
CAMERON INDOOR STADIUM/DURHAM Duke gets a visit from a nationally ranked ACC team for the first time this season, entertaining No. 13 Florida State.
It will be the first game for Duke since Sunday night’s 58-57 win at Maryland, the Blue Devils’ first victory in College Park in three years.
Duke and FSU played twice last season, with the Blue Devils rolling to a 79-57 win in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament after falling 82-75 in overtime in Tallahassee.
“They’re a very good team, and we did not execute and do the things we wanted to do down there last year,” Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie (pictured) said. “We did do the things we wanted to do during the ACC Tournament, but right now we’re in the regular season and you kind of remember those experiences. They’re very good and very talented, and there is some motivation because we didn’t do some things we wanted to do down there. So we’d like to play a whole lot better.
We’ve got to get after every game in a singular fashion. FSU is one of the better teams we’ve played all year. We’ll see how we attack them and go after them.”
Duke’s scoring and assist leader is junior guard Jasmine Thomas, who on Thursday became one of eight players added to the previous 25 on the Wade Trophy watch list as national player of the year.
“It’s not so much revenge, but you just don’t want to repeat the same mistakes,” Thomas said of last season’s loss to the Seminoles. “They’ve lost their (2009) seniors and we’ve lost ours, so we’re both new teams. We know they’re a great team, so we know we have to take care of business. We need to have our defense on point and get each other involved and play like a team on the offensive end.
“We definitely want to send a message every game we play. We believe anybody can beat anybody, so we know we have to be ready to play tomorrow night. Going undefeated in the league is always our goal. Our first goal is to be regular-season ACC champions.”
Duke senior forward Joy Cheek needs one point to hit the 1,000 career mark.
Florida State will stay in the Triangle over the weekend, visiting UNC on Monday night.
No. 6 Duke vs. No. 13 Florida State
[Friday, 8:30 p.m., Cameron Indoor Stadium]
Duke leads series 29-8.
Records: Duke 17-3, 5-0 ACC; FSU 18-3, 4-1.
Audio: WDNC-AM 620, GoDuke.com, Seminoles.com.
Video: Fox Sports Net South.
Coaches’ records – FSU: Sue Semrau 223-163; Duke: Joanne P. McCallie 385-167, 69-19 at Duke.
Leading scorers – FSU: Jacinta Monroe 12.9; Duke: Jasmine Thomas 15.8.
Leading rebounders – FSU: Jacinta Monroe 7.0; Duke: Krystal Thomas 7.4.
Assist leaders – FSU: Courtney Ward 5.4; Duke: Jasmine Thomas 4.6.