With a chance to seal the game at the free-throw line, Carrem Gay didn't let her memory drift back to the last time Duke faced Rutgers.
The junior forward nailed a key free-throw with 30 seconds left to give the No. 17 Blue Devils (6-3) a one-point lead over the third-ranked Scarlet Knights. Then, tough defense and four more free throws capped the 49-44 win over Rutgers (5-2) and provided sweet revenge against the team that dashed Duke's title hopes in the Sweet 16 of last year's NCAA Tournament.
In that game, Duke was down 53-52 with star guard Lindsey Harding at the line for two shots with 0.1 seconds remaining. Harding missed both, and Duke's 32-win season came to a screeching halt.
But none of that was in Gay's mind when she toed the line Thursday night.
"I didn't think about last March at all," Gay said. "It's like a regular free throw we shoot in practice."
With the win, the Blue Devils put the skids on a three-game losing streak and earned not only a momentous victory over a quality opponent, but also a win over the team that haunted Duke last postseason. As the team huddled at center court to celebrate the win, thoughts of missed free throws and missed opportunities last March couldn't have been further from their minds.
"This feels so good," forward Joy Cheek said. "We really needed this to give us a boost. We've got a lot of momentum for the next game, but we really needed this win."
After Gay's shot put Duke up one with 30 seconds remaining, the Blue Devils received a lift from an unlikely source-Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer.
With 11 ticks on the clock, Rutgers guard Matee Ajavon's shot was blocked by Chante Black, Duke's Keturah Jackson came down with the rebound and the guard was immediately fouled. Stringer felt that Ajavon was fouled in the act of shooting and ran on to the court to argue the call, drawing a technical foul.
That violation gave the Blue Devils four consecutive free throws. Guard Abby Waner sank the two shots from the technical, and Jackson hit one of her two attempts, giving Duke a two-possession lead that effectively put the game out of reach.
But even before then, Duke's hustle and grit on the defensive end frustrated a Rutgers team that entered Thursday's contest with a five-game winning streak. The Scarlet Knights started the game with an 11-2 run, but sputtered to close out the half, allowing Duke to claw back to a two-point halftime deficit.
"It was never really frustrating," freshman guard Jasmine Thomas said of the team's first half. "You just have to take your time and be patient. We got good shots, but they weren't falling for us. We had to slow down, concentrate and let the game come to us instead of forcing things."
Soon after the second half began, however, Stringer became so frustrated with the play of her team that she pulled all five of her starters at the 17:51 mark, sitting her team's core for nearly five minutes. The starters returned after Duke had seized its first lead since scoring the game's first bucket.
"Winning games doesn't mean that much to me," Stringer said. "If we aren't doing the things we need to do, I will take out everybody. I'll take a loss with four players on the floor-.... I'll give you the loss."
Stringer did decide to re-insert her starters with more than 12 minutes to go, which gave her team a quick spark.
Rutgers regained the lead with two quick baskets, and Duke would not again take back the lead until Thomas hit a three-pointer-the Blue Devils' only triple of the game--to give Duke a 38-37 lead with 5:27 left.
Although Thomas went only 3-for-11 from the field in her first collegiate start, her calm play during a game in which Waner found herself relegated to the bench with foul trouble provided Duke with a steady presence and drew raves from her teammates.
So did a win over the national power that ended Duke's last season-which could be the perfect remedy to a recent rough patch.
"We needed this game to get us on a roll," Waner said. "We've been through a lot, and we've been learning and growing from it."
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