On Sunday at 10:00 AM PT on ESPN2, Stanford women’s basketball will take on No. 16 Duke on the road at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Stanford comes in at 10-7 overall and 2-4 in the ACC while Duke comes in at 14-4 overall and 5-1 in the ACC.
Last time out: On Thursday, Stanford defeated Wake Forest 74-71 on the road. Wake Forest nearly pulled off a comeback, outscoring Stanford 29-16 in the 4th quarter. Tess Heal (24 points) and Nunu Agara (23 points) were the top scorers for the Cardinal.
RECAP: Stanford WBB hangs on for dear life in win at Wake Forest
On Duke: The Blue Devils are having a fantastic season so far. Their only loss in ACC play is to No. 14 North Carolina on the road in overtime and most recently, they thumped No. 18 Cal 72-38. They also have a couple of wins over No. 11 Kansas State and No. 13 Oklahoma during the non-conference portion of the season.
The Blue Devils are led by freshman forward Toby Fournier (12.6 points & 5.4 rebounds), junior guard Ashlon Jackson (11.9 points), and senior guard Reigan Richardson (11.8 points). The three of them form a really nice trio. Jackson is a legit threat from the perimeter, shooting 42.3% from 3-point range.
As a team, the Blue Devils average 76.8 points per game on 45.7% shooting from the field, 35.2% shooting from 3-point range, and 65.1% shooting from the foul line. They average 40.6 rebounds, 17.4 assists, 11.6 steals, 4.2 blocks, and 16.2 turnovers per game. They also average a +9.4 rebound margin and a +5.1 turnover margin per game. Their opponents average 59.8 points per game on 39.7% shooting from the field, 30.1% shooting from 3-point range, and 70.0% shooting from the foul line.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to prioritize is ball security. The Blue Devils get 11+ steals per game and have a +5.1 turnover margin per game. They win a lot of games by decisively winning the turnover battle. The reason Cal got demolished at Duke was they turned the ball over 31 times, which led to 32 points. If Stanford doesn’t take good care of the ball, this one is over.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is get a big outing from Nunu Agara. She’s the top player on this Cardinal team, averaging 17.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. If she has a big outing, maybe Stanford can pull this one out.
Finally, Stanford needs to get the 3-ball to fall. They are shooting 39.1% from 3-point range on the season, making it a real weapon that they are capable of using. When they get their 3-ball to fall, they are difficult to stop. When they aren’t, they’re pretty easy to defeat.
Prediction: Given the way Duke destroyed a very good Cal team on Thursday, I have to pick Duke to win this one handily. I’ll say Duke wins by a final score of 70-48.
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