DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — The Duke and Baylor basketball teams might be headed in opposite directions, yet they are approaching the women’s NCAA Tournament with a similar view.
For two programs with identical records, the postseason offers the opportunity to reset and apply the lessons from mirror-image regular seasons that featured some major highs and lows.
Third-seeded Duke (24-8), a host school for the first and second rounds, enters its matchup against 14th-seeded College of Charleston (27-5) behind the momentum of an ACC Tournament championship that helped erase the memories of an ugly 3-6 start to the season.
Blue Devils coach Kara Lawson purposely scheduled tough nonconference games against nationally ranked Texas and TCU — both losses — to identify her team’s weaknesses early.
“It’s not intentional to lose games, but it’s intentional to play hard teams,” Lawson said. “Then you figure out what you need to work on really quickly.”
The turnaround came with a 17-game winning streak as Duke shored up its offense (79.8 points per game with a scoring margin of 25.1 points) and rebounding while maintaining its solid defense, which held opponents to 54.7 points while forcing 18.2 turnovers per game.
Sophomore forward Toby Fournier was named third-team All America for leading the team in scoring (17.3 points) and rebounding (8.2 rebounds).
“Coach Kara was very strategic in the nonconference schedule,” said Fournier, the fourth-fastest Duke player to reach 1,000 points. “She wanted to test us early so we were able to take all of that and apply it to the games that really mattered at the end of the year, especially in March.”
Senior point guard Taina Mair preferred the early struggles “rather than being punched in the mouth now. As we got through the season, we started getting better and better and better. I feel like we’re playing our best basketball now.”
It comes after some humbling moments – notably a 57-49 loss to a West Virginia team that had only five eligible players in the second half after six ejections from a brawl.
Lawson said the team grew through the discomfort of addressing its weaknesses.
“Ours were revealed on national television,” Lawson said. “That’s part of the courage that goes into being a player that’s on a platform like this. When you make mistakes, everybody sees them. So we’ve had weaknesses revealed, some over and over. We fixed most of them. It’s not like we’re a perfect team, but having that happen to us early bonded us, and we became very resolute.”
Sixth-seeded Baylor (24-8) has been trending the opposite direction, losing three of its final five games of the regular season after starting on a 19-3 run. The Bears were eliminated by Colorado in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals and have used a two-week break to regroup for a matchup with 11th-seeded Nebraska, which beat Richmond 75-56 on Wednesday to advance from the First Four.
“Definitely gives us a reset,” said Dairanna Littlepage-Buggs, who leads Baylor in rebounding. “We focused on things we need to clean up to go into March Madness.”
Taliah Scott, Baylor’s leading scorer at 20 points per game, has made only 11 of 44 shots in the past two games, which Bears coach Nicki Collen attributed to the grind of a 32-game season.
“The time off was good for her body,” Collen said of Scott. “We’re just not going to worry. She’s had too many games that she’s had rough stretches, and she always bounces back. She doesn’t lack confidence. This will be her first time playing in the NCAA Tournament, so excited to see how she rises to the occasion.”
Loyalty pays off
College of Charleston is making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament after twins Taylor and Taryn Barbot combined for 39 points to help the Cougars beat Hofstra in the Coastal Athletic Conference championship game.
Charleston coach Robin Harmony said she attended every game the twins played during the summer of their recruitment. The dedication was repaid when the twins declined to enter the transfer portal.
“They still had people calling the family,” Harmony said. “I think it could have been something like 80 different coaches called them, offered them, to try to steal them, and they said no, and we got to keep them. Everybody thought that they would probably jump because that’s what happens in this day and age. They chase the green. If somebody offers them a big amount, it probably would be hard to turn down, but they did.”
Physical player
Nebraska senior guard Callin Hake made 4 of 5 3-pointers in the Cornhuskers’ First Four win over Richmond, but her biggest contribution is on defense. She has 42 steals while taking a school-record 33 charges this season.
“Callin has really bought into that,” Nebraska coach Amy Williams said. “It doesn’t feel good to take charges, but she’s willing to sacrifice her body. It doesn’t just happen in the games but against our scout guys in practice. And she’ll be like, ‘Ooh, that one hurt.’ I know the pain that goes into her willingness to sacrifice her body for our team.”
Furry friend
Lawson brought a yellow Labrador puppy named Rina into her news conference Thursday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Every semester, the Duke women’s basketball team hosts a puppy training to be a service dog in Duke’s K-9 Cognition Center, helping establish boundaries for Rina (who learned she can’t run on the court).
“Rina comes to our practices a couple times a week and spends time in the office and the players all love her,” Lawson said. “Puppies and babies and candy are the three things they get most excited about.”
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