After a season which saw the women's basketball team suffer the low of a 30-point season-opening loss to Connecticut, to the high of an 18-game winning streak which lasted from early December till late February, the Blue Devils will have the chance to make the most meaningful imprint of their season on the grandest stage in women's basketball.
But when the curtains open for the NCAA tournament on Saturday for the Blue Devils, any game could potentially end Duke's joyride and collegiate careers of its six seniors.
"We definitely have a sense of urgency now, especially with the six seniors, knowing that most of us will never play organized basketball again," guard Hilary Howard said. "For some reason, we really didn't have that in the ACC tournament; maybe that was a wakeup call for us. We know what it takes, and we can't take anyone lightly."
That may be a tough task for the third-seeded Blue Devils (26-5) as they prepare for their first-round matchup with 14th seed Holy Cross (21-7) in Cameron Indoor Stadium Saturday night. The Crusaders earned an automatic bid by winning the Patriot League Championship and boast two-time Patriot League player of the year Amy O'Brien.
The 6-foot-1 O'Brien, however, is the tallest player in the Crusaders starting line-up, which could spell trouble against a Duke squad that revolves much of its offense around 6-6 center and All-ACC first-teamer Michele VanGorp. Even with all signs pointing to Duke cruising to an easy win, the Blue Devils are wary of looking past Holy Cross.
"We need to play every game like this could be our last game," guard Nicole Erickson said. "Against Clemson, we started off having no emotion and no passion, and they just wanted it more than us. We have to be the team that wants it more than anyone else. Having six seniors, that shouldn't be hard."
Duke and Holy Cross shared two common opponents this season, UConn and North Carolina. Although both teams were blown out by Connecticut, the Blue Devils took two double-digit wins from UNC while the Tar Heels ran away from the Crusaders, 89-66.
Despite playing in the Patriot League, the Crusaders are not entirely strangers to top-notch competition in the postseason-having faced Old Dominion three years ago and national runner-up Louisiana Tech last season in the first round of the NCAAs.
"Every time you go [to the NCAAs], it's something special," Holy Cross senior guard Lara Marcsisin told the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. "I was hoping we'd be a 13th seed, a 12 [seed] would have been awesome, but I feel like we can do something in the tournament."
Should the Blue Devils dispatch Holy Cross as expected, they will face the winner of the contest between sixth seed Tulane and 11th seed St. Joseph's for the right to advance to Greensboro for the East Regionals.
If the other brackets in the region go according to seed, the Blue Devils could face No. 2 seed Old Dominion in the round of 16, and then top seed and three-time defending national champion Tennessee in the Regional finals.
"You figure you're going to run into [Tennessee] at some point," Erickson said. "We've already played them-that's an edge that we have. Rather than playing La. Tech and Purdue, we know what we have to do [against Tennessee].
"Really, we like the early part of our [bracket]. ODU, that's a good two seed to have. We're here in the East-that's going to be good for us."
Unlike last season, when Duke was placed in the West Region with a vulnerable top seed in injury-plagued Stanford that lost in the first round, the Blue Devils find themselves with a much tougher path to the Final Four this season.
Both Goestenkors and the players, however, believe the team is better equipped to handle the rigors of the tournament this time around.
"Last year, we tensed up in the game against Arkansas," Howard said. "This year, we've been there. We're just a little wiser, a little older. Everyone else says, 'Oh, you're in Tennessee's bracket,' but we're not fazed by that at all."
That refusal-to-back-down attitude may be just what the coach wanted in order to blaze through the difficult trail laid in front of them and return to San Jose, where it all began for Duke four months ago.
"With the NCAA tournament, it's the survival of the fittest," coach Gail Goestenkors said. "The mentally and physically toughest teams are going to win. Maybe not the most talented, but the toughest teams are going to win."
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