Duke Earns 4th Seed In 2015 NCAA Tournament, Will Host First and Second Rounds
By Chris Brown
Duke was selected as the 4th seed in the West Region in the 2015 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. Since the Blue Devils finished in the top 16 teams, they will be able to host the first and second rounds in Cameron Indoor Stadium before heading west to Spokane, Wash. if they advance to the Sweet 16.
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This will be the third straight year that Duke has been able to host the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament on campus. The Blue Devil’s first match-up will be against the 13-seed Albany in Durham at noon on Friday, March 20th. Duke will head into the NCAA Tournament with a 21-10 record ranked 16th after a loss to Notre Dame in the ACC Tournament semifinals. They are ranked 14th in the latest NCAA RPI and also played the 5th toughest schedule this season.
The Great Danes finished the season at 24-8, winning the America East Conference Tournament Championship. Additionally, their head coach, Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, was previously an assistant under Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie at Michigan State. The winner of that game will move on to face the winner of Mississippi State (26-6) and Tulane (22-10) in the 5-12 match-up.
There are some very intriguing potential match-ups for the Blue Devils in the West Region if they make it past the round of 32. Duke may face old ACC foe Maryland, who will be the #1 seed in Spokane. The Terrapins have had really good games with Duke in the past, and dominated in their first season in the Big Ten, going undefeated in their new conference and finishing 30-2 on the season. Maryland will not be an easy match-up for Duke, but it will be a good draw in that the Blue Devils were able to avoid the #1 seeds of the other three regions, all of whom have already beat Duke this season (UConn, Notre Dame twice, and South Carolina).
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Additionally, Duke’s bracket contains Tennessee, who had a very good year in the SEC and has still been able to sustain their success as one of the top teams in the nation after Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt, as the 2-seed and the surprising Oregon State Beavers who won the PAC-12 regular season title. The Blue Devils may also possibly face Princeton, who will be the 8th seed in the West but enter the NCAA tournament undefeated at 30-0.
Duke will be led by senior All-ACC First Team Selection and Player of the Year candidate Elizabeth Williams, who averaged 14.7 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.9 blocks and 1.6 steals per game this season. Last year, the Blue Devils were upset in the second round by DePaul due to injuries to All-ACC point guards Chelsea Gray and Alexis Jones. Even though injuries and depth have also plagued the Blue Devils this year, hopefully Duke will avoid the same fate and make a deep run in the tournament.