ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The last time Duke and Texas Tech met, it was each teams' first game of the 2001-2002 season. The Blue Devils came away from that contest with a convincing 85-69 victory at the State Farm Tipoff Classic in Durham.
When the two teams meet for the second time tonight at 9:30 p.m. ET in Albuquerque, N.M., the stakes will be much higher. The winner will advance to the Final Four next weekend in Atlanta, while the loser will have to watch the rest of the season at home and think about what could have been.
The second-seeded Lady Raiders (29-5) enter the finals of the Midwest Regional fresh off a 71-48 rout of hometown favorite New Mexico and are returning to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2000.
Top-seeded Duke (34-1), on the other hand, barely survived its Sweet 16 game in a 66-63 nailbiter against Georgia.
With New Mexico out of the tournament, the crowd of over 16,000 at The Pit--the Lobos' infamous arena--will be decidedly more neutral.
"Obviously the crowd is incredible here, so I think playing New Mexico [would have been] very, very difficult because we haven't experienced anything like that," Duke head coach Gail Goestenkors said. "But I also know that playing Texas Tech is going to be extremely difficult."
The Lady Raiders are led by senior Plenette Pierson, who averages 17.9 points and 7.8 rebounds
Pierson, a Naismith Award finalist and first-team All-Big 12 selection, brings an element of toughness to Texas Tech that Duke will have to contend with.
"It was pretty much a street fight," Pierson said after her team dismantled the Lady Lobos. "I think what this says is we are warriors. No matter how much you pound us, we're going to come right back and pound you."
Complementing Pierson is junior guard Jia Perkins, also a first-team All-Big 12 selection. Perkins has been one of the Lady Raiders' most consistent players on the season, scoring in double figures in 33 of 34 games while averaging 16.4 points and 5.2 rebounds.
Perkins is also a leader of the Lady Raiders' tight man-to-man defense that has held opponents to shooting 35 percent from the field and 58.4 points per game this season. Her 82 steals lead the team, and she is fourth all-time at Texas Tech with 260 steals.
Another key for Duke will be rebounding the basketball. Texas Tech is 23-1 when beating its opponents on the glass, but only 5-4 when losing the battle of the boards.
Duke counters with one of the nation's top offenses, although it struggled to hit its shots against Georgia's 2-3 zone. The Blue Devils might respond better to the one-on-one coverage that they'll see from Texas Tech, as All-American Alana Beard should have more opportunities to post up inside rather than be forced out to the perimeter like she was against the Bulldogs.
The Blue Devils will also have to avoid the slow starts that have plagued them in two of their last three games. Although Duke is 6-1 when trailing at halftime this year, the Lady Raiders are 23-2 when leading at the break.
"I don't know if there is a reason [for the slow starts]," Duke forward Iciss Tillis said. "I am sure you guys are looking at other number one seeds who are blowing teams out, but we can't really focus on that. We just have to focus on our defense and try to get better each game. We want to be the best team during the last game."
The Lady Raiders are not likely to be intimidated by Duke's No. 2 ranking. They have competed all season against the nation's best teams in the Big 12 conference--beating both 2002 NCAA runner-up Oklahoma and Kansas State twice--and they appear to be hitting their stride at the right time.
"I think we have the mentality that we want to win and we're going to do whatever it takes to do that," Perkins said. "We're not satisfied until we get to the Final Four. We're going to be disappointed if we lose any more games this year."
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