RALEIGH - Before the season began, Gail Goestenkors knew the Blue Devils would have trouble with N.C. State.
She expressed her concerns in October, when the ACC's nine coaches gathered for a preseason press conference. She knew that in any matchup featuring two such different styles, anything could happen.
Goestenkors knew she had no match for 6-foot-5 Summer Erb, joking that reed-thin center Lello Gebisa would fall over if Erb blew on her. But Goestenkors hoped that what the Blue Devils gave up in size, they could make up for in athleticism.
Early on in Duke's 80-75 overtime loss, it seemed she'd have her wish. For the first 5:30, the Blue Devils built a 16-4 lead while keeping the much taller Wolfpack from scoring a single point inside the paint.
Erb was held scoreless for the first 11 minutes and her frontcourt mate, 6-3 Kaayla Chones, made just one layup in the first half. Duke's small-but-quick frontcourt prevented N.C. State's twin towers from touching the ball inside, and all the while the Blue Devils dominated the transition game, forcing 14 first-half turnovers.
Put simply, Duke was forcing N.C. State to play the game at the Blue Devils' tempo. But as the game wore on, it was the Blue Devils who were forced to play the Wolfpack's game.
"They have bigger bodies and they knew what to do with them," Duke forward Peppi Browne said. "Posting up, going outside, going to the basket and that kind of thing. They've probably been the toughest [team we've played.]"
The Blue Devils held a double-digit lead with 7:32 left in the half, but the lead was trimmed to a single point as N.C. State's bodies began to wear the Blue Devils' down. During the comeback, Erb scored on a putback, Ivy Gardner made a layup, Talisha Scates put back an Erb miss and Amy Simpson made two free throws after rebounding a Gardner miss.
And although Duke took a three-point lead into the halftime break, N.C. State took with it something much more precious-control of the game.
"We were much more aggressive tonight [than we have been]," Wolfpack coach Kay Yow said. "Early in the game, we gave up some easy transition baskets. We got that straightened out and we really settled down and played a great defensive game. We became more offensive-minded tonight in terms of penetration and getting the ball inside."
As the second half opened, Duke lost complete control of the game and missed its first 12 shots. Duke wanted to run with the ball, but the Blue Devils were running without control, forcing up several ill-advised shots. The Wolfpack turned a three-point deficit into a nine-point lead as Duke shot 1-of-17 in the half's first 9:30.
"Their defense was excellent, especially on the perimeter," Goestenkors said. "We couldn't get to the basket. I thought they did a great job stopping our penetration and taking us out of our set."
The Blue Devils struggled adjusting to the new style of play, but Duke's quickness led to many offensive rebounds and although Duke couldn't hit field goals, it was able to stay in the game by getting to the charity stripe.
"Coach told us before the game that because we're a little bit quicker than their post players, we knew we'd be able to face up and take it to the basket," Browne said. "Unfortunately, today we weren't hitting our outside shots and we weren't getting any open looks for our guards, so all we could do was go to the basket."
N.C. State was on to the plan, and took advantage of a superior bench, playing three reserves for 28 minutes or more, while Duke used just three bench players, two of whom played less than 10 minutes.
As the Blue Devils tired, they ran the ball less and were forced to play N.C. State's half-court game.
Rochelle Parent's and Browne's foul trouble only exacerbated a bad situation.
"Rochelle Parent is one of our best help-side people and when she had to go out of the game, it really hurt our defense," Goestenkors said. "She's our best perimeter defender and she was doing a great job in the paint helping with the post players."
But the tide reversed again when Erb picked up her fourth foul. Browne went after the much slower Erb and in a two-minute span late in the second half, Browne scored seven points and dished out an assist.
But it was in the last 25 seconds of overtime when Goestenkors' preseason fears came to fruition. Erb never picked up her fifth foul, and with Lauren Rice fouled out and Duke's frontcourt simply outmatched, N.C. State sealed the game when it grabbed three straight offensive rebounds on missed Wolfpack free throws.
It was Goestenkors' worst nightmare, a recurring dream she has had since October.
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