Coming into this season, Alana Beard was easily considered one of the country's top players.
She could score. She could dish it off. She could rebound. She could drive inside. And above all, she could play some serious defense. But her range -- Beard shot just 19.6 percent (10-for-51) from 3-point land -- was a bit suspect.
Until now.
In Duke's last three games, Beard is 6-for-8 on 3-point attempts. The Duke sophomore, largely regarded as last season's national Freshman of the Year, is shooting 61 percent (74-for-121) from the field, 46 percent (6-for-13) from beyond the arc and 74 percent (28-for-38) at the foul line this season. She is averaging 18.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 6.7 assists, 4.5 steals and 0.7 blocks through 10 games, and boasts a 2.23 assist-to-turnover ratio.
"Alana has to be the most complete player in the country," Duke coach Gail Goestenkors said. "She plays unbelievable defense. ... And now adding a 3-point shot to her arsenal, it makes her pretty tough to defend. Now she can score literally from anywhere on the floor."
She did just that in Sunday's 32-point rout of UNC Greensboro, putting in a career-best 3-for-4 performance on 3-pointers en route to 21 points. Beard hit her first five field goals on her way to finishing 7 of 9 from the floor. She also tallied nine assists, eight rebounds, seven steals and two blocks in 29 minutes.
Heading into the offseason, Beard focused on improving her 3-point shooting, and it paid off. Over the summer, she went 9-for-21 (43 percent) from 3-point range while competing for USA Basketball.
"Alana had two things she needed to work on over the summer -- being a more vocal leader and her 3-point shooting," Goestenkors said. "Those were the two areas, not that they were weaknesses for her, but to make her the best player possible and make us the best team possible.
"I think she gained a lot of confidence playing overseas this summer with USA Basketball and then going to Australia."
And now Beard can hit from down under or from long distance.
| SATURDAY SHOWDOWN |
| It's the battle of unbeatens Saturday when top-ranked UConn hosts Oklahoma (No. 4 ESPN/USA Today; No. 3 AP) at the Hartford Civic Center (2 p.m. ET, ESPN2). The teams, both 10-0, have met just twice before, with the Huskies holding a 2-0 lead in the all-time series. UConn won 102-80 in the last meeting, which was in the Sweet 16 in March 2000. |
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| GET TO KNOW THE NAME |
| Michigan's LeeAnn Bies has been lighting up scoreboards this season. The 6-3 junior center is averaging 17.5 points and 8.7 rebounds while shooting 61.2 percent from the field. She had 21 points and 15 rebounds in a 2OT win over LSU on Sunday that helped propel Michigan to its highest ranking in the polls at No. 13. |
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| DID YOU KNOW? |
| According to ESPN's Nancy Lieberman, Penn State grad/Cleveland Rockers guard Helen Darling is pregnant -- with triplets! ... As of Dec. 12, 19,346 tickets have been sold for the UConn-Tennessee game on Jan. 5 ... Georgia Schweitzer of the Minnesota Lynx has returned to Durham as a temporary assistant coach for Duke. |
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She once loved watching Daffy Duck. Her favorite pre-game meal is spaghetti. And as for her favorite movie, she can't get enough of Dirty Dancing. See what else Penn State sophomore 
