DURHAM, N.C. – The sixth-ranked Duke women's basketball team received its 18th straight NCAA Tournament selection on Monday. The Blue Devils (24-5) were seeded No. 2 in the Fresno Region and will play 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 and will tip at approximately 7:45 p.m. (EST).
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.
Samford is coming off winning its second straight Southern Conference Tournament title with a 54-43 victory over Appalachian State on March 5. The Bulldogs will be making their second overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Samford has won at least 20 games in the last five-straight seasons and in six of the last seven seasons under the direction of Mike Morris, who is in his 10th season with the Bulldogs.
Leading Samford on the season has been 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). The Bulldogs rank 20th nationally in three-point field goals per game (7.1) and own five players who have hit 27 or more on the year.
The winner of the Duke/Samford game will advance to face the winner of the No. 7 seed Vanderbilt vs. No. 10 seed Middle Tennessee State game. The contest will be played on Tuesday, March 20 at 9:30 p.m. Vanderbilt will host Middle Tennessee State on Sunday, March 18 at 5:10 p.m., in the first round.
Duke and Samford will meet for the first time in school history.
Vanderbilt will host the first and second rounds, after carding a 22-9 overall and 9-7 mark in the Southeastern Conference under head coach Melanie Balcomb. The Commodores will be making its 25th NCAA Tournament appearance and their 13th consecutive bid. On the season, Vanderbilt has been led by Christina Foggie (17.8 points, 83 treys), Jasmine Lister (12.2 points, 44 treys), Tiffany Clarke (11.5 points, 7.4 rebounds) and Stephan Holzer (11.1 points, 7.3 rebounds).
Middle Tennessee State will be playing in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth-straight year, and for the eighth time in the last nine seasons, after carding a 26-6 overall record in 2011-12. The Blue Raiders won the Sun Belt's East Division outright for a fourth-straight season with a perfect 16-0 league mark. Junior Kortni Jones (17.0 points, 113 treys) and sophomore Ebony Rowe (16.5 points, 9.9 rebounds) have led Middle Tennessee State on the season.
The Blue Devils received an at large invitation to the 2012 NCAA Tournament after posting a 24-5 overall record on the season, which included a 15-1 mark in the challenging Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The Blue Devils totaled their 11th overall ACC regular season title and the first outright crown since the 2006-07 campaign.
Head Coach
Joanne P. McCallie, who was the 2012 ACC Coach of the Year, has guided the Blue Devils through a very challenging season that has included losing three potential starters due to injuries and other setbacks. After starting 17 games,
Richa Jackson was lost in February to a torn ACL,
Chloe Wells started the first 10 contests before missing the rest of the season due to a violation of university policy and freshman
Amber Henson was limited early in the season with an injury suffered in high school before having surgery.
On the year, the Blue Devils have featured a very balanced squad that includes five double-figure scorers --
Elizabeth Williams (14.3),
Chelsea Gray (12.0),
Tricia Liston (11.1),
Haley Peters (10.6) and Wells (10.4). Williams, Gray and Peters received All-ACC accolades, while Williams was recently named ESPN.com National Freshman of the Year. A product of Virginia Beach, Va., Williams was also selected ACC Rookie of the Year and ACC Defensive Player of the Year.
Entering the 2012 NCAAs, the Blue Devils own an all-time record of 46-18 in NCAA Tournament play and are 47-19 in all postseason action. Duke has advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 13 out of the last 14 years and reached the NCAA Final Four in 1999, 2002, 2003 and 2006. As a conference, the ACC received four bids in 2012 -- Duke, Maryland, Miami and Georgia Tech.
All session tickets will be $27.00 and can be purchased by heading to www.GoDuke.com.com or calling the Duke Ticket Office at (919) 681-2583.
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Duke's NCAA Tournament Quotes
Head Coach Joanne P. McCallie
On the tournament preparation:
“It's so great to be able to focus on an opponent. We have been waiting a long time for that as other teams have as well. Practices have been very strong since after the tournament. We had about three days and four nights off and everyone sort of had to scoot after the tournament. I think we learned a lot from that. There are lessons for everybody. I think we are a hungry team, a young team. You face a lot of adversity traveling on the road for the tournament getting focused. I'm really excited to have that opportunity.”
On the tournament vs. regular season:
“There is sort of a different cadence in these tournaments. In the regular season you get into these patterns. The team very much got into that and was incredible by becoming regular season champions. But then there is this urgency it picks up. I don't think we picked up on that and I think we paid a price for that. I think that lesson is right there for us. It's an every minute thing. It's an exciting thing. We are just excited to play.”
On practicing with the thin roster:
“Well when we weren't in school you could practice a little bit longer because nothing else was happening. Now we are back in class so practice cuts down a little bit but you continue with weights.”
On the big picture:
“Learning from what we've learned and staying in the moment. Our opponent is Samford. It's six dominoes to win the national championship and really the team that gets that, knocks over every domino and stays focused on the one in front of them are generally the ones that take care of business.”
Sophomore Chelsea Gray
Thoughts on the bracket:
“I am excited about it. Obviously we are not too close to Durham but we are still excited about it and ready to get the tournament started.”
Resetting after ACC Tournament:
“We were able to tie up a lot loose ends during practice and that gave us the time to do so. We came together and focused on the things that we need to get better at.
Lessons from loss to NC State:
“I think we learned we can't take anything for granted and play every game like it's our last.”
On her mental preparation:
“We are just looking forward to the tournament. That's in the past right now and we are just focused on winning these games. We've got six games left.”
Sophomore Haley Peters
Thoughts on being on the road:
“I am excited about it. I think we all are. I think it will be good for us as a team to be together and make it easier to focus, traveling and being on the road. We are just excited to start playing again.”
On the loss to NC State:
“It helped refocus us and helped remind us of the different things we need to do to get prepared for a game and where your mental focus should be leading into a game that day, the day before, things like that.”
Journey of the season:
“All year long we have been presented with different types of challenges and we've grown a lot and learned a lot every time. Our coaches haven't let us forget that or let us not take lessons from things that we've had to go through. I think we are much different team than we were at the start of the year.”
Decreased depth throughout the season:
“Everybody when you are a competitor wants to play 40 minutes. We are just all looking for ways to step up and different things that we can do. When someone goes down and they do a particular thing well we all just kind of look around and each one of us has to do a bit more to make up for that loss. It's been a challenge but it's been fun. Everybody has had to expand their roll and do something different.”
Scouting teams:
“I'm sure Coach [Al] Brown is already doing it and I would imagine we will start talking about them in the next couple days and then on Thursday and Friday really get into it.”
Learning from freshman tournament experience:
“The seniors last year were seasoned at the NCAA Tournament. There is a different kind of preparation knowing that each weekend you take separately it is a four team tournament for three days. You just stay really focused on that one weekend. You don't look ahead. It's just those four teams to start and first and foremost that one team that you have to play with.”