Currie spicing up Blue Devils’ game
Duke’s Monique Currie glanced at the promotional flyer touting her for national player of the year and could hardly contain her surprise.
“Oh, my goodness,” she said.
It was the first time she’d seen the card, which included three pictures of her along with the slogan, “Spice up your game with a little Currie.” In a wide open race for that award, Currie clearly is one of the favorites.
The 6-foot forward fills up the stat sheet, averaging 18 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.4 steals. She also shoots 79 percent from the free throw line, the best mark among the starters.
No wonder the top-ranked Blue Devils haven’t skipped a beat without Alana Beard and Iciss Tillis.
“She’s really grown into the role of a leader for us, and it is something in years past that she hasn’t had to do,” coach Gail Goestenkors said. “She was very comfortable in the shadows of Alana and Iciss, so it’s something that we’ve talked about really from last year.”
Replacing Beard was tough. She led Duke to Atlantic Coast Conference titles – regular seasons and tournament – in each of her four years, and became only the second three-time Associated Press All-American.
Last year, she won the AP player of the year and was the first women’s player at the school to have her number retired.
“I don’t know if I was in her shadow,” Currie said. “Alana was the leader of our team. She did a good job with it, and I would hope I learned from her.”
Ninth-ranked North Carolina (14-3, 2-2) is coming off an overtime loss at Florida State and needs to snap its losing streak to Duke to have any chance of competing for the regular season title.
To do it, the Tar Heels will have to overcome some problems from the previous 12 games.
“In the past, we’ll end up going on a big run, and they’ll end up giving up,” Currie said. “Usually when we play our game, that gets them a little flustered.”
That style of play includes less full-court pressure this season because Duke has only eight players. Point guard Lindsey Harding was suspended for the rest of the year for an unspecified violation of team rules, and guard Caitlin Howe is out until at least the end of February after having surgery on her right leg.
As long as Currie keeps going, the Blue Devils should be fine.
“She definitely leads by example,” guard Jessica Foley said. “She’ll let you know when you do something wrong, but she doesn’t usually yell at you. She just plays so hard all the time, it makes you want to.”
Currie is so good she has a tough decision following the season. Because she redshirted in 2002-03 with a knee injury, she’s eligible to leave school for the WNBA draft after her junior year.
If she helps Duke win its first national title, she would have little reason to stay.
“I really haven’t thought about it,” Currie said. “I’m not going to make a decision until after the season.”
Top 25 games
(2) LSU 79, (17) Vanderbilt 68: At Nashville, Tenn., Sylvia Fowles scored 20 of her 22 points in the second half, and the Tigers (18-1, 5-0 SEC) never trailed the Commodores (13-5, 2-3) in their fourth straight victory. … (3) Ohio St. 71, Northwestern 59: At Columbus, Ohio, Brandie Hoskins scored 18 points to lead the Buckeyes (19-2, 6-1 Big Ten) to a win over the Wildcats for their eighth straight victory and their 10th straight win over Northwestern (4-16, 1-6). … (11) Notre Dame 63, (6) Rutgers 47: At South Bend, Ind., Jacqueline Batteast scored 18 of her 27 points in the second half, and the Fighting Irish (16-3, 4-2 Big East) used a 23-0 run to beat the Scarlet Knights (13-4, 4-1), giving coach Muffet McGraw her 400th career win with the Irish. … (7) Tennessee 67, Kentucky 49: At Knoxville, Tenn., Shyra Ely scored 13 points and the Volunteers (14-3, 4-0, SEC) held the Wildcats (13-7, 2-3) to six field goals in the first half en route to Tennessee’s 38th regular-season league win in a row and 24th over Kentucky. … Penn St. 73, (8) Michigan St. 56: At State College, Pa., Tanisha Wright and Jess Strom each scored 24 points to help the Lions (12-6, 7-0 Big Ten) knock off another top-10 team in their win over the Spartans (16-3, 5-2). … (12) Minnesota 80, Illinois 68: At Minneapolis, Kelly Roysland scored a career-high 19 points to lift the Golden Gophers (16-3, 6-1 Big Ten) over the Fighting Illini (11-6, 3-4). … (14) Boston College at Providence (ppd.): The game between the Eagles (13-2, 4-0 Big East) and the Friars (1-15, 0-5) was postponed due to a blizzard that hit New England. The game was rescheduled for today in Providence, R.I. … N.C. State 67, (16) Maryland 55: At College Park, Md., Billie McDowell had 18 points and nine rebounds, and the Wolfpack (15-4, 4-2 ACC) handed the Terrapins (13-4, 3-3) their first home loss of the season. Crystal Langhorne had 13 points and 19 rebounds for Maryland. … (18) DePaul 90, Southern Mississippi 63: At Hattiesburg, Miss., Jenna Rubino, Allie Quigley and Caprice Smith each had 16 points in the Blue Demons’ (15-3, 4-1 CUSA) win over the Golden Eagles (6-12, 1-5). … (21) Georgia 67, Mississippi State 57: At Starkville, Miss., Tasha Humphey had 24 points and 12 rebounds to help the Georgia Bulldogs (15-5, 4-2 SEC) rally over the Mississippi State Bulldogs (14-4, 3-2). Georgia trailed by six at halftime. … (24) Purdue 79, (22) Iowa 75: At West Lafayette, Ind., Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton scored a career-high 19 points and Katie Gearlds added 19 points and six assists to lead the Boilermakers (11-7, 4-3 Big Ten) over the Hawkeyes (14-4, 3-4).