For nearly 25 minutes last night, it looked like the Western Kentucky Cinderella story would add another chapter.
But somewhere between the evil stepmother and the glass slipper, the Lady Toppers just plain ran out of gas.
The second-seeded Blue Devils (28-5) reeled off a 21-6 run midway through the second half to break open a 40-40 tie and give themselves enough breathing room to cruise to a 90-70 win against a visibly fatigued Western Kentucky (22-10).
The win earned Duke a trip to Richmond next Saturday for a East Regional semifinal matchup against Louisiana State.
"I felt like if we could just hang in there and keep pushing the ball, and keep making them work defensively, sooner or later,we would wear them down a little bit," Duke coach Gail Goestenkors said. "I think that's what happened."
Although Duke took a six-point lead into the locker room, the Lady Toppers roared out of the gates in the second half, scoring eight of the first 10 points of the second half to pull even with Duke at 40 on a Jamie Britt layup.
But an unflustered Duke squad would answer quickly.
A Krista Gingrich free throw gave Duke the lead for good, and when Rochelle Parent rebounded a Natalie Powers miss on the next WKU possession, the Duke run and the Rochelle Parent rebounding show began in earnest.
Parent would grab two offensive boards
A Western Kentucky timeout did little to slow down the Blue Devils. Michele Matyasovsky fed a wide-open West underneath the basket to give Duke its first double-digit lead of the game at 54-43. And Schweitzer put the exclamation point on the run at the 10-minute mark when she picked Powers' pocket at midcourt and converted the breakaway layup with Powers and ShaRae Mansfield colliding and collapsing in her wake.
"I think we all ran out of gas there when they made that run in the second half," WKU forward Jaime Walz said. "We [tied the game] in the second half and it took a lot out of us to do that. They move the ball so quick on offense, and they had great cuts, and we were always moving on defense. I think that really got us tired."
But before the Lady Toppers would succumb to fatigue, they gave Duke all it could handle. Western Kentucky stayed within four points of the favored Blue Devils for the majority of the first half. And a flu-stricken Mansfield was a big reason why.
The All-American repeatedly beat Lauren Rice and Parent inside in the first half, grabbing seven rebounds-including four on the offensive end-and scoring 10 points.
"[Mansfield] is a trooper there," Western Kentucky coach Steve Small said. "I'm in the locker room, and I hear someone throwing up. It's usually me, but it wasn't me. I looked in there and I hear ShaRae going '[vomit], I'll be alright coach, [vomit]." I said 'Just close the door.' She won't tell you, but she's a very sick camper."
Although Mansfield continued to score effectively in the second half, Parent shut down Mansfield on the boards. Despite picking up four fouls early in the second half, Parent outrebounded Mansfield seven to two in the last 20 minutes and did not allow her to grab a single offensive board.
"Mansfield is an incredible player-take nothing away from what she did tonight," Parent said. "We know it was going to be a tough matchup for anybody on our team. Someone was telling me before the game, 'She's going to be hard to stop.' But I said, 'She's going to beat me, but she's not going to beat the whole team.'"
And for one night at least, Parent was right.
Notes: With the win Duke advances to its third straight Sweet 16.... Former men's basketball player Trajan Langdon attended last night's game.... The win marked the 100th victory for Duke's senior class, who played their final game in Cameron.... The injured Peppi Browne received a rousing ovation toward the conclusion of the contest.
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