DURHAM, N.C. -- Alana Beard plays down low in Duke's two-three zone, guards the opposing team's center in the post and pressures the ball as soon as it crosses halfcourt.

	Duke's Alana Beard scored a game-high 31 points on Thursday.

On offense, she runs the baseline to pop out for jump shots, posts up inside and runs the offense as the Blue Devils' point guard. And she's the team's head cheerleader, consoler and tone-setter.

The Blue Devils lost playmaker Georgia Schweitzer and leading rebounder Rochelle Parent to graduation, but Beard has filled both roles. She's raised her assist average from 3.7 last year to 5.5 this season and improved her rebounding by more than two per game to 6.6. Quiet by nature, Beard was content to defer leadership duties to Schweitzer and Parent last year. But with Duke entering this season with five sophomores and two freshmen, coach Gail Goestenkors told Beard she would have to open her mouth more for the Blue Devils to be successful.

Naturally, she responded.

"I think this year is my breakout season with the team," Beard said. "I'm one of the silly ones now and I really didn't do that last year. This year, I've had to be more of a vocal leader and I think it's helped my all-around game."

So Beard -- the consensus national Freshman of the Year last season -- has had little time to worry about a sophomore slump since she has been too busy doing it all in a very trying season.

"I've told her I feel bad for her, that she's been put in a situation where she's had to grow up quickly and take on a lot of pressure," Goestenkors said. "In every game, she plays every position on the floor, and that's a lot to ask of anyone, much less a sophomore. She's done a great job handling it all."

Beard scored most of her points in transition last season, but has expanded her repertoire to fit the needs of this year's team. She's still scoring on the break -- her 3.6 steals leads the team -- but has added a soft turnaround jumper from the post and is hitting more jump shots off screens. She's also made a dramatic improvement in 3-point shooting -- 48 percent, compared with 19 percent last year -- while raising her scoring average nearly two points to 18.9.

"Alana's a fantastic player," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "She's got just about everything that any coach would want to have in a player."

Beard has been at her best when Duke has needed her the most. On Nov. 28, Duke assistant coach Joanne Boyle was hospitalized with bleeding in the back of her brain. She had surgery Dec. 8 and spent more than two weeks in the hospital before returning Jan. 6.

The players still weren't sure if Boyle was going to be all right when teammates Rometra Craig and Crystal White announced Dec. 6 that they were transferring. That left Duke with just eight players.

The setbacks merely challenged Beard.

"I just think as a team, losing the two players made us stronger," Beard said. "I like being the underdog because you don't have to live up to the expectations. Being the underdog makes us more intense and it's going to make us work harder."

In the 11 games since Craig and White left, Beard has shot 59 percent and averaged 19.9 points, including a career-high 35 against Maryland on Jan. 2. She's also 13-for-24 from 3-point range and has averaged nearly seven rebounds in that span.

The Blue Devils have won 12 of 13 -- the only loss was to No. 2 Tennessee -- and have climbed to fifth in the polls.

"When those two players left, Virginia was our next game and she was on a mission," Goestenkors said. "It was almost like she was going to prove to everyone that we were going to accomplish our goals. Her leadership abilities just improved 100 percent when those two left.

"She has set the tone for us in every single game for us since then."

Filling the role as team leader has been the most difficult part of the season for Beard. Those around her have definitely noticed a difference.

"She was pretty quiet last year, like most freshmen are," said Schweitzer, who is serving as a temporary assistant coach until the WNBA season begins. "We sat down and talked about tense situations and how the team will look to her in those situations, and I think she's done a great job of handling it."

Not bad for a player who slipped through the recruiting cracks coming out of high school.

Beard was Miss Basketball in Louisiana and led Shreveport Southwood High School to four straight state titles, but wasn't recruited by Tennessee and Connecticut, the top two women's programs in the country.

Summer camps and tournaments give coaches their best chance to evaluate players, but Beard wasn't invited to any of the national camps as a junior and hurt her shoulder the summer before her senior year.

Tennessee coach Pat Summitt and Connecticut's Geno Auriemma have said they made a mistake in not recruiting Beard, but the player is pleased with the way it has turned out.

"When I didn't know about recruiting I was disappointed that they didn't recruit me, but after I learned about a lot of stuff I was kind of glad that they didn't," Beard said. "Just look at me now. Look at where I'm at with Duke. It's a great school with great coaches and great teammates. I couldn't be happier."