GREENSBORO, N.C. - Duke knew what was coming.
To advance to the round of eight for the second straight NCAA tournament, the women's basketball team knew it would have to contend with an Old Dominion team that made up for what it lacked in offensive firepower with frantic defense and ferocious offensive rebounding. The keys to the game were no mystery.
"There were two things that we needed to do to win," Duke coach Gail Goestenkors said. "Take care of the basketball, and limit their offensive rebounds. Those were two things we could control."
It took the better part of 20 minutes, but the Blue Devils finally realized those objectives and emerged with a 76-63 win Saturday at the Greensboro Coliseum. Nicole Erickson scored 16 of her game-high 24 points in the second half to lead Duke past the Sweet 16 for only the second time in the history of the program.
Peppi Browne and Georgia Schweitzer were the catalysts to an 11-2 run in the opening minutes of the second half that broke open a tight game. Browne's steal and uncontested layup at the 13:41 mark capped the run and gave Duke a 49-38 lead.
A nice feed from Old Dominion's Hamchetou Maiga created an easy bucket for Mery Andrade that trimmed the margin to 64-59 with 4:30 left to play. That was still the score with 2:45 remaining when Andrade, the Monarchs' emotional leader, was whistled for her fifth foul just before the shot clock was about to expire for Duke.
Natalie Diaz sank a running eight-footer to make it 71-63 with less than two minutes remaining. But on Duke's next possession, Lauren Rice sucked the last bit of wind out of the Monarchs' sails by banking in a three-pointer from the top of the key.
"I knew the shot clock was going down," said Rice, who scored 11 points off the bench on 4-of-5 shooting. "I just tried to spot up and throw it up there, and it went in. I think that really just put the knife in them and kind of killed them."
Duke (27-6) struggled with two aspects of Old Dominion's pressure in the first half. The Blue Devils committed 16 turnovers before the break, maintaining their lead only because the Monarchs often gave them the ball right back.
At the same time, double and triple-teaming in the paint held leading scorer Michele VanGorp to just four points and two shots in the first 20 minutes.
"I would like to have had more out of Michele-she had a great game against them last time," said Goestenkors. "Michele played a good game; she just could not get the ball. We tried, and a lot of our turnovers in the first half were us trying to get the ball into her."
The second half saw Duke go away from trying to force the ball into the blocks and switch to attacking the basket off the wing. With Schweitzer and Browne slashing, things opened up for Erickson, who was a perfect 11-for-11 from the foul line and 3-for-3 from three-point range.
"We had a great deal of respect for [Erickson] going into the game," Old Dominion coach Wendy Larry said. "It wasn't the case of not knowing about her. You have to pick your poison, and she really answered the call. She made great shot selections."
Erickson tied for the team lead with seven rebounds as well. Schweitzer also grabbed seven boards to go along with 15 points. VanGorp fouled out with 1:54 to play with six points.
Andrade did most of her damage from the line, going 9-of-11 en route to 17 points. Berthieu led the Monarchs with 18 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, and Diaz added 15 points.
The loss marked the end of an era of sorts for Old Dominion (28-4), since it served as the finale of Andrade's career. An integral part of the 1997 squad that made it all the way to the national finals, the fiery senior found herself surrounded with a less talented supporting cast in '99.
"Mery Andrade's level of competition was second to none at ODU," Larry said. "She's been assisted by Natalie [Diaz] and Lucienne [Berthieu], but when you get to this level you need more than three players."
Duke's opponent in Monday's East Regional final will be three-time defending national champion Tennessee, who disposed of Virginia Tech in Saturday's other semifinal. An upset of the Lady Vols would cement the Blue Devils' place among the nation's elite in the minds of many observers, but Goestenkors said she feels they have already earned that distinction.
"We expected to be here, which is really good because last year, our goal was to get to the Sweet 16," she said. "When we won and got to the Elite Eight, we were so elated, we were almost in shock we were so happy. Today we're happy, we feel good, but we feel like we've still got business to attend to."
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