GREENSBORO, N.C. - All year long Lindsey Harding stood for Duke basketball. And as Harding stepped to the line for her team with virtually no time left in the Sweet 16 matchup against Rutgers, she stood for Duke again.
All hopes rode on the team captain's shoulders as Harding took a pair of free throws with the Blue Devils down 53-52. It was certainly fitting.
"It would have been Lindsey," head coach Gail Goestenkors said when asked who she would pick to take those free throws. "I love the ball in Lindsey's hands, she's done a great job all year."
But as the ACC Player of the Year fell to the floor in emotional agony after missing those two shots, Duke's hopes for the program's first national championship collapsed with her.
However much it may seem that Harding's final shots cost Duke its chance at advancing, the rest of the game better explained the Blue Devils loss and why Rutgers-a team Duke had pummeled by 40 earlier this season-was in the game at all.
Rutgers' head coach C. Vivian Stringer attributed her team's victory to fate and faith.
"[This] team has believed all along that we are a team of destiny," she said. "All of the signs were there for us, and we took that as all systems are go."
In a tight, back-and-forth game like Saturday's, there may be some truth to Stringer's statement. But Rutgers also outplayed the Blue Devils on the offensive boards and forced 16 Duke turnovers, allowing the Scarlet Knights to earn precious extra possessions and slow down the pace of the game.
Rutgers out-rebounded the Blue Devils on the offensive glass 9-1 in the opening period and 11-7 on the day. Senior center Alison Bales, who averages 7.8 rebounds per game, totaled just one board in the first half.
With less than five minutes to go in the first period, thanks to back-to-back offensive rebounds, Rutgers held the ball for 1:20 consecutively. Although they did not score, the series was emblematic of the Scarlet Knights' ability to keep the game at their preferred mild tempo and away from the Blue Devils' attack.
Duke averaged more than 37 points per half this season but put up just 21 in the first period Saturday. And although Rutgers shot just 24.1 percent from the floor in the first half, it only trailed the Blue Devils by five going into the locker room.
In the second half, it was Rutgers' ability to not only create turnovers but also to capitalize on them that allowed the Scarlet Knights to whittle away Duke's lead-which was as large as 10 in the second half. The Scarlet Knights began to use the pressure defense they call "55" after halftime, and as defenders ganged up on the Blue Devils, Duke began to feel the heat and make poor decisions.
"Rutgers is a very athletic team, and they are well known for their strong full-court pressure," Bales said. "They did a great job tonight keeping us from playing our game, so I think when they started the press that definitely was the turning point in the game for them."
Rutgers forced eight turnovers in the second half, including two steals in the final minute of play. The Scarlet Knights converted Duke's 16 turnovers into 16 points. The Blue Devils scored no points off turnovers in the second half and only four points off them in the entire game.
When the teams last met Dec. 4 in Piscataway, N.J., the Blue Devils forced six more turnovers than the Scarlet Knights, out-rebounded them 43-34 and scored 26 points off turnovers.
After the game, Goestenkors told Harding that she could not judge an entire career on one game or one shot. In that same vein, a game cannot be judged on one shot alone, or in this case, a pair of shots.
The Blue Devils' play throughout the entire contest put Harding in the situation she was in. Duke simply did not control the offensive glass, and its turnovers gave Rutgers too many chances to score and consequently win the game.
"I told them after the game, 'After any of our wins, you've never taken responsibility for them. You never said I won this game for my team,'" Goestenkors said. "And I will not allow you to say 'I lost this game for my team.' It was truly a team effort the entire season, the wins and the losses."
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