at Rutgers (ESPN2) (Jimmy V Classic, Piscataway, N.J.)
7:00
D7
VANDERBILT
7:00
D10
TEXAS (ESPNU)
1:00
D19
vs. Bowling Green(Caribbean Classic, Cancun, Mexico)
TBA
D20
vs. SMU (Caribbean Classic, Cancun, Mexico)
TBA
D21
vs. Pittsburgh (Caribbean Classic, Cancun, Mexico)
TBA
D29
at Dartmouth (CSTV) (Blue Sky Resort Classic, Hanover, N.H.)
7:00
D30
vs.Dayton/Boston University (Blue Sky Resort Classic, Hanover, N.H.)
5/7:00
J3
MIAMI
7:00
J7
at Virginia Tech (RSN)
12:30
J10
GEORGIA TECH
7:00
J13
MARYLAND (FSN)
12:30
J18
at NC State
7:00
J22
at Tennessee (ESPN2)
7:00
J25
at Florida State
7:00
J29
VIRGINIA TECH (RSN)
7:00
F2
at Virginia (RSN)
7:00
F5
CLEMSON (RSN)
7:00
F8
at North Carolina (ESPN2)
7:00
F11
at Wake Forest
3:00
F15
BOSTON COLLEGE
7:00
F18
at Maryland (FSN)
6:00
F25
NORTH CAROLINA (ESPN2)
5:00
M1-4
ACC Tournament (Greensboro Coliseum)
Duke
2005-06: 31-4 Overall, 12-2 ACC
2nd in ACC
Preseason Information
When a Final Four team returns seven letter winners and welcomes one of the nation's top recruiting classes, there is good reason to have high expectations. When five of those players started at least 12 games last season, the possibilities seem endless. Despite its youth, this Duke squad enters the 2006-2007 campaign with a clear goal in mind: a successful return trip to the national championship game.
Duke enters the pre-season with one of the most versatile rosters in the nation. The 2006-2007 squad features six solid guards and five outstanding post players, almost half of whom can shift seamlessly between the point, wing, and small forward positions.
At 6-7 and 6-5, respectively, senior Alison Bales and junior Chante Black will be the starting forces underneath. The duo combined for 185 blocked shots and 444 rebounds last season. After making quiet strides behind the scenes for her first two years, Bales rose to the spotlight in the 2006 NCAA Tournament, averaging 13.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 5.0 blocks per game during the six contests to earn her NCAA Final Four All-Tournament honors. A product of Dayton, Ohio, Bales' 283 career blocked shots ranks her first on Duke's all-time record book.
Senior Guard Lindsey Harding
Senior Lindsey Harding, the 2005-2006 ACC Defensive Player of the Year, returns as one of the premier point guards in the nation. The only member of the 2006-2007 squad to have participated in two Final Fours, Harding brings the experience of a seasoned veteran. An All-America candidate and All-ACC first team selection in 2006, Harding has consistently made her mark on Duke's all-time records list. Her 448 career assists ranks her third in Duke history, in addition to notching an impressive 210 steals in three years.
Blue Devil Details
After advancing to the school’s fourth NCAA Final Four and second National
Championship game, Duke returns three starters and nine letterwinners off a team
that finished the 2005-06 campaign with a 31-4 overall record.
The Blue Devils return 61.4 percent of their scoring and 68.5 percent of their rebounding
from last year’s squad.
Senior point guard Lindsey Harding returns after being named
ACC Defensive Player of the Year.
After being named Bridgeport Regional MVP and a member of the NCAA Final Four
All-Tournament Team, senior Alison Bales is primed to have a stellar final year at Duke.
Bales averaged 12.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 6.5 blocks, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals during
the Bridgeport Regional, leading the Blue Devils to the 2006 NCAA Final Four. Bales is the all-time blocks leader at Duke with 283 and needs 48 blocks to become the ACC career leader.
Duke returns five student-athletes who started 12 or more games last season
for the Blue Devils.
Head Coach Gail Goestenkors enters her 15th season at Duke and has led the Blue
Devils to six straight 30-win seasons, which tied an NCAA record.
Gail Goestenkors
Gail Goestenkors led Duke to five consecutive ACC Tournament titles from 2000-04, becoming the first league coach to perform such a feat ... After leading Duke to an ACC record 35 wins in 2003, she was named the Naismith, WBCA and Victor Award winner as the National Coach of the Year ... Goestenkors was also named the 2000 Basketball Times and 1999 Victor Award winner as the National Coach of the Year … In addition, she has been named ACC Coach of the Year on six occasions in the last 10 years – 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003 and 2004 ... She guided the 2003 Blue Devils to the NCAA Final Four, their third appearance in five years … Her 1999 squad defeated three-time defending NCAA Champion Tennessee in the East Region Final and Georgia in the Final Four to reach the NCAA championship game ... Goestenkors’ Duke teams won regular-season ACC championships in 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 and shared the title in 2005 ... Goestenkors has led the Blue Devils to 12 straight NCAA Tournaments, advancing to the Sweet 16 each of the last eight years and the Final Four in four of the last eight years ... She has recorded 11 straight seasons with at least 20 wins, including six consecutive seasons with at least 30 wins (2001-06) ... Goestenkors has coached the six of the last seven ACC Players of the Year ... Before coming to Duke, Goestenkors served as an assistant coach for six seasons at Purdue (1986-92) ... She spent one year as a graduate assistant at Iowa State ... Goestenkors played basketball at Saginaw Valley State from 1981 to 1985, where she was an NAIA All-American, team and conference MVP and an Academic All-Conference selection ... Goestenkors was an assistant coach for the 2004 Athens Olympic gold medal team.
Gail Goestenkors led Duke to five consecutive ACC Tournament titles from 2000-04, becoming the first league coach to perform such a feat ... After leading Duke to an ACC record 35 wins in 2003, she was named the Naismith, WBCA and Victor Award winner as the National Coach of the Year ... Goestenkors was also named the 2000 Basketball Times and 1999 Victor Award winner as the National Coach of the Year … In addition, she has been named ACC Coach of the Year on six occasions in the last 10 years – 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003 and 2004 ... She guided the 2003 Blue Devils to the NCAA Final Four, their third appearance in five years … Her 1999 squad defeated three-time defending NCAA Champion Tennessee in the East Region Final and Georgia in the Final Four to reach the NCAA championship game ... Goestenkors’ Duke teams won regular-season ACC championships in 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 and shared the title in 2005 ... Goestenkors has led the Blue Devils to 12 straight NCAA Tournaments, advancing to the Sweet 16 each of the last eight years and the Final Four in four of the last eight years ... She has recorded 11 straight seasons with at least 20 wins, including six consecutive seasons with at least 30 wins (2001-06) ... Goestenkors has coached the six of the last seven ACC Players of the Year ... Before coming to Duke, Goestenkors served as an assistant coach for six seasons at Purdue (1986-92) ... She spent one year as a graduate assistant at Iowa State ... Goestenkors played basketball at Saginaw Valley State from 1981 to 1985, where she was an NAIA All-American, team and conference MVP and an Academic All-Conference selection ... Goestenkors was an assistant coach for the 2004 Athens Olympic gold medal team.
