During practice Thursday, Duke head coach Gail Goestenkors ominously voiced her concerns about the team's decision making down the stretch.
But if the Blue Devil's matchup against fourth-seeded Rutgers (24-8) Saturday afternoon at Greensboro Coliseum goes at all like it did in New Jersey back in December, Goestenkors will not even be in a position to worry about anything, let alone decision making.
The showdown between No. 1 Duke (32-1) and the Scarlet Knights will be a rematch of the Blue Devils' 85-45 blowout Dec. 4. Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer said her young players felt the pressure of playing in the national spotlight that night.
However, with Rutgers having won 10 of its past 11 games, including an upset of top-seeded Connecticut in the Big East Championship, it appears that this go-around has the potential to be closer.
"You can't really look at that film because it was the beginning of the year, and they've gotten a lot better, and we've gotten a lot better, so you've got to throw away that tape," Harding said. "We know that they're starting to play better as a team, and they're going to be a tough team to play."
Harding admitted that the team had not scouted Rutgers yet, but she does not need a tape of any sorts to know just how important Rutgers' star guard Matee Ajavon is to the Scarlet Knights' success. When Ajavon was injured at the beginning of the year, Rutgers struggled to a 3-2 record. With her in the lineup, the Scarlet Knights have gone 21-6.
Ajavon leads a balanced attack for Rutgers, who have four players averaging at least 11 points a game.
"They're similar to us in that it's not about one player," Goestenkors said. "On any given night they have different players step forward. You can't just stop Kia Vaughn on the inside [because] they've got tremendous guards on the outside."
In the last game, however, Duke was able to hold Vaughn, who leads the team with 12.9 points per game, to a mere five points, all of which came off of free throws.
Such a tremendous defensive effort did not just effect Vaughn. Duke also forced 18 turnovers and held the Scarlet Knights to just 27.3 percent shooting and 18.8 percent from three-point range.
Duke's defensive effort, however, lapsed against N.C. State in the ACC Tournament, where the Blue Devils lost their first and only game of the season.
As a result, the team has focused on defense in practice the past two weeks-and it has shown in the NCAA Tournament.
Against Holy Cross, Duke held the Crusaders to just 44 points and stole the ball 15 times. In their second-round matchup with Temple, the Owls did not hit a single three pointer, and the Blue Devils won in part because of a six-minute stretch where they did not allow Temple to score.
"Ever since our first loss, we've refocused on defense," Harding said. "If we win the National Championship or lose our games it's because of defense."
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