After record-breaking season, women's basketball looks forward to future success

Last Saturday night, the women's basketball team's four-overtime, 121-120 loss to Alabama in the NCAA tournament ended Duke's longest and most successful season in history.

But it still wasn't long enough to suit the Blue Devils.

"We're all in a state of denial right now," head coach Gail Goestenkors said. "We still want to play. We weren't ready for the season to be over.

"It's very sad and frustrating that there are no more games for this team to play together."

The Blue Devils finished the season at 22-9 overall and 10-6 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Both marks were all-time bests for the program.

Only two years ago, Duke was 12-15 and 3-13 in the ACC in Goestenkors' first year at the helm.

"This definitely was the best year that I've had at Duke," said junior center Alison Day, Duke's leading scorer and a first-team All-ACC selection. "I'm pretty sure that reflects most of the team's opinion. It's always a lot more fun when you're winning, so that helps. It was just a really exciting season, and it was a season where we got to see the rewards for our hard work."

The highlight reel for the 1994-95 Blue Devil season is lengthy, and it would take far too long to recount all of the important moments.

"That game was something very, very special," Goestenkors said. "The Alabama game was a better overall game, but having our fans, playing in Cameron and having them rush onto the floor after helping us through that game--that was just a great experience."

The Blue Devils won that game when Day hit a mid-range jumper that bounced three times around the rim before falling through the net.

-There were down moments in the regular season, especially late. But the way the Blue Devils recovered from their slump was an achievement in itself.

After starting the year at 16-2, Duke faltered, losing four of its last seven games. The Blue Devils were especially disappointed with two games, crucial contests which they expected to win. On Feb. 5, Duke lost 71-55 at N.C. State, a team the Blue Devils had whipped by 21 earlier in the season. And on Feb. 20, Duke dropped an 88-82 game at home to Clemson despite a desperation three by Day that banked in at the buzzer, sending the game to OT.

"But we were able to fight through tough times," Goestenkors said.

And once postseason play began, Duke righted the ship in big-time fashion.

-The team advanced to the ACC tournament championship game for the first time ever. After losing in the first round in the previous two years, the fourth-seeded Blue Devils put together two straight comeback victories to reach the final.

In the first game, Duke defeated Clemson--which had beaten the Blue Devils twice during the regular season--after trailing by 11 in the second half. Then, in the semifinal round, Duke overcame a 20-point halftime deficit to shock No. 6 Virginia, which had gone 16-0 in the ACC regular season. The Blue Devils won 83-82 after sophomore point guard Kira Orr hit two buzzer-beaters, one at the end of regulation and one in overtime.

-Duke earned its second NCAA tournament bid and won its second-ever tourney game on March 16 by beating Oklahoma State 76-64.

Then, in the second round, the Blue Devils lost the epic battle to the Crimson Tide. With a few bounces or a few different officiating calls, Duke would now be preparing to play at No. 1 Connecticut on Thursday.

"We were just within a breath of going to the Sweet 16," Day said. "A lot of us were joking, we were like, `When are we leaving for Connecticut?' But as the days pass, it kind of settles in.

"We've been on the winning end of a lot of those close games. You just have to look at it like that's the way that sports are."

Goestenkors said the Alabama contest could be seen as more than a game--possibly even a symbol of Duke's season.

"In a way, the last game epitomizes what this team's been all about," Goestenkors said. "They showed a great deal of character, a great deal of heart, a great deal of class. They worked hard, they did what was asked of them from the coaching staff, they never gave up, and they always believed they were going to win."

Now, the Blue Devils must wait until November to don the royal blue and white once again. And when they do, gone will be four seniors--Carey Kauffman, Kristina Meiman, Zeki Blanding and Susan Brandau--who have witnessed the program's quick rise from the ashes.

Of the four, only Kauffman, a second-team All-ACC selection, was a starter. But they will be missed for more than their on-court contributions.

"They gave it everything in practice, and they knew their roles and they were there cheering everyone on from the bench and being very supportive," Day said of the seniors. "I think everybody on the team admires them for the way they carried themselves."

Even without the seniors, who Goestenkors said contributed a great deal to the team's chemistry, the Blue Devils will have higher expectations next year. They will return experienced starters Day, Orr, junior guard Jennifer Scanlon and sophomore forward Tyish Hall.

Day, who Goestenkors said was by far the most improved player in the ACC, will spend her second-straight summer in Durham honing her skills, especially on the defensive end. The other returnees are also expected to make more improvements.

"Next season's so far away, but it's still neat to think of next year and our potential to be an even better team," Day said.

There will also be at least four freshmen joining the squad. Last fall, Goestenkors signed 6-4 Payton Black of Pennsylvania and guard Hillary Howard of New York, who she calls "probably the best passer I've ever seen in my life." The program also got recent verbal commitments from 6-1 Takisha Jones of South Carolina and Juanita Hepburn, a native of South Africa.

They will be joining a team that entered the top 25 this season for the first time since 1989--it was ranked 20th prior to the NCAAs--and a team that expects to keep moving up in the future.

"Hopefully, now I think we've solidified ourselves as a team that can play with anybody in the country," Goestenkors said. "I think we've gained a lot of respect over this year."

In fact, this season might long be remembered as the breakthrough year for Duke women's basketball. Everything seemed to come together all at once, and it was an experience the players will always cherish.

"I don't think you could have asked for more from the team this year," Kauffman said. "I never could have asked for a better senior year as far as the evolution of our team and the total turnaround. I think now Duke women's basketball is in the spotlight.

"We're now going to be a team to beat. I feel very fortunate to have been a part of the foundation for that. I know that next year, they're going to be in the Sweet 16, and they're going to keep going up from there."

For that reason, regardless of how long she coaches basketball or stays at Duke, Goestenkors will always look back fondly on this season.

"If anything, I respect this team for having the heart that they had and always showing that they were a classy group of young women," Goestenkors said. "I think this will always be a special team, because of the people who came together and because of what we were able to accomplish.

"When I look back, I am so thankful. I think we were as successful as we were because of our team chemistry, because of our unity. The players believed in themselves, they believed in each other, and they truly cared about one another.

"We feel very good about where we've been, how far we've come, and where we're going. We're on the right track."