Duke's Waner works on all facets of game

Senior plans to prove 'spot-up shooter' label is outdated

When Abby Waner arrived at Duke as a freshman in 2005, she took the court with tried-and-true scorers Monique Currie and Lindsey Harding, finding her place as a catch-and-release shooter on the wing.

"What they needed from me my freshman year is to spot up and shoot," Waner said. "Because I was in that role it made me appear as a shooter. Then I kind of put that in my own mind."

And ever since, Waner has been associated with swishing jump shots and bombing 3-pointers, a reputation cemented by the fact that as a freshman she shot 45 percent from the field and 38 percent from long-range. Then she followed that up with 46 percent from the floor as a sophomore.

But "spot-up shooter" is not the only phrase Waner wants attached to an opponent's scouting sheet. That's why at 8 a.m. Thursday she was dribbling around a trash can at Cameron Indoor Stadium, creating space on the move and pulling up for short jump shots.

In a long-sleeve gray T-shirt and shorts, she worked out with junior Joy Cheek and assistant coach Al Brown, trying to expand her game beyond the perimeter. It was an extra session hours before evening practice.

As the No. 6-ranked Blue Devils (2-0) travel to Chicago for the DePaul Invitational tournament, where they face Hartford today, Waner is starting a senior season in which she hopes to showcase a wide range of talents.

"I just believe in Abby as a complete player," Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "She's a difference-maker in every single category."

Waner is fourth on Duke's career steals list with 233 and holds the record for most in a game with 10 against Utah Valley last season. She is five assists shy of moving into 10th place all-time with 330.

Although she is tied for third on Duke's 3-pointers list with 171, she said she derives more satisfaction from an assist than hitting a 19-foot jumper. In Duke's opening games, she's had eight assists and against Maine twice directed fast breaks.

This season, Waner said she is focused on the tangible skills a player can control -- making the correct pass, setting the proper screen, rebounding, defending.

"If my team needs me to bring the ball up the court, I'll do that. If they need me to get out on a fast break, I'll do that," Waner said. "But I don't want to just be a shooter."

She's working to become a better on-ball defender. Yet she's a savvy defender, knowing when to rotate for a double team and how to pop loose a ball for a steal.

"I'm a slow, white girl, and I know that," she said. "But defense is not necessarily about athleticism."

Cheek said her 5-foot-10 teammate never stops moving.

"Abby is always around the ball," she said. "She hustles like crazy. Always on the floor. ... Regardless of how her shot might be, she is always going to hustle."

While rebounding is a strong indicator of effort, there's no official stat line for hustle.

"Stats are just numbers," said Waner. "Then again, they also don't lie. So at the end of the game they are incredibly important when you look at them and say, 'I only had two rebounds. I'm clearly not crashing the boards.' "

At the end of last season, Waner looked at her statistics and saw she shot a career-low 32 percent from the field and 26 percent from the arc. Despite her disappointment, she couldn't carry old news into a new season.

"You can't," she said. "As an athlete, you fix it. You don't dwell on it. You fix it."

Meanwhile, she's also trying to exude the swagger and confidence of her favorite player, Diana Taurasi, who can "miss shots and it doesn't matter."

"That's not easy for me," Waner said. "It's definitely something I need to have. ... Once you miss that shot, you're never going to get that shot back. It's all about the next one."

So it's early morning practices with Cheek and Brown. And instead of ending them with a succession of 3-pointers, there are floaters and jump hooks and driving layups.

"Just so I get in the mind-set of going to the basket," Waner said. "But in the end, I love shooting 3s. I know that's muscle memory for me. I've been programmed that way."