20 current head coaches in NCAA Division I who have both played and coached in the NCAA Tournament. Only McCallie, Kim Mulkey (Baylor), MaChelle Joseph (Georgia Tech), Nikki Caldwell (LSU), Dawn Staley (South Carolina), Katie Abrahamson-Henderson (Albany), Amanda Butler (Florida), Terri Williams-Flournoy (Georgetown), Toyelle Wilson (Prairie View), Courtney Banghart (Princeton) and Coquese Washington (Penn State) played and led her team to the 2012 NCAA Tournament.
    Coach P led Northwestern to the tournament in 1987 and also coached 14 different teams as a head coach.

Duke Versus The Field...
    Duke notched a 5-4 record against teams in 2011-12 who received invitations to the NCAA Tournament -- BYU (1-0), Purdue (1-0), Connecticut (0-1), Georgia Tech (1-0), Maryland (1-1), Miami (1-0), Kentucky (0-1) and Notre Dame (0-1).
    The Blue Devils played two No. 1 seeds (UConn and Notre Dame), two No. 2 seeds (Kentucky, Maryland), one No. 3 seed (Miami) and one No. 4 seed (Georgia Tech) in the field.
    In comparing the top 16 seeds of the 2011 tournament, Duke played seven of those.

Playing in Nashville...
    Duke will travel to Nashville, Tenn., for the NCAA Tournament this weekend. It will be the first time the Blue Devils have played in Memorial Coliseum since Coach P’s first season at Duke in 2007-08. Duke dropped a 68-55 decision to the Commodores on Nov. 28, 2007 in a contest that saw then freshman Krystal Thomas go down with a knee injury. The Blue Devils also played a contest at Vanderbilt on Nov. 23, 1998 with Duke winning 79-71.
    The Blue Devils have been shipped away for the first round for the second time over the last four years -- Michigan State in 2009.

Early Exit at ACC Tournament...
    The Blue Devils are coming off having an early exit from the ACC Tournament, which snapped a 17-game winning streak in opening ACC Tournament games. Since Coach P had taken over the Blue Devil program, Duke had advanced to the ACC title game each of her four years.

Williams vs. the Field...
    Freshman Elizabeth Williams owns 109 blocks this season, which is more than 23 teams in the 2012 NCAA Tournament, including two in the Nashville subregional (Middle Tennessee and Samford) -- UC Santa Barbara, Georgetown, Fresno State, Sacred Heart, Nebraska, UT Martin, Eastern Michigan, South Dakota State, Michigan, California, St. Bonaventure, Florida Gulf Coast, Georgia, Albany, Michigan State, Navy, Prairie View, Kansas State, Green Bay, Iowa St., and McNeese St

Six Named All-ACC Academic...
    The 2011-12 All-ACC Women’s Basketball Academic Team was announced with Duke leading all schools for the fourth consecutive year with six selections. Earning honors for the Blue Devils were Tricia Liston, Haley Peters, Kathleen Scheer, Shay Selby, Allison Vernerey and Elizabeth Williams.
    ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards were established in September 2007 to be awarded annually to the top junior or senior student-athlete in their respective sports. Candidates for the awards must have maintained a 3.0 grade point average for their career as well as a 3.0 for each of the last two semesters. The award is based 60 percent on academic achievement and 40 percent on athletic accomplishment.

WBB Game Notes: NCAAs, Samford, March 18, ESPN2

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