Saturday's battle of the titans features the nation's two most decorated freshman classes among the game's many battles for No. 1.
In what has since become an anger-inducing issue for Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma, Duke head coach Gail Goestenkors beat him out for Australian Jessica Foley, and the Blue Devils' class of 2006 earned the top-grade from recruiting experts around the country.
The reputations of Mistie Bass, Brooke Smith, Lindsey Harding, Caitlin Howe and Foley were impressive, and the class was supposed to challenge immediately for spots in Duke's starting lineup, even with seven Blue Devils returning.
The Huskies freshman class--Nicole Wolff, Willnett Crockett, Barbara Turner and Ann Strother--attracted No. 1 national rankings as well. All four were McDonald's All-Americans, whereas only Bass and Smith competed for Duke. Unlike their Blue Devil counterparts, the Connecticut freshmen weren't just possibilities for the 2002-2003 starting lineup, they were certainties.
One indication of Connecticut's dominance is visible in the "ring of honor" at the National Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, which comprises the best outgoing and incoming collegiate players. The 2002 version featured an astounding seven Huskies: four graduated seniors, two freshmen (Strother and Crockett) and UConn's current National Player of the Year-candidate Diana Taurasi. With so many players gone, the freshmen were going to have to play.
Play they have, with the four combining to average 90 minutes of playing time a game--20 minutes more than their Duke counterparts--who are down to four, however, as Howe is sitting out the season due to a knee injury).
"It looks like their freshmen have had to step up, they've had to do a little bit more for their team," Foley said. "They'll be getting some opportunities that we aren't, but we'll be learning from some great players. They may not have that opportunity."
That has been the answer from almost everyone in Durham to explain the harsh statistical difference between the two freshman classes widely viewed as head-and-shoulders above every other.
Strother, Turner and Wolff have all led the Huskies in scoring in at least one game, and are starting on a more regular basis than Duke's celebrated foursome.
Are Duke's freshmen not pulling their weight?
"That's a tough question to answer," Michelle Matyasovsky said. "It's tough for the freshmen. We return seven players and we return the starting five. I think the freshmen are coming in and filling the roles that they need to be doing.... I think they're producing for us. I don't think they're underachieving or anything like that."
The Blue Devils have been surprisingly reliant on last year's stars Alana Beard and Iciss Tillis, though. After preseason All-ACC sophomore Monique Currie tore her ACL, it has been Duke's veteran core that has mostly filled the statistical void.
Duke's freshmen object to the notion that they aren't producing enough to merit their preseason class ranking.
"Obviously Alana and Iciss are essential components to our team, but you have to have five players on the court," Foley said. "You can't tell a game by the stats. You can do a lot of small things that make a big difference.
Goestenkors agreed.
"I've always felt that we have great depth," she said. "Different people are going to play well on different nights, and I think that happens with youth, especially."
Nonetheless, Saturday's head-to-head matchup between each side's crop of four highly decorated freshman will go a long way in determining national opinion for who got the better end of the recruiting stick.
You can bet that neither class is keen on second-place.
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