Blue Devil Hoops to Face Challenging Slate in 2010-11

8/6/2010 3:17:00 PM | Women's Basketball

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. - Duke University Women's Basketball Head Coach Joanne P. McCallie, entering her fourth season with the Blue Devils, released the 2010-11 non-conference schedule on Friday. Highlighting the slate are contests against national powers Connecticut, Texas A&M, Xavier, Kentucky and Oklahoma State.

"I love the non-conference schedule for the upcoming season," said McCallie. "Our staff has done a terrific job -- Kate [Senger] in particular with scheduling. I love the challenges it presents and the kind of interesting rivalries we have in Cameron. We lost to Texas A&M last year and they get to come back to our place this year, which is great for us. Xavier is an up-and-coming team who was one bucket away from the NCAA Final Four, as were we, so that is another great battle there."

The non-conference schedule is made up of eight teams which advanced to the 2010 NCAA Tournament-- Connecticut, Kentucky, Temple, Xavier, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, Wisconsin and James Madison. The Blue Devils will be featured live on national television for the Texas A&M, Kentucky and Connecticut contests.

"There is a lot of culture to our schedule -- obviously there are great opponents across the board," said McCallie. "We have terrific travel where we have to go on the road in the Big Ten, Big East, SEC, Big 12 and other very good teams like James Madison. It will all be great prep work for an incredible ACC season in which I think this ACC schedule could be the hardest ever."

The marquee home match-ups will be on Dec. 6 versus Texas A&M, Dec. 21 against Xavier and Jan. 4 against Kentucky. All three are expected to be ranked in the top 10 nationally in the preseason.

"The Duke/Kentucky rivalry is out there of course for a lot of reasons -- one shot in particular," commented McCallie. "We love the idea of sort of redeveloping that on the women's side."

Duke will open the season with two straight home contests against BYU on Nov. 13 and Southern California on Nov. 15. The Blue Devils will then play four out of the next five contests on the road at Auburn (Nov. 18), Pittsburgh (Nov. 24), Charlotte (Nov. 27), James Madison (Nov. 30) and Wisconsin (Dec. 2) for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. In-between the Auburn and Pittsburgh contests, the Blue Devils will host Western Kentucky on Nov. 21.

Following the four consecutive road games, Duke will return to Cameron Indoor Stadium to host Texas A&M on Dec. 6 in the Jimmy V Classic, which will be televised on ESPN2. The Blue Devils will next travel to Oklahoma State on Dec. 12 before returning home to host Xavier on Dec. 21 prior to the Christmas holiday.

After a nine-day break for the holiday, Duke will host Temple on Dec. 30 and Kentucky on Jan. 4 in Cameron. The contest against the Wildcats will be aired live on ESPNU.

Concluding the non-conference slate will be two-time defending National Champion Connecticut on Jan. 31, which will be televised by ESPN2. The last time the Blue Devils played at Connecticut was on Jan. 3, 2004 when Duke downed the No. 1 Huskies, 68-67, on a last second shot by Jessica Foley. The win for the Blue Devils snapped Connecticut's 69-game home and 76-game regular season win streaks.

"This will be one of many opportunities we will have down the road with Connecticut," commented McCallie. "To be at their place after what we experienced last year in Cameron with only 16 minutes of Duke basketball and now too be able to go there and put on a 40-minute display of intensity; that would be very special for us to do. Connecticut has really separated from the rest of the pack -- we accept that in the sense that we recognize it and now hope to do something about it."

The Blue Devils will once again be hosting the NCAA Tournament First and Second Rounds in 2011 on March 19 and 21. Duke has won 14 straight NCAA Tournament contests played in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Duke returns three starters in 2010-11 - Jasmine Thomas, Karima Christmas and Krystal Thomas - to go along with returning letterwinners Kathleen Scheer, Shay Selby, Alexis Rogers and Allison Vernerey. Janee Johnson will see her first action in 2010-11 after missing last year due to a knee injury.

The incoming recruiting class of Chelsea Gray, Richa Jackson, Haley Peters, Tricia Liston and Chloe Wells was tabbed No. 1 in the nation by HoopGurlz and features three McDonald's All-America selections. The class is also made of four state players of the year from New Jersey (Peters), California (Gray), Oklahoma (Jackson) and Illinois (Liston). Gray was also named Parade Magazine Co-National Player of the Year.

McCallie is coming off leading Duke to its sixth ACC Championship, the NCAA Elite Eight and the Blue Devils' eighth 30-win season over the last 10 years with a 30-6 mark.

All home games are played in the historic Cameron Indoor Stadium. For ticket information, contact the Duke Ticket Office at (919) 681-2583 or 1-877-375-3853. You can also purchase tickets online at www.GoDuke.com.

2010-11 Duke Women's Basketball Non-Conference Schedule

Nov. 13 vs. BYU
Nov. 15 vs. Southern California
Nov. 18 at Auburn
Nov. 21 vs. Western Kentucky
Nov. 24 at Pittsburgh
Nov. 27 at Charlotte
Nov. 30 at James Madison
Dec. 2 at Wisconsin
Dec. 6 vs. Texas A&M
Dec. 12 at Oklahoma State
Dec. 21 vs. Xavier
Dec. 30 vs. Temple
Jan. 4 vs. Kentucky
Jan. 31 at Connecticut
March 19 & 21 - Host the NCAA Tournament First & Second Rounds

** The full Duke schedule will be released in early September when the ACC Office releases the league-wide schedule.

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