Spring Sports Preview 2023

FIELD OF DREAMS

How Marissa Young turned a bold vision for Duke’s softball program into reality in a matter of years

open, inclusive culture which St. George believes is unique to Duke. White, while overseeing significant development in Duke athletics, would meet with the athletes one-on-one to develop trust between the athletes and the visionaries who helped make it all happen.

In a milestone moment for the program, Team Three became the first to take down a top-25 team when it beat Texas on the road Feb. 22, 2020. At the center of that 1-0 win was St. George, who tossed a complete game shutout.

“We had to step on the field with these historic programs and act like veterans. So it’s not that I didn’t expect [success]. It wasn’t a matter of if, it was a matter of when,” St. George said.

Just when the going got good, COVID-19 prevented the 23-4 Blue Devils from pursuing their first postseason. Weekly Zoom meetings featuring guest speakers continued to develop the team through mentorship opportunities despite physical separation. Young made sure that mental health remained a priority, credit in large part to Young’s other role — being a mother of four teenagers.

Q&A with star attacker Maddie Jenner

By Rachael Kaplan Assistant Blue Zone Editor

Maddie Jenner is a graduate attacker for Duke. The Annapolis, Md., native has spent all five of her collegiate years with the Blue Devils, beating her sister Olivia Jenner’s single-season program draw control record in 2022 and setting the NCAA all-time draw record in a Feb. 19 win against GardnerWebb. The Chronicle spoke with Jenner about her time with the Blue Devils and the new milestone she reached.

The Chronicle: Last week against GardnerWebb, you set the all-time NCAA career draw control record. How did it feel to finally break that barrier?

By Micah Hurewitz Sports Managing Editor

In August 2015, a high school softball star walked onto Duke’s campus to see what her potential future home would look like. The wooded area at the corner of Broad and Markham was just like the Field of Dreams.

Empty. No bases, no dugouts, no lights to shine down on the field at night.

A newly hired coach with a vision and superlative buy-in from her first players comprised the pieces to build the newest varsity sport at Duke. Whether those pieces would fall into place, and how long that building process would take, was anyone’s guess.

Almost 10 years after the establishment of the program and just more than five since first pitch, the Blue Devils’ softball program is ranked in the top 10 and a threat to go deep in the postseason.

“They’re not walking into stadiums surprising anyone anymore,” former star pitcher Peyton St. George said.

But that was not always the case.

‘I need you to trust me’

Leading the way for the program was North Carolina assistant Marissa Young. The former Big Ten Player of the Year with Michigan took the trip up U.S. 15-501 to take a one-of-a-kind opportunity to craft a program from nothing.

Developing a program was not new for Young, as she had coached Division II Concordia University to a 23-23 record just three years after they went 2-20. At an ACC school with a long-established standard for athletic success, the experience would be something way different.

At Duke, she had plenty of support, namely from athletic director Kevin White, who had already made his commitment to expanding women’s sports at Duke known.

“Walking in his office and seeing the women that he had in place in leadership, specifically minority women, in his office really spoke to me that he was committed to opening doors for women and minority women,” said Young, who is one of three Black head coaches at Duke.

While she had his full backing, she was tasked with designing just about everything about the program years before its first game. Uniforms, the stadium, you name it. But her biggest impact during the early years of the program was intangible. She recruited some of the nation’s top softball players to compete on her first team while the plot of land on Duke’s East Campus where the softball stadium currently sits was merely a grassy lawn.

That first player to sign on was St. George, Atlee High School’s ace. The Mechanicsville, Va., native said it was a near-immediate “yes,” to become the first to don a Blue Devil jersey. That visit with Young was just about all she needed.

“I wish I had a stadium to show you. I wish I had a locker room to show you. I have nothing to show you. But I need you to trust me to know that I want to build this program around you and we’re gonna go some really far places,” St. George recalls Young telling her.

St. George’s pitching coach back home reminded her of the choice to either break records or set records. She knew the answer was the latter — and she would do just that.

“The ability to call myself Player One is an opportunity I wouldn’t have been able to get anywhere else,” St. George said. “... I will forever go down as Player One in the history books. You can’t rewrite that.”

A text chat between St. George and Young grew as new commits showed faith in Young to establish success. Duke’s first season was nothing short of a success, as it won 29 games and finished with a winning record in the ACC.

ACC All-Freshman Teamer St. George said that team, which Young deliberately titled “Team One” to establish a unique identity to that group, had a goal of winning 40 games. While they fell short of that mark, she and her teammates kept up hope. They were further driven by Duke’s wide-ranging athletics success and the dream that softball would soon be up there with the men’s basketball team.

“For us, it was like, ‘alright, let’s play catch up. We gotta get there and we’re wasting no time,’” St. George said.

When, not if

Now that the Blue Devils were winning games, the next step was to ensure the success could sustain itself and grow. That 2018 team handed off the reins to a new bunch, with some of the new faces including Caroline Jacobsen, Deja Davis, Kristina Foreman and Shelby Walters.

“The legacy of group one has really set the foundation of the program in motion,” Young said. “... They’re just very excited to be part of that foundation, to say they were the first this or that within the program.”

Young acknowledges that many of these players signed on to be a part of something new while playing under her guidance. That she was so successful in college helped gain credibility and buy-in from the earliest members of the program.

While the program was still in its nascent stages, White and the coaching staff strived to create an

She reflected her parenting on the program, saying the times demanded the program tweak its approach. In spite of the Blue Devils’ successes on the field, Young knew that “we have to do things differently and give the kids that love and care that they need instead of just demanding performance out of them all the time.”

As a sophomore, St. George battled with mental health herself, at one point considering transferring or quitting the sport. The late Greg Dale, at the time director of sports psychology, was instrumental in helping her find her footing.

“He showed me that it’s okay to not be okay,” she said.

The coaches made sure their doors were always open, allowing players to take mental health days if needed, and their only question was “is there anything you need?”

Following the cancellation of the 2020 season and later the murder of George Floyd and nationwide protests, the program also engaged in discussions around race and equality.

“I thought for the first time in my career it was widely accepted to have conversations about race, gender and equality in a different way,” Young said.

White supported athletes who knelt during the national anthem and the team organized a book club to discuss “The Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Women Who Started It” and their personal experiences. As one of the few Black head coaches in the sport, Young was thankful that doors to these conversations had been opened, saying that she cherishes the opportunity to be a role model to other minority women in a November 2020 interview with Softball America.

Through it all, the team became closer, and the players were offered a continuous opportunity to share their concerns. After students returned to campus that fall, the next chapter of Duke’s story was ready to be written.

Making history

Team Four took the field the next spring, and they “didn’t play like underdogs anymore,” per St. George. They didn’t look like underdogs, either, traveling in groups be it to practice or for ice cream and riding scooters around campus “like a cult.”

Their roaring 26-1 start was halted by Clemson, the only ACC program younger than the Blue Devils. The Tigers took the back half of a four-game set, sending Duke on a 1-9 stretch. A 14-game win streak brought Duke to the ACC championship game, pitting it against the same Tigers. St. George fittingly recorded the final six outs of the Blue Devils’ historic 1-0 win, and Duke hoisted a trophy on the way to its first postseason as the No. 13 team in the nation.

See SOFTBALL on Page 9

Maddie Jenner: It was a really special moment. My coach called a timeout and my teammates ran onto the field. And I did not expect that. I thought, “What was going on?” But to see them being so happy for my accomplishment, that was something I was really proud of. That someone else could find such genuine joy for me, even something that’s more of an individual statistic.

TC: Were you aware, going into the Gardner-Webb game, that this was something that could happen that day?

MJ: I actually was not. Someone in an interview had said “you’re 44 away” at the start of the season. So I thought it was in the 20s. I thought it wasn’t going to happen in the third game. Then at halftime, someone said that I was three away. And I was like, oh, it really snuck up on me. I’m glad I wasn’t thinking about it, though. I guess they had expected it to happen in that game. But I wasn’t expecting to get like 18. Normally, I would have already been taken out so we could have some of our other draw-takers get the reps, but they had like this amazing video put together that was up on our home scoreboard. A lot of family was there, so they wanted it to happen at home so they kept me in.

TC: Looking back — this is your fifth year with the program. What’s the biggest way that you’ve seen it change over your time, and then looking at yourself as a player, where can you see the most growth in yourself?

MJ: We’ve really tried to cultivate a winning mentality, going into each game expecting us to win, which is hard coming from a .500 season. It doesn’t come out of thin air. I’m just so much more confident. I would get the ball and get bullied by players, not really take it to goal, and I was definitely only an interior kind of player. Now I can play on the outside and the inside, and I’m much stronger. I feel like everyone freshman year takes a hit to their confidence. It takes a bit of time to rebuild it.

TC: When you came in as a freshman you were able to play with your sister — how did it feel to get one more year with her, learn from her at the draw and then break her singleseason draw control record?

MJ: It was super special. I loved playing with her. We would share strategy and what was working, and it was just amazing to have someone that knew exactly what was going on. I got to see her consistency game in and game out, and that was inspiring. In that season she set our single-season draw record at the time, so that was the standard. She set the bar for sure. Breaking the record was cool, but we’re such different players. I want to be known as a more dynamic player, but I am known more for the draw, so it was cool, but I feel like she still has a lot on me.

See JENNER on Page 9

Chronicle File Photo

Marissa Young (third from right), Kevin White (third from left) and members of the Duke athletics staff break ground on Duke Softball Stadium in May 2016.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Defense shines, but offense sinks Duke against UNC

By Dom Fenoglio Staff Writer

Entering Sunday’s regular-season finale against North Carolina, Duke controlled its own destiny. A win would guarantee at least a share of the ACC regular-season title and a No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. However, the Tar Heels presented one of the most dangerous challenges in sports: a team with nothing to lose and everything to gain from beating its archrival.

The visitors played spoiler, and a sellout crowd at Cameron Indoor Stadium witnessed the Blue Devils’ first home loss of the season as they fell 45-41.

Now typical for Duke’s suffocating defense, the Blue Devils held North Carolina to its lowest scoring total of the season. However, Sunday also marked Duke’s fourth-lowest scoring performance in history, its 41 points the fewest since scoring 41 in a loss against Florida State in March 2019. While the reason Duke finished the regular season 24-5 was its defense, the Blue Devils fell short of the title because of their inability to score when it mattered most. In other words, defense alone cannot win championships.

The reason for Duke’s offensive struggles began in the half-court, where North Carolina’s pressure defense forced 25 turnovers. The game got going with an Alyssa Ustby steal which led to a fast-break layup, and the Tar Heels amassed 16 points off Duke mistakes when all was said and done. Head coach Kara Lawson tried putting nearly every combination of rotation players on the floor in an attempt to break through the Tar Heel front, but aside from 9-0 and 6-0 scoring runs, the game featured a slew of missed opportunities.

The Blue Devils failed to convert on several transition chances, especially early in the game. Celeste Taylor and Shayeann Day-Wilson, two of Duke’s leading scorers, combined to shoot just 4-for-17 from the field, and each passed up multiple fast-break opportunities to either pull the ball out or throw an ill-advised pass to a teammate.

Throughout the season, buckets created from forcing turnovers on defense have been a major component in Duke’s scoring. Coming into Sunday’s matchup, Duke averaged 11 fastbreak points per game, and the only two games all year that the Blue Devils failed to score on the break both came against North Carolina. Finding success in transition can often relieve pressure faced in the half-court. Instead, the Tar

Heels effectively removed this entire area of the game, forcing unproductive possessions that only compounded Duke’s woes.

“We had a plethora of transition opportunities that we did not finish on, where we had the advantage. Whether it was two on one, three on two, we turned it over, or we missed layups and things like that,” Lawson said after the game. “It wasn’t one player, but some of this is just converting the plays. I thought we got good looks, and we didn’t make them.”

Most teams that go into halftime with only 20 points find themselves looking for an answer to a deficit. The Blue Devils did so with a four-point lead. North Carolina looked just as uncomfortable on offense and finished the game shooting just 34.1%, and it appeared

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as though Duke would find an answer in the second half and ride the support of a sellout crowd to a victory.

The Blue Devils’ defense continued to keep them into the game through the fourth quarter, which Duke opened with a 7-0 scoring run that, at the moment, seemed to be exactly what it needed to pull away. However, North Carolina followed that up with a 16-5 run to end the game, fueled by nine fourthquarter free throws. The Blue Devils, who did a fantastic job all game of stopping the Tar Heels from making field goals, gave the visitors opportunities to steal the game without needing to get by the defense.

In the game’s deciding moment, with Duke trailing by two with less than a minute to go, North Carolina guard Deja Kelly drew a foul from Day-Wilson. Kelly converted both from the charity stripe, sealing the win for the Tar Heels.

“In games like this, the way to buffer if you’re struggling in the half-court, is to get transition opportunities, or get to the freethrow line,” Lawson said. “So, [North Carolina] did a good job of buffering a poor offensive night by getting to the free-throw line.”

Sunday was not the first time Duke’s offense got in the way of its defense’s domination. In its loss to Virginia Tech, the Blue Devils only mustered 45 points on 34.0% shooting. And they scored just 50 points against Miami, a game the Blue Devils won on account of their defense. In ACC play, they eclipsed 70 points just twice while managing a second-place finish. That clearly points to the strength of their defense, but it also highlights a glaring weakness.

See TAR HEELS on Page 10

PHOTO BY ROSALIE O’CONNOR

Rebecca Schneid | Photography Editor

Senior guard Celeste Taylor in the first half of Sunday’s loss at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Imperfect win against N.C. State proves postseason potential

By Sasha Richie Sports Managing Editor

In the teams’ Jan. 4 bout, N.C. State whooped the Blue Devils 84-60 in Duke’s worst loss of the season. Two weeks prior, Duke had fallen to Wake Forest and 10 days later, it would suffer another blow at the hands of Clemson. The only thing to take from a performance defined by turnovers and a breakdown of the team’s game plan was that the Blue Devils had serious questions to answer. Amidst lineup churn and glaring deficiencies, could Duke become a true postseason challenger by March?

On the last day of February, first-year head coach Jon Scheyer and the Blue Devils may have finally answered that question. They earned their fifth-straight win after an intense battle with N.C. State, extending their longest win streak of the season. Ultimately, the Wolfpack fell 71-67 at the hands of a cohesive Duke team identity, one that wasn’t there the last time the two played, and the Blue Devils’ potential postseason opponents likely have their name circled in red because of it.

“There’s a lot on the line … so to win this, I thought, was great preparation for what’s to come in March,” head coach Jon Scheyer said after the game. “They’re really together … And it doesn’t stop. The growth continues. We need to be better Saturday than we were tonight and so on and so forth for the postseason.”

Since Duke’s controversial loss at Virginia, a clear vision of the Blue Devils has emerged. And when the gears are all turning, Duke has looked nearly unbeatable. It annihilated Syracuse in front

of the season’s largest on-campus crowd yet. It welcomed Virginia Tech to Cameron Indoor Stadium for a grudge match that Duke won so handily it looked easy. In spite of sharpshooter Dane Goodwin dropping 25 points on 84.6% shooting, the Blue Devils edged out Notre Dame to stay perfect at home.

Each of those games posed a unique challenge for Duke as it embarked on its hero’s journey. However, playing their best basketball of the season by far, the Blue Devils had not had to figure out how to win when they weren’t feeling it. When N.C. State came to town, they did.

Shots refused to fall, with only two Blue Devils having more than one made field goal in the first half. Even as finishing improved over the course of the game — Duke shot a respectable 41.8% by the game’s close — that came on a low volume of shots, as N.C. State’s defense kept Duke from getting quality looks at the basket, and ultimately the Blue Devils made just 23 field goals, their fourth-fewest this season. Distance shooting was a complete non-factor as the Blue Devils shot an abysmal 2-of-19 from three, and DJ Burns Jr. required a doubleteam after he gave Dereck Lively II all he could handle in the post, to say nothing of Jarkel Joiner’s 26 points.

The list goes on; for such a triumphant game — Duke clinched its first perfect home record in nine years — there were still things to harp on. So how did the Blue Devils get it done? Everyone played their role and they fell back on their calling cards: sharing the ball and defense.

“We really, one, give ourselves the ability

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to offensive rebound, miss shots, and then two, we get to play our set defense which has been really strong down the stretch here,” graduate center Ryan Young said. “So I think sharing the ball and taking care of it is something that’s really gelled our group together. We get open shots, we score more and we play more together.”

“I think we’re right where we want to be … And it means everything. You want to be playing your best basketball right now,” he said.

Junior captain Jeremy Roach and freshman Tyrese Proctor turned in star performances in the backcourt, as Roach routinely cracked through the Wolfpack

and drove to the basket for 20 points while Proctor quarterbacked the offense and effectively neutralized preseason All-ACC First Team selection Terquavion Smith in his defensive matchup.

Meanwhile, Kyle Filipowski corralled 14 rebounds and Lively showed why he is considered one of the best pure defenders in the country. The team as a whole flexed its developing maturity and chemistry as four starters hit double-digit points. Finally, when the offense stalled out, Duke found a way to get to the line. It amassed 23 points off 29 free throws; N.C. State went 7-of-8 from the line.

See N.C. STATE on Page 10

Sydney Lester | Staff Photographer

Tyrese Proctor during Duke’s Tuesday win against N.C. State at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Everything has changed for Scheyer, Blue Devils

By Jonathan Levitan Sports Editor

It was a convincing win, maybe even his team’s best to date, and it came in stark contrast to an earlier loss to the same opponent. Every Duke starter scored in double digits, the defense excelled and no one player had to do too much.

It all left head coach Jon Scheyer in a confident mood Monday morning, even 36 hours removed from the Blue Devils’ 81-65 romp Saturday against Virginia Tech and with another tough rematch, this time against N.C. State, coming up Tuesday evening. The Wolfpack shredded Duke 8460 back in January, but to Scheyer, that was simply a past life for this team.

“Where do I begin? I think both of us are a lot different,” Scheyer said Monday when asked what had changed since that January rout in Raleigh. “But I just think our confidence. You look at, basically every aspect of how we were playing was different. … We’ve grown a lot since then.”

When Tuesday night rolled around and Duke dispatched N.C. State with relative ease in the second half, holding on to win 71-67 in its home finale to complete the rare undefeated season inside Cameron Indoor Stadium, it backed up its head coach’s declaration of growth one more time.

“You look at that team, they’ve grown so much,” Wolfpack head coach Kevin Keatts said after the game. “I remember when we played them months ago, and they played like freshmen. And you can tell that those guys have really grown up.”

Scheyer no longer needs to spell it out: Matters across the ACC are different now than they were in January, or even a few weeks ago. But as one last regular-season test looms large and the challenge of the postseason approaches, everything is about to change once again.

finish and Duke had its first three-game winning streak of ACC play.

In the moment, it was hard not to feel like the Blue Devils had turned the corner for good.

“I felt, after my time playing here, that there’s two major ways to get confidence,” Scheyer said after the game. “One is preparation, right? … But two is confidence from your experiences, in actually doing it and winning. And we’ve been right there. We’ve had some close games, we just haven’t been able to get the key stop or get the key bucket to go ahead two possessions. And tonight we did.”

Duke’s Feb. 4 win, complete with that elusive key bucket, has become somewhat of a reckoning for both teams in hindsight. It marked the second of five losses in six games for the Tar Heels, but while it seemed as if Duke finally had the necessary confidence and a clear-cut turning point to swing off of, it was not that simple.

Forty-eight hours later, the Blue Devils were out of it within minutes at Miami on their way to an 81-59 loss. A few days after that, Duke lost 69-62 in overtime on a controversial ruling at Virginia, leaving Scheyer and the Blue Devils angry and confused. Late that night, the ACC released a statement, deeming the decision an “incorrect adjudication” on the allimportant final play of regulation.

‘I believe in them like crazy’

Despite all the noise coming in, the first matchup between Scheyer and his North Carolina counterpart Hubert Davis lived up to its lofty expectations. Fans inside Cameron Indoor were treated to a staring contest worthy of mention among the best of the Tobacco Road rivalry. For nearly 13 minutes straight in the second half, the gap never stretched to two possessions.

That is, until junior captain Jeremy Roach turned the corner for a head-on, game-sealing layup, giving Duke a gutsy 63-57 win. It was cause for celebration in Durham: Freshman center Dereck Lively II had just completed his best game as a Blue Devil, Roach had orchestrated a strong

Just one week after its big win, Duke was at a new low, left angry and confused and all but eliminated from the race for a repeat ACC regular-season title.

“It’s hard for me to take lessons right now. I’m pissed for our guys,” Scheyer said on the following Monday’s ACC media call. “And I’m pissed that we were right there, and we weren’t able to come away with a win. And look, I believe in them like crazy, the fact that there’s so many more things we can do better and still, we have an opportunity to beat a great Virginia team.”

There was a discernible edge in Scheyer’s voice that morning, one that has apparently carried over for the Blue Devils, who have yet to lose since that fateful afternoon in Charlottesville, Va.

So while that Feb. 4 win against the Tar Heels was not quite the launching pad it seemed to be for Duke, here we are. The Blue Devils and Tar Heels have both gone there and back again — a page taken out of J.R.R. Tolkien’s playbook — and enter on respective winning streaks of five and three games, setting the stage for another highstakes matchup Saturday in Chapel Hill.

Opportunity awaits

Entering Saturday’s regular-season finale, the stakes remain high. For the Tar Heels, once a championship-or-bust team as the preseason No. 1 in the AP Poll, every game is a must-win these days. A loss at home to Duke could be more than a lost opportunity for North Carolina, but the final straw that prevents Davis and company from another shot at the NCAA tournament.

For the Blue Devils, the ice is not nearly as thin — the rivalry matchup is decidedly not a make-or-break scenario. Opportunity still looms large, especially with the wind in their sails.

“I told our guys, for this game, Saturday [against North Carolina], every game moving forward, there’s a lot on the line,” Scheyer said after beating N.C. State. “You’re playing somebody that believes they should win, and it’s gonna be a tough game.”

First, Saturday presents Duke with one final audition for the postseason. Even after the success of the past few weeks, that will be especially important in Chapel Hill — the Blue Devils may have finished 16-0 at home, but they also went 3-6 on the road in ACC play, and neutral sites await moving forward.

The real trick for Scheyer’s team will be applying what went right over the course of that flawless final homestand to an arena other than Cameron Indoor. The hostile environment of the Dean E. Smith Center, better known to most as the Dean Dome, is not a bad place to start.

Rewind a few weeks, and an abundance of positives for Duke to build on starting Saturday come to light. One important revelation, if not an obvious one, is the play of freshman forward Mark Mitchell.

After its loss at Virginia, Duke responded by surviving Notre Dame on Valentine’s Day, winning 68-64. It was not a wholly impressive win, to be blunt, but it started the Blue Devils on their current trajectory and it featured a signature moment for the often overlooked Mitchell. With his team leading 63-62 and the shot clock turned off, the lefty buried a corner three to seal the win, setting the final stage of the regular season into motion.

After he scored 12 points Tuesday against the Wolfpack, including a timely 3-pointer in the second half to fuel a Blue Devil run, Mitchell has scored in double digits three games running for the first time in his college career.

There are bigger stories for Duke right now — another late-season renaissance for Roach, the play of Lively and fellow freshman Tyrese Proctor — but this streak might never have begun if not for Mitchell’s big shot against the Fighting Irish. And if not for his play since, Duke might not have reached this high point at all.

“At halftime, I got after him in that game [against Notre Dame],” Scheyer said in a media availability Feb. 23. “And I just told him, ‘We need you to be aggressive.’ And for him to come out the way that he did and then to finish the game with that three … thought it was great momentum for him. And then he’s built from that, in the Syracuse game and then the last game against Louisville.”

Beyond that, opportunity resides for Duke in the ability to improve its postseason positioning. A top-four seed at next week’s ACC tournament remains within reach, but only with a second win Saturday at North Carolina. That scenario would give the Blue Devils an extra day of preparation before beginning the postseason in earnest.

“When we had a short prep, whether it be a one-day or back-to-back, we haven’t been as good,” Scheyer said. “And you need to be … just this past Saturday and Monday [against Syracuse and Louisville], had to be good in a short prep day. And going forward, ACC tournament and NCAA tournament, God willing you’re in that, and you have to be able to respond quicker.”

Duke is playing with seeding in mind, but that thought is not occupying too much headspace for Scheyer. There is an argument to be made that the Blue Devils have established themselves among the teams to beat out in Greensboro, N.C., regardless.

“Do you want a double-bye? Of course you do. If not, that’s a great opportunity,” Scheyer said after the N.C. State win. “We’re gonna be in a good spot. It’s just a matter of where and who we’re playing against.”

Above all, though, Saturday’s meeting on the opposite side of the U.S. 15-501 gives Duke a chance to play spoiler against its enemy. One year removed from a chaotic finale at Cameron Indoor in Mike Krzyzewski’s farewell, that opportunity has turned in the Blue Devils’ favor.

That fluidity is, of course, how things are in the ACC, and with this Duke team specifically. Everything has changed since these teams met in February. When the final buzzer sounds Saturday and the regular season officially gives way to March, everything will change once again.

Rebecca Schneid | Photography Editor

Kyle Filipowski with the ball in Duke’s Feb. 4 win against North Carolina in Durham.

KEVIN KEATTS N.C. State head coach on Duke’s growth since

first

matchup

I remember when we played them months ago, and they played like freshmen. And you can tell that those guys have really grown up.

POSTSEASON PRIMER

Inside Duke’s swift rise to ACC contention

By Ranjan Jindal Staff Writer

On Dec. 21, 2021, the 16th-ranked Blue Devils routed Charleston Southern 78-35 to finish an impressive nonconference slate 9-1, the lone loss a single-digit defeat to future national champion South Carolina. One year after the COVID-19 pandemic cut head coach Kara Lawson’s first season short, a new era of Duke women’s basketball looked to be on the horizon.

But when ACC play hit, Duke could never find its footing. Plagued by injuries and inconsistent play, the team lost three games in a row on multiple occasions and slumped to a 7-11 conference record, finishing 10th in the league.

Fast forward one year, and Duke is the No. 2 seed entering the ACC tournament, one game behind Notre Dame. However, the situation in December was eerily similar to last year, as the Blue Devils entered ACC play with a 10-1 record, the sole blemish again to a very talented UConn team. Understandably, there was skepticism on whether the Blue Devils could perform at a high level during the conference slate, especially with the depth of the league this season.

Duke passed that test with flying colors.

“Last year, we were the 10th-place team in the league playing on Wednesday [in the ACC tournament],” said Lawson Monday. “It’s hard to move up one spot in this league, but to move up eight spots in the standings is a remarkable job by our players.”

It truly is remarkable that the team has come this far, so what are the key factors that have contributed to this turnaround?

Changes in the offseason

Before the season, Lawson’s message for the team was clear.

“Consistency is where we need to improve: be more consistent defensively, be more consistent offensively, be more consistent on the glass,” said Lawson at ACC Tipoff Oct. 11. “The way to do that is to compete hard with one another.”

If that was the recipe for success, the Blue Devils cooked it to perfection. They have formed a team identity by playing consistently on the defensive end of the floor. No matter if the Blue Devils are up or down in the game, it is evident that they play hard and play together.

With the loss of the two top frontcourt pieces, Onome Akinbode-James and Jade Williams, along with a slew of key pieces, Lawson needed to revamp the roster. To do this, she turned to the increasingly important transfer portal. The core of the team — guards Shayeann DayWilson and Celeste Taylor and wing Elizabeth Balogun — remained intact, but the supporting pieces that Lawson brought in have made a great impact this season.

“A big emphasis for us in the portal was to fortify the frontcourt and bring in size,” said Lawson. “You don’t just want size, you want talent coupled with it.”

She pointed out that this was her first fully recruited freshman class, and the three freshmen added to the talent and depth of this team. Ten players average double-digit minutes per game, and six of those are transfers or freshmen.

In addition, assistant head coach Beth Cunningham moved on to a head coaching position, and Lawson filled her spot with a well-respected and experienced coach: Karen Lange. The former Georgia associate head coach specializes on working with guards, and

as a former point guard herself and teammate of assistant coach Tia Jackson, she brought familiarity and a veteran presence to the staff.

Sophomore guard Reigan Richardson, one of the impact transfers that Lawson nabbed at the beginning of the season, coincidentally also came from Georgia and had a special relationship with Lange.

“She’s always been there for me. She’s someone I can come to not just for basketball but for other things outside of that, so I love coach Karen,” said Richardson at the team’s preseason media day.

Lawson has not been shy in praising her staff for the improvement of this team, especially during the offseason. She was in Australia coaching with USA Basketball during those months and credits the assistants for working closely with the players.

“Man, can [the staff] coach defense; they could play it as players and they can really coach it,” said Lawson in a Jan. 17 availability.

“Karen kind of runs our defense and she deserves a ton of credit for how our defense has changed.”

Dive into the numbers

To say the defense has improved is an understatement. There has been a complete transformation that has turned the Blue Devil defense into a nationally terrifying unit. Duke is allowing a mere 50.9 points per game, good for third in the country, and has only allowed 60plus points in five games. The team is 23-1 when it keeps opponents under that number, with the lone loss coming 45-41 in Sunday’s regularseason finale to North Carolina.

“If you look at our numbers from last year, we were a poor defensive team and that was my fault as a coach,” said Lawson Jan. 10. “I’m really looking for improving defensive points per possession.”

That is one stat that has progressed in a large way. Last season, Duke allowed 0.76 points per play, which was in the 65th percentile nationally. However, that number has decreased to 0.66, now good for the 99th percentile.

“We’re really working on being disruptive defensively. We want to try and force turnovers,” said Lawson at preseason media day.

Another goal achieved. Duke has forced 536 opposing turnovers in 29 games this season, 101 more than last season’s 30-game total. Tenacious defense and the full-court press has given opposing offenses nightmares, and Lawson has set out a clear philosophy that her team has embraced. The lethal combination of depth and aggressive defense is what really wears teams out, and Duke has won multiple games by effectively shutting down opposing offenses in the second half.

“The goal is to get [opponents] taking a contested shot, and one of them. We don’t always make our goals but that’s what we’re shooting for,” said Lawson.

“Every game against every team we play we emphasize defense, defense, defense,” said Balogun after a Jan. 1 win against Louisville. “When we step on the court, we know defense comes first.”

Offensively, the numbers are similar from a year ago, and there is a legitimate argument to be made that Duke had a more potent offensive team last year.

Slow offense has cost the team in multiple games, including its most recent loss to North Carolina. It is undeniable that the offense will need to improve for the Blue Devils to do some damage in March. There are times when Duke can not buy a shot from the field — including its six-point fourth quarter against Miami and 10-point second quarter against Pittsburgh. Nevertheless, these both ended up as victories, because what has made this team so successful is that even when the offense is struggling, the defense does not skip a beat.

“They don’t get affected on the defensive end when they’re struggling offensively and that’s something that happens to a lot of players,” said Lawson after defeating Pittsburgh Feb. 2.

The intangibles

While the numbers emphasize the improvement on the defensive end, there are some things that they can not explain. This Duke team has shown elite fight game-in and gameout, along with a serious will to win.

“I don’t think you can watch our team and not like how they play and not get behind them, because they play so gosh darn hard,” said Lawson after a victory against Virginia Tech Jan. 26.

Take Duke’s win at Notre Dame. Down three with 15 seconds left, Fighting Irish junior guard Olivia Miles broke the Blue Devil press and drove down the court. Richardson, who was at the top of the press, sprinted all the way back down the court and stole Miles’ pass, clinching the Duke victory.

“If Reigan gives anything less than 100% on that sprint, it’s a layup for them,” said Lawson following the win. “I think it just speaks to her and to our team of really wanting to put everything they can into these games.”

The star for this team has unquestionably been Taylor, who leads the team in scoring but provides so much value outside of shooting that helps Duke win. According to Her Hoop Stats, Taylor records a defensive win share of 3.7, meaning that Taylor has produced roughly that many wins for the Blue Devils solely based on her defensive performances.

The ACC Defensive Player of the Year has more than double the amount of steals of any other player on her team, and her sheer commitment to defense is what has impressed Lawson from the start. Aside from her numbers, it is the little things that make Taylor invaluable to this group.

“She’s a non-traditional star on a nontraditional team,” said Lawson after Duke’s Feb. 7 win at Notre Dame. “The story of Celeste for us is that if we need something done that’s going to change the game from losing to winning, you put Celeste Taylor on the job. I don’t know of a higher compliment you can give a player than that.”

In Duke’s recent 77-62 victory over N.C. State, Taylor made numerous defensive plays, including a chase-down block on Wolfpack forward Mimi Collins and multiple deflections in the final two minutes of the first half, to swing the momentum onto the Blue Devils’ side.

“When you have teammates that want to win just as badly as you do, it makes things a lot easier,” said Taylor after the game. “They’re willing to do whatever it is that needs to be done in order for us to win.”

There is no quantifying grit, but there is no question that this team has the heart of a lion. The players are fully bought into achieving success, and Lawson highlights that as the number one reason for this improvement.

“Ultimately, the goal is to win a national championship and an ACC championship,” said Taylor at ACC Tipoff. “If we just focus on the present moment and just continue to get better each day, we can get there.”

Although that goal may have seemed unreasonable at the time, it is certainly attainable now ahead of Friday’s quarterfinal at the ACC tournament. The Blue Devils are lightyears ahead of original projections — Duke was picked seventh in the league in the preseason media poll. However, the team ignored the outside noise, staying focused on its goals and the task at hand.

Lawson summed it up best.

“I don’t really believe in timelines because I think when you set them, you predestined yourself to meet the timeline, and never be ahead of it,” she said Feb. 21. “I’m not very patient … I don’t think there’s a timeline here. I think you win when you can and so that’s what our goal was all along.”

“Our team plays hard and they play together,” Lawson said after Duke’s Jan. 26 win against Virginia Tech. “I think they’re representing this school and Duke basketball in an incredible way right now.”

Morgan Chu | Staff Photographer

Kara Lawson huddles with her team during a December 2022 win at N.C. State — just before Duke cracked the AP Top 25.

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Column: Duke is growing on offensive end

“Our offense, we have to take a step in the right direction here.”

During his Jan. 16 media availability, just two days after his team lost 72-64 to Clemson, Jon Scheyer uttered that sentence. With a full week between that loss to the Tigers and a home date with Miami, the 35-yearold was asked what Duke would prioritize in that mini-break.

Well, consider that soundbite a verbal representation of the turning point of the Blue Devils’ season.

Right out of the gate against the Hurricanes, something was just, well, different on the offensive end. The Blue Devils’ had all sorts of ball and player movement, and the backcourt duo of Jeremy Roach and Tyrese Proctor seemed to have figured out how to play off each other. Bear in mind, this was Roach’s first game back after reaggravating a right toe injury, an ailment that caused the Virginian to miss three straight ACC contests.

Scheyer noticed something different too, saying after the 68-66 Duke victory that he was “proud of our offense.”

Since then, the Blue Devils have continued that mojo. Over its first 18 games, Duke posted an assist rate of 54.7%, a mark that would rank just inside the top 90 nationally. On the other hand, over the last 12 outings, that number is 60.3%, which would put the Blue Devils in the top 20 in the land.

Game by game, the progress is clear. Despite a loss to Virginia Tech two days after

SOFTBALL

FROM PAGE 3

“[Young] helped me pull the inner badass out of myself,” St. George said. “... She helped me be a person that when I stepped on the field I was immediately feared by other teams.”

The win transformed not just the fate of that team, which ultimately lost in the regionals against Georgia.

“[The 2021 ACC title] started getting people to believe that Duke softball can be a successful program,” Young said.

It fittingly happened in the fourth season — Duke’s seniors were the freshmen in year one.

The culture Duke created, and those seniors, brought them there. And the image Young and the Blue Devils had painted illustrated that success would be sustainable. The recruits that were soon to join the program saw it, too.

“We’ve established a culture of wanting to live a life of excellence on and off the field,” Young said.

The 2022 Blue Devils fell short of the ACC title, but qualified for the NCAA tournament. In a winner-take-all game against Georgia, a chance for redemption from the previous year, they showed their true colors.

“Everybody knew that we were gonna go to a super regional,” St. George says. “it was just ‘how are we going to get this done, who’s gonna step up today?’”

St. George got shelled. Sophomore Jala Wright picked her up to finish the night with three hitless innings. Their road ended in Los Angeles when Duke battled UCLA, but the Blue Devils are primed for another run this season.

Paying it forward

St. George graduated and her number will remain on the outfield wall of Duke Softball Stadium. She holds program records for innings, strikeouts and wins.

“My jersey would not be on that outfield wall under the words ‘All-American’ if it wasn’t for Coach Young,” St. George said.

She became the first Blue Devil drafted to play professionally, and along her first professional stint, she

that win against Miami, Kyle Filipowski turned in his most complete performance of the season, with 29 points and four triples — both career highs. Duke steamrolled Georgia Tech the following Saturday thanks to a 55.7% mark from the floor and a season-high 24 assists, then survived late against Wake Forest by virtue of 54 combined points from Roach, Proctor and Filipowski.

Even against North Carolina, when Duke shot just 39.3% from the field, it was able to get the key buckets to fall down the stretch. With the game knotted at 53-53, Roach slid back into the closer role, notching eight of the Blue Devils’ last 10 points in the 63-57 win.

The offensive growth, though, has not been linear, evidenced by Duke coughing it up 43 total times in road losses to Miami and Virginia the following week. The former was a rout from the tip, while in the latter, Filipowski had his worst outing of the year. The freshman finished with zero points, and his night was marred by a controversial late sequence that has had a ripple effect on the ACC standings.

But over the last five, the growth has continued. The Blue Devils have spaced the floor, cut off the ball and found open shooters to perfection over the last four weeks, and they have developed a level of trust that only comes with more and more reps. After all, Roach found Mitchell for the clinching triple against Notre Dame, and Duke sports a healthy 1.8 assist-to-turnover ratio during its current fivegame win streak.

Even its two most highly rated recruits, Dereck Lively II and Dariq Whitehead, are coming into their own.

teamed up with the newest addition to Duke’s coaching staff: Sydney Romero. Romero, 25, won two national championships with Oklahoma and competed in the Tokyo Olympics for Mexico. An international softball icon, she was set to continue to develop the rich environment in Durham. Having Romero on board and St. George playing professionally means that the program is establishing its own sisterhood, with a growing list of veterans looking to give back.

Still a Durham resident, St. George tosses batting practice and mentors the pitchers. At the same time, she wants to give them space to learn on their own, offering criticism and praise when she feels it is most beneficial.

For each season to follow, that growing alumni network will continue its support. Prior to the season’s first game, the recent graduating class sends the team letters with advice. St. George’s message to the current team encapsulates everything she learned at Duke.

“You have to treat each team so special because you’re only going to be sitting in that room with those girls and having that team one year.

“Even if you’re young in your career and you feel like you have a lifetime before you graduate, you still can’t take the team you have right now for granted. … Softball is something you do, it’s not who you are. Rely on the people around you because they will lift you up so much higher than you could ever lift yourself and you’re all working together.”

Young, who continues to strive for the first national championship, says that “Duke softball is definitely my baby.”

In season six, a once-empty field is now a stadium to show prospects. Young has a locker room. An ACC championship banner. At one point, a blue and white sign embedded in the chain-link fence above the right-center field wall spelled out “Go Duke.”

She’s built this program around the players. In turn, the players, placing their trust in Young, have built the program, too.

“It wasn’t really a question of me. There was no recruiting pitch needed,” St George said. “... I was all on board … it started to slowly grow for Player Two, Player Three and so on until Team One was born.”

Everything, St. George said, fell into place how it was supposed to.

Lively put on a defensive show against Armando Bacot and North Carolina, but has also improved significantly as a lob threat on the other end. The Philadelphia native, over the last five, is averaging 8.2 points on 79% from the field.

Whitehead, to his credit, has been a confident shooter from outside since returning from a lower leg injury Feb. 11 against Virginia. Across the last five games, the freshman is shooting 50% from beyond the arc, and is starting to attack the basket with the same authority that made him one of the most coveted talents in the 2022 class. His shot selection still could improve, but it takes a ton of unselfishness to accept a supporting role when you have been the guy your whole life.

The pieces, clearly, are fitting together. From

JENNER

FROM PAGE 3

TC: Your freshman year you came in with Anna Callahan and Maddie Johnston. How did it feel to come in as freshmen together after playing together on your club team and then against each other in high school? What are the emotions surrounding the fact that it’s your last year?

MJ: It was great to be able to continue our good friendships. Now, it’s awesome that we’re all playing — we’re all healthy and able to make passes to each other that we’ve been making since eighth grade. I feel like it’s all really coming together, so I’m just trying to be grateful for the time I have remaining.

TC: The freshmen who came in this year — how does it feel to be able to see the next generation and help mentor them?

MJ: They’re so skilled. There’s a number of freshmen that are redshirting, but are going to have standout careers. So trying to keep them motivated and help them have perspective: You can go so far, and it really doesn’t matter where you start. I’m trying to help them see the long run, and just encourage them, because it is really hard when you go from being the star player in high school to being on the sidelines.

TC: Looking at this year’s team: What makes this group a little special, a little different?

MJ: I think the chemistry is still where we’re still improving, but between me and Anna, and a lot of these girls that I’ve played with for a long time. We have a lot of experience; a lot of us are veteran players.

TC: It was a tough loss Saturday. With that first loss of the season, what do you take from that and move forward?

MJ: There was a lot of frustration that can be now put towards improving things defensively, running our sets better offensively. It’s like the old cliche, you lose or you learn, and there’s a lot to learn from that game and a lot of things that were exposed. Offensively we’re just trying to

Mitchell to Jacob Grandison to Ryan Young, this group is playing its best basketball of the season. But the driving force has been the Roach-Proctor dynamic.

The two have different skill sets, and have complemented each other extremely well over the last month-plus. The Australian is closer to a true floor general, scanning the court off pick and rolls effectively and leading fast breaks with a natural ease. The captain, on the other hand, is terrific at attacking closeouts and getting to his spots in the midrange — and he sure can dish it too, as his 11-assist night against Virginia Tech indicates.

Two talented point guards fitting together has been a past theme at Duke, with Quinn Cook and

run our sets more, really trust what we’ve done in practice and not get away from that in games. We’ve added a lot of plays and have started to run our sets better, we just need to fall back on them in games. It’s trusting what our coaches put in games now, which I think is more of a mental hurdle the offensive group has to overcome.

TC: Nearly five years now, at Duke. What are you most proud of?

MJ: The lifelong friendships I’ve formed that I know, will not diminish as years go on.

TC: Looking beyond Duke — how is your time with the team going to shape that future and affect you moving forward?

MJ: Something I’ve always been interested in — and this is shaped from my time at Duke and playing sports — is orthopedics and sports medicine, so in the next two years I’m applying to medical school. I’m not planning on playing pro this summer, at least, but I’m ready to squeeze every last bit of joy out of it this spring.

Alyssa Ting | Sports Photography Editor Jeremy Roach (3) and Tyrese Proctor (5) in Duke’s Feb. 4 win against North Carolina.

Abby Hjelmstad | Staff Photographer Maddie Jenner reaches for a draw during her record performance against Gardner-Webb.

Max Rego

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Mapping out Duke’s path to the ACC title game

By Martin Heintzelman Staff Writer

The ACC is the most loaded conference in Division I women’s basketball. ESPN’s Feb. 28 Bracketology projection had the conference sending nine teams to the NCAA tournament, and there are currently four squads ranked in the AP Top 25. Given the talent and depth of the conference this year, No. 13 Duke will have a difficult path in its search for its first conference tournament title since 2013. The Blue Devils may very well face nationally ranked teams in all three of their ACC tournament games.

The Blue Devils are coming into the competition as the No. 2 seed, meaning that they, along with Notre Dame (1), Virginia Tech (3) and Louisville (4), will enjoy a double-bye to open the tournament. Duke’s first tournament game will be in the quarterfinals Friday evening, when it will face off against one of No. 10-seed Clemson, No. 15-seed Pittsburgh or No. 7-seed North Carolina. Given the relative strengths of those three teams, the most likely outcome appears to be a quarterfinal rematch against No. 18 North Carolina. That being said, there is the distinct possibility that the Tigers or the Panthers pull out a few upsets and end up making it to the quarterfinals.

“We’ll be focused on whoever wins the Wednesday game and then whoever wins the Thursday game,” said Duke head coach Kara Lawson during a Monday media availability. “We’ll get to it knowing that every team we play in this tournament, it’ll be a second or third time that we match up with them and we’ll have to be ready to make adjustments.”

Let’s take a look at what seems to be the most likely scenario, in which North Carolina makes it to the quarterfinals. The Tar Heels

TAR HEELS

FROM PAGE 4

As the postseason progresses and the level of competition increases, this offensive output simply may not be enough. Duke has shown its ability to beat good teams behind its defense, so much so that the Blue Devils have positioned themselves to be a top-four seed in the NCAA tournament. But they will need to find a way to score if they are to make a run in the upcoming ACC tournament or the NCAA tournament.

“They’re frustrated and disappointed,” Lawson said. “... Every time we’ve lost this year, they’ve done a great job of snapping back, not wallowing in it and just being ready to give a good effort.”

As it so happens, barring any upsets, the Blue Devils’ first matchup in the ACC tournament Friday will be against a familiar foe: No. 7-seed North Carolina, which plays the winner of No. 10-seed Clemson and No. 15-seed Pittsburgh in Thursday’s second round.

are the only team this season to beat the Blue Devils (24-5, 14-4 in the ACC) twice. The first of those victories came in January, when North Carolina hosted Duke in Carmichael Arena and held on to win 61-56. The second came Sunday, when the Tar Heels beat the Blue Devils again in Durham, this time 45-41 in a low-scoring regular-season finale.

Now, the two rivals will likely look to gear up for a third matchup. While North Carolina took the first two of the series, the stakes in this game will be much higher. The loser goes home, at least until the NCAA tournament starts up.

Despite holding the No. 7 seed in the conference tournament, the Tar Heels have been one of the better teams in the league. Their relatively low seed is in part due to injuries that the team has battled, as star forward Alyssa Ustby and Eva Hodgson, the team’s most efficient 3-point shooter, both missed time. Now that the team is back and fully healthy, the Tar Heels may be a force to be reckoned with. Fans got a glimpse of that Sunday in North Carolina’s win at Duke.

“If we do see them again, we’ll have to play well,” said Lawson after Sunday’s game. “We’ll just have to be a better version of ourselves. We’ve got a couple days to try and get there.”

If Duke manages to pull off a win in the quarterfinals against any one of those three teams, the Blue Devils will play one of Miami, No. 8 Virginia Tech, Boston College or Georgia Tech. Despite being the No. 3 seed in the tournament, Virginia Tech is the highest in the national rankings. Duke met the Hokies twice in the regular season, winning the first 66-55 at home and dropping the second 61-45 in Blacksburg, Va., to split the series. In what would be the rubber match, the stakes would be higher than either of the regular-season games.

OFFENSE

FROM PAGE 9

Tyus Jones in 2014-15 serving as the best case study — and an apt comparison for Roach and Proctor. Cook, the veteran, started at the point for two years before Jones entered as a freshman. And yet, the captain ceded those duties to the Minnesota native, with the duo thriving en route to a national title.

Now, Duke is not on the short list of title contenders, I get that. Heck, the Blue Devils need a win at North Carolina, along with some help, to secure a top-four seed (and double-bye) at next week’s ACC tournament in Greensboro, N.C. But with the way Duke is playing — and more specifically, the way its guards are playing — it could be a dangerous one come March.

Scheyer said after Duke’s Saturday win against Virginia Tech that Roach and Proctor played “close to a perfect game.”

If that’s not a step in the right direction, then I don’t know what is.

The name to know for Virginia Tech is Elizabeth Kitley. The 6-foot-6 senior forward is the ACC Player of the Year and a consensus first-round WNBA draft pick. Kitley is arguably the best post player in the conference right now, leading the ACC in both rebounds per game (10.7) and blocks per game (2.3). Duke can win this game if it limits her scoring: In its victory against the Hokies in January, Kitley had just four points on 1-of-9 shooting. In Duke’s blowout loss, she dropped 20.

If Duke manages to win what would be a toss-up against the Hokies, its most likely opponent in the tournament final will be No. 10 Notre Dame. The Blue Devils faced off against the Fighting Irish in early February, prevailing 57-52 to move into sole possession of first place for a time. If the two teams do meet in the final, it

N.C. STATE

FROM PAGE 5

All this shows a team figuring it out just in the nick of time.

“After [the Feb. 6 loss at] Miami, we came to a realization of who we are, what we need to do, and why we’re here. We’re not just here for the ride, not just here for the Duke jerseys, but we’re really here to try to be great and try to win championships and play our tails off,” Roach said. “I think that’s the biggest factor of us peaking at the right moment right now.”

Succeeding in March is as much about having the hot hand as it is about having a complete team, and on the last day of February, Duke appeared to have both. Tuesday may not have been Duke’s prettiest game, but it could be the most telling, even with another Tobacco Road rival still on the docket.

will be the biggest challenge yet for the Blue Devils. The Fighting Irish are led by a powerful guard duo in Sonia Citron and Olivia Miles, who average a combined 28.8 points per game.

Ultimately, these are all hypotheticals. Duke will need to take this tournament one game at a time and take solace in knowing that regardless of the outcome, this likely will not be the end of its season. The Blue Devils will likely see teams of the same caliber when the NCAA tournament rolls around in March.

“Hopefully we can take some of that regular-season momentum and win a game in the postseason,” said Lawson. “You’d like to win more than one but you can’t win more than one before you win one. Our focus is just on Friday and whoever the opponent is and see if we can get a postseason win.”

Just as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, a basketball team in a singleelimination tournament is only as capable as its worst game. If the Blue Devils can still win while not playing their best, and against a tough opponent at that, they may have the makings of a dangerous tournament team. In showing how high they have raised their floor, the Blue Devils showed how high they have raised their ceiling.

“I think in the ACC tournament, we feel like we’re as good as any team in the tournament … We’ll just take it one game at a time,” Young said. “In a program like this, the goal is always to hang another banner.”

On Jan. 4, that may have still been true, but it felt like a pipe dream. Now, it feels a little more realistic. There isn’t a team these Blue Devils can’t beat, but they have to keep building on the progress they have made. After these past five games, and after this win against N.C. State, there is a compelling reason to believe they will.

Holly Zhuang | Staff Photographer Junior center Kennedy Brown (21) leaves the court in Duke’s Jan. 15 win at Georgia Tech.

Rebecca Schneid | Photography Editor North Carolina’s Deja Kelly reaches to poke the ball free from Duke’s Shayeann DayWilson in the Blue Devils’ Feb. 26 loss.

Abigail Bromberger | News Photography Editor Freshman forward Mark Mitchell skies for the dunk during the first half of Duke’s Feb. 20 win against Louisville at Cameron Indoor Stadium.