Duke Women’s Basketball News

Here’s a nice feature on Duke recruit Kianna Holland, who, shall we say, sports a colorful image.

Blue Devils Conclude Overseas Action…

Get to Know the 5-6 Guard…

Here are a few catch-up links for women’s basketball. First, some profiles of incoming rookies. Second, a look at the Maggie Dixon Classic in which Duke will play this upcoming season. And third, former Devil Kathleen Scheer will be playing professionally in Australia. As we’ve said before, covering two teams extensively is tough, so if you see women’s links you’d like to pass on, we’d really appreciate it.

Senior Highlight Videos…

Blue Devils to Take on St. John's…

Scheer to Play Professionally…

Women’s basketball head coach Joanne P. McCallie will sign her book Choice Not Chance: Rules for Building a Fierce Competitor from 4-7 p.m. at the Gothic Bookship on Duke’s West Campus. The Chronicle had the chance to sit down with McCallie this morning to speak to her about some of the experiences she details in [...]…

Congratulations to Elizabeth Williams, who was named National Freshman of the Year for the third time, this time by Full Court. Huzzah!

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Former Texas women’s basketball assistant Karen Aston is taking over the Longhorns with a mission to turn the program back into a national championship contender.

If it weren’t for the 38-0 Baylor Bears, the Stanford Cardinal would be considered the top women’s basketball team in the nation. Led by the Ogwumike sisters, the Cardinal have been nearly unstoppable. Aside from an early season loss to the UConn Huskies, Stanford has advanced through their schedule with relative ease.

Two Blue Devils continue to accumulate postseason awards, as the United States Basketball Writers Association honored Chelsea Gray and Elizabeth Williams this week. Gray was one of 10 players named to the USBWA All-American team after averaging 12.5 points, 6.1 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 2.8 steals this season. She set a single-season program record with [...]…

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) Stanford sisters Nnemkadi and Chiney Ogwumike are thrilled to take on one mighty, Mile High challenge: stopping 6-foot-8 Baylor star Brittney Griner and the unbeaten Lady Bears.

Two very important things will happen to most of Duke’s women’s basketball players between now and October.

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) When fall practice began, Tara VanDerveer had no idea if her young team would get back to a fifth straight Final Four.

Duke women, somewhat like Carolina’s men’s team, paid a heavy price for injuries, and like UNC, the end came in the Elite Eight. Duke fell to Stanford 81-69.

KINGSTON, R.I. (AP) All season long, the top teams in women’s basketball have set themselves apart.

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) Duke has eight players. Coach Joanne P. McCallie plans to use every last one of them on defense to try to stop Stanford star Nnemkadi Ogwumike and her little sister, Chiney.

KINGSTON, R.I. (AP) Going by the names on the locker rooms, it’s hard to tell whether Kingston, R.I., is hosting a men’s or women’s NCAA regional.

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Despite injuries and setbacks, the women continue to roll: they beat St. John’s 74-47 to move to the Elite Eight, where they’ll meet #1 seed Stanford. Here’s more from GoDuke.com.

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) Shay Selby is the one who slept on the cross-country flight to get herself adjusted to West Coast time. She’s the one who kept reminding her young teammates this was a business trip and not just a chance to enjoy In-N-Out Burger.

FRESNO, Calif. — No. 2 seeded Duke is looking for a strong victory tonight at 9:03 p.m. EST over No. 3 seeded St. John’s at SaveMart Center to advance to the NCAA tournament Elite 8. This is the 14th time in the last 15 years the Blue Devils (26-5) have advanced to the NCAA Regional, [...]…

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) When Kim Barnes Arico walked into her winning locker room after a stunning upset at Connecticut last month and saw Da’Shena Stevens holding up her jersey and shouting ”St. John’s,” the coach was among the proudest she has been of her players, her program.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) If anyone ever found a positive from getting hurt, it’s Tennessee’s Vicki Baugh.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Wanted: A Texas women’s basketball coach with the resume, vigor and skill to return a proud program to national title contender.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Haley Peters sent a message Tuesday night: Do not leave the Duke sophomore forward wide open.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — No. 2 seed Duke will face No. 7 seed Vanderbilt in the second round of the NCAA tournament Tuesday night at 9:30 ET. The game will take place on Vanderbilt’s home court in Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tenn. The Blue Devils breezed through the first round, coasting to a 82-47 victory over [...]…

Texas women’s basketball head coach Gail Goestenkors resigned Monday, relinquishing the post she held for five seasons. Goestenkors was previously the head coach at Duke, preceding current head coach Joanne P. McCallie. While at the helm for the Blue Devils, Goestenkors took Duke to four Final Fours and two championship games, although she never brought [...]…

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Texas women’s basketball coach Gail Goestenkors resigned Monday, saying she is ”tired” and needs to step away from basketball.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) The Vanderbilt Commodores take great pride in their home-court advantage. No one else has benches on the end lines, the concrete block walls hold in sound, and the result often is called Memorial Magic.

Duke freshman Elizabeth Williams has suffered a stress fracture in her right lower leg, but will continue to play through the NCAA tournament, the team announced today. She will take time off after the postseason to complete her recovery. The 6-foot-3 center, ESPN’s national rookie of the year, is averaging 14.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.8 [...]…

by Jim Sumner For the first time since 1994, the Duke women won’t be around for Saturday action at the ACC Tournament. North Carolina State stunned the sloppy and unfocused Blue Devils 75-73 Friday afternoon, sending the Blue Devils home to lick their wounds and await their NCAA Tournament fate. A quick look at the [...]…

Congrats to Coach P, who was named ACC Coach Of The Year. She’s done a spectacular job with this team. It’s worth mentioning this: when she first came to Duke, there were a lot of people, including many who should have known better, who derided her as she attempted to replace Gail Goestenkors.

When you stop and think about it, Elizabeth Williams has had an insanely good year for a freshman: first-team All ACC and now the first freshman ever to be named the ACC defensive player of the year. It gets you really excited to think about where she could be as a senior.

The ACC announced the women’s All-Conference team Monday and Duke was well represented: Chelsea Gray and freshman Elizabeth Williams both made first team, while Haley Peters made third team. Congratulations to all three, but we must say, making it as a freshman is a remarkable achievement.

Duke wrapped up the regular season ACC title with a win over UNC in Chapel Hill, 79-73.

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Sophomore Richa Jackson will miss the rest of the 2011-12 season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee, the team announced today. Jackson suffered the injury in the Blue Devils’ game Wednesday against Virginia Tech. “We all feel so badly for Richa,” head coach Joanne P. McCallie said in a press release. [...]…

Duke sophomore guard Chelsea Gray is one of 20 players named to the United States Basketball Writers Association midseason player of the year watch list, the organization announced today. Gray is averaging 11.0 points—making 38.9 percent of her attempts from beyond the arc—6.3 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game. She also sports a 2.1 assist-to-turnover [...]…

DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke Blue Devils defeated the Maryland Terrapins 80-72 and in the process remain atop the ACC with a 7-0 record while pushing their season record to 16-2.  This was quite simply a very competitive and well played game where neither team missed a free throw and there were by 19 turnovers [...]…

This season’s Duke Women’s Basketball team will be one of the least experienced groups Coach McCallie has had at Duke.  Despite that youth, the Sporting News have the Blue Devils ranked sixth nationally, and all other preview publications have Duke firmly in the nation’s top ten.  Those expectations come from having a very talented roster and [...]…

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Both Duke women’s basketball signees — Elizabeth Williams and Amber Henson — each scored double-figure points in the WBCA All-America game over the weekend in Indianapolis, Ind., at the NCAA Final Four. Williams was named MVP of the Red Team, which fell, 83-73, to the White Team. A product of Virginia Beach, [...]…

Photos by Rick Crank for BDN. Click on the first thumbnail to see a slide show with larger images.

Duke rolled past Tennessee-Martin by a score of 90-45 in their NCAA Tournament opener. Photos by Rick Crank for BDN.  We have managed to be in two places at once today.  Click on the first thumbnail to see a slide show with larger images. Box Score…