The No. 13 women's basketball already knows what it's like to get to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Blue Devils have been there three times in school history, the most recent time being a quadruple-overtime 121-120 loss to Alabama in the 1995 Tournament.
This year, fourth-seeded Duke wants to learn what it's like to go the Sweet 16. And the only thing standing in the team's way is a very determined, upbeat University of San Francisco team. USF has already pulled off one upset by defeating fifth-seeded Florida Saturday night, and is anxious to get their chance against the Blue Devils. The two teams will square off at 8 p.m. in Cameron Indoor Stadium in what Duke head coach Gail Goestenkors said should be a battle. But the Blue Devils aren't fazed by the tough challenge ahead.
"Since last year, our goal has been to go further than last season," Goestenkors said. "We felt like we got a taste of what we could be last year. Now, this year, we are out to find out how good we can be. If we lose tomorrow night, I don't think that any one of us will be happy or satisfied or feel like we had a good season. We are in the midst of having a good season, but we feel like we haven't accomplished anything yet."
On the other hand, the Lady Dons have already accomplished some of their early season goals. One of USF's goals was to win the West Coast Conference title, and it succeeded by defeating Portland in the final round. Another of USF's goals was to get past the first round of the NCAAs, which was accomplished with the win over Florida. Still, the Lady Dons don't think they will be complacent in tonight's game. In fact, USF forward Sarah Wanless said the team may have more emotion than it showed against the Gators. And even though USF may have just 100 of its fans in Cameron Monday night, the Lady Dons are not concerned about the pro-Blue Devil crowd.
"We've been in hostile environments before," USF forward Andrea Kagie said. "I don't think that we are going to let the fans be a factor in the game. They are not going to be on the court-we are."
San Francisco is lead by senior center Valarie Gillon, a physical force inside the paint who is averaging just over 16 points and nearly nine rebounds per game. Goestenkors said when she watched the tape of the USF game against Portland, she didn't think that Gillon was such a force. Gillon scored a season low four points during the Portland game, however. Then the Duke head coach saw Gillon in person, and realized she is able to dominate the paint.
In order to combat Gillon and the other Lady Dons inside the paint, the Blue Devils are expected to have junior Tyish Hall, senior Alison Day and freshman Payton Black use their speed in the lane.
"I think that it will be a physical game, I don't think that we can avoid it," Goestenkors said. "But that's fine, because we have played many physical teams. We want to control the tempo, we don't want San Francisco to control the tempo, which is what they did last night."
San Francisco co-head coach Bill Nepfel wants to try to stop Duke's balanced offensive attack. Nepfel raved about the explosive Blue Devil offense, and said with Duke's inside-outside game, the Lady Dons are not going to be able to concentrate solely on the inside game as they did against Florida. While the physical game worked against the Gators, Nepfel said he didn't think that the physical style was his team's best style. In fact, he said Duke's offense prevents USF from playing its best inside game.
Goestenkors has compared San Francisco to the Clemson team which knocked off the Blue Devils in the finals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament finals. Both teams are known for hustling and scrapping on the boards. In the ACC tourney, the Tigers upset top-ranked Virginia, and Duke guard junior Kira Orr said the Blue Devils may have thought the final game against Clemson would be an easy one. They won't make the same mistake tonight.
"Remembering that Clemson game, we saw what Clemson did for us and San Francisco can do the same thing," Orr said. "I think that will make us come out and focus a little more on what we have to do to win."
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