Saturday night's showdown was supposed to belong to Alana Beard and her top-ranked Duke team.
Second-ranked Tennessee, the team that sent Duke home from March Madness last year and the six-time national title winner, was coming to Cameron Indoor Stadium for the first time ever. There wasn't an unsold seat in the house, and to really make the night one for the ages, before the game Beard became the first female player in school history to have her jersey retired.
Unfortunately for Duke, someone forgot to tell Tennessee it was not supposed to be its night. And at times, it appeared as if someone forget to remind the Blue Devils too.
Hampered by poor shooting all night long, No. 1 Duke (15-2) committed 14 turnovers and allowed No. 2 Tennessee (16-1) to shoot 58 percent from the field in the second half en route to a 72-69 loss before 9,314 spectators in Cameron Saturday night.
"Congratulations to Tennessee, I thought they did a great job," Duke head coach Gail Goestenkors said. "It was really a hard-nosed game, and it was a battle. I thought they played a very smart basketball game. They hit their free throws down the stretch when they needed to, and I just thought they did what was necessary to come away with a win on the road."
Beard and Monique Currie led the Blue Devils with 18 points apiece and Iciss Tillis added 15 points and 14 rebounds. The trio's shooting (17-of-48) mirrored the team's struggles to score all game.
"We missed lay-ups," Goestenkors said. "There's no excuse for it. I mean we're at home, you work hard to get a great shot, and you gotta put it down. We missed easy shots, and you don't deserve to win when you miss easy shots.
"And to allow your opponent to shoot 58 percent in the second half on your home court, and that's ridiculous. There's no excuse for it, and we will learn and we will grow. I'm glad we have some time off before our next game, so that we can maybe work on some things."
After clamping down on the Lady Vols offense in the first half, limiting them to just 26 percent shooting and forcing eight turnovers, Duke's defense in the second half wasn't nearly as stifling as in the first period. Tennessee's shooting percentage more than doubled, and the Lady Vols got to the free-throw line 24 times after not taking any foul shots in the first 20 minutes of play.
When the new rankings come out this week, the Lady Vols should take hold of the top spot from the Blue Devils.
"[In the second half] I think our defense broke down, which is inexcusable," Goestenkors said. "I mean they were making right-handed lay-ups and started passing the ball into the post. Everything we did well defensively in the first half, we stopped doing the second half, and they took advantage of it."
With 32 seconds to play and with Duke down by six and Tennessee guarding against three pointers, Currie drove to the basket and hit a lay-up to cut the deficit to four at 68-64.
Tennessee's Shanna Zolman, who scored 15 points and helped seal the win with six-for-six free-throw shooting in the last two minutes, then turned the ball over in front of the Duke bench on the ensuing throw-in, giving Duke the ball back with 29 seconds left.
Beard got the ball at the top of the key seconds later, crossed over right and then spun left past her defender to lay the ball in. The Blue Devils called a timeout following the score with 24 seconds to go.
"It was a real tough environment. You've gotta give credit to Duke for being physical," Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt said. "Obviously, the second half was our better half."
And in what would prove to be the most crucial seven-second stretch of the game, Duke was able to force Tennessee to pass the ball to Shana Spencer out of the timeout and into its double team in the near corner. The Blue Devils opted not to foul and instead go for a steal or a five-second call, but Spencer called timeout with 20 seconds remaining.
The Lady Vols next inbound went awry and the ball was loose near the middle near the top of three-point line. Several Duke players were just out of reach of the ball and Tennessee was awarded possession after the ensuing scrum and tie-up.
"The ball just didn't seem to bounce our way on a couple of occasions, and that was probably the most crucial time," Goestenkors said. "We'll learn a great deal from this game."
The Blue Devils finally fouled Zolman with 13.5 seconds to go, but the sharp-shooter nailed two more to increase the lead back to four at 70-66.
After the free throws, Beard came down the court, missed a three-pointer, and dove for the bouncing ball. As she grabbed it and was falling to the ground, Beard heaved the ball to teammate Jessica Foley, but the pass hit Foley in the leg and caromed out of bounds.
Tennessee's Brittany Jackson hit two more free throws to make the score 72-66, and then the Blue Devils' Lindsey Harding, who led the team with six assists, hit a shot close to half-court at the buzzer to get it to 72-69.
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