Sometime around 7 p.m. tonight in Cameron Indoor Stadium, the PA announcer will bellow out, perhaps for the final time, "At forward for Duke, a six-one senior from Peru, Indiana, Lauren Rice."
And emerging from somewhere within the Duke huddle will be the Blue Devils' senior tri-captain, most likely kicking and screaming, arms flailing everywhere.
The fiery leader who always wears her emotions on her sleeve will play the same game in the same place where she has left buckets of sweat, a few drops of blood and tears and an entire arena-ful of memories.
But this isn't just any game.
When the Blue Devils (21-4, 11-3 ACC) face Florida State (11-14, 4-10) in Cameron Indoor Stadium tonight, Rice and fellow seniors Peppi Browne, Jennifer Forte and Missy West will close the books on a highly successful four years on the fabled court.
"It's kind of sad, but it's also exciting," Rice said. "It's exciting because the ACC title is coming down to these last few games. It's sad because I've enjoyed playing here so much. I love the game, I love Duke, I love playing in Cameron.
"The fans are great. That's the part I'm going to miss,
It's almost funny now to think Rice has arrived at the end of the road when she nearly took a fork after walking the first mile.
The wide-eyed girl from the Midwest grew so homesick her freshman season that she came within a two-foot jumper of leaving Duke altogether. But three years later, the Indiana native is finding Cameron nearly impossible to let go.
"As each year passes by and you get older, it means more and more-each opponent, each game you play in, each teammate you play with," Rice said. "As I've gotten older, I've grown to cherish each moment. You never want the last one to come, but it's finally coming."
That last game has already come for Browne and Forte, who will watch their classmates' final home performances from the bench.
While Rice focuses on battling FSU's potent frontcourt of Latavia Coleman and Brooke Wyckoff, and West tries her hand against trigger-happy Seminoles guard April Traylor, Forte will occupy that familiar yet awkward role of cheering from the sidelines-a role she has occupied since severely injuring her knee freshman season.
And in the most cruel twist of all, Browne, who has been the team's hardest worker for four seasons, will watch in street clothes what should have been her coronation as Duke's ultimate gamer.
"I wish Jen and Peppi could both be in uniform," Rice said. "They've meant a lot for the program and done a lot of good things. I'll never forget when we came in together. I've really been lucky to be surrounded by good people."
Tonight, for perhaps the final time, the player who used to seem uncomfortable with the ball will confidently mix it up inside and loft three-pointers from behind the arc. The player whose vertical leap is measured in millimeters rather than inches will somehow snatch rebounds out of the air and over her opponents.
And she will be surrounded by a cheering, familial throng, a far cry from Rice's first introduction to Cameron five years ago as a visitor.
"It was in the summer and it was about 110 degrees in the gym," Rice said. "I didn't really know of any players then, so we just peeked in here."
From a nervous Peeping Tom to a featured participant, Rice has traveled quite a road-a road that's approaching the end marker all too quickly.
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