The Blue Devils bequeathed their No. 1 ranking to Tennessee Saturday afternoon in the form of poor shooting and an inability to adjust to the Volunteers' second-half attack.
There's little doubt that thi s was a dissapointing outcome for Duke, whose greatest star's brightest moment and glowing smile turned upside down in the postgame press conference because, alas, Alana Beard just wants to win.
But solace can be taken from the fact that Beard and Duke have made several strides from a year ago when they hosted Connecticut--the sport's power du jour--and struggled so mightily in the opening half that they was forced to play catch-up the rest of the game, a feat it nearly accomplished. But the Blue Devils were admittedly rattled by their own home crowd, which had sold out for the first time in the program's history. There was an expectation for Duke to compete, but an "understandable acceptance" after Duke had lost--it was, after all, a loss at the hands of the Huskies and the sometimes indomitable, sometimes abominabal Geno Auriemma.
Fortunately, such pessimism did not rub off on the players or coaches. That inferior attitude was never adopted by Duke head coach Gail Goestenkors, nor of any of her players. But that was a relatively common sentiment among two groups: fans and members of the media.
But coming into this year, after having gone to the Final Four in consecutive seasons, and having three legitimate All-America candidates, heightened expectations were inevitable. Point being, losing to Tennessee was disappointing to everyone this time around, not just to the team.
But this was just a game, a single one at that, the importance of which is not-so-significant in the grand scheme of the world of college basketball. And everyone knows that, too.
So why did Duke lose? According to Goestenkors, there was a "night and day" difference from the first and second halves regarding the Blue Devils' defense; offensively, the lid on the hoop seemed to be sealed shut; and Tennessee did play a very good defensive game.
But Duke belongs with Tennessee now. But will it have staying power?
The upper echelon, so-to-speak, of women's basketball must include the Blue Devils, perhaps a notch below Tennessee and Connecticut. But Duke can't fairly be considered alongside the Volunteers or Huskies until it wins a national title, no matter how dominant Goestenkors' teams have been in recent years. Duke knows that, too.
And that may be part of the team's problem. There's too much expecation and too much pressure. Or rather, there's too much outside pressure. So it goes.
Duke has a bevy of talent and a very good floor coach and recruiter in Goestenkors. Recruiting is still strong. The program is getting plenty of positive national press, which helps with recruiting and scheduling.
And Duke can win big games.
They just didn't win Saturday.
So don't be too quick to discredit the women. Recall Krzyzewski and the men's program. They could churn out trips to the Final Four, but they couldn't win a national title until 1991. The same could be true for the women. Indeed, it will be true. The question of when will be resolved eventually, but until then, just enjoy the ride.
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