The last time Florida State beat Duke in Tallahassee, Fla., the movie Schindler's List won the Academy Award and Sheryl Crow was awarded Best New Artist. The year was 1994 and the Seminoles scored 78 points, en route to a five-point victory.
The Blue Devils (26-1, 14-0 in the ACC) look to extend their record ACC winning streak as they travel to Leon County Civic Center to play the Seminoles (15-10, 7-7) tonight.
Duke's defeat of Maryland Monday clinched its ACC regular season title for the third consecutive year. The No. 2 team in the nation will not give the Seminoles, who have lost five straight, a chance to dig themselves out of their current rut.
When these two ACC rivals played at Cameron Indoor Stadium in January, the host won 81-63, aided by a career-high 30 points from Iciss Tillis. Florida State put up a fight and held Duke to a low lead until 10 minutes were left in regulation, when Duke went on an unanswered run.
"Last time we played them, our first half was really tough and the second half we just came out a lot more aggressive," freshman Jessica Foley said. "We made smarter passes and we really got our offense playing well."
Duke has been focusing on one word as of late - defense. The Blue Devils already have all the offensive weapons they need, in Alana Beard, Tillis, and most recently freshman Lindsey Harding. Head coach Gail Goestenkors has revamped her team's defense to become stronger on the help-side and Duke has gained a greater ability to mix up its man-to-man and zone coverage.
"Right now we're playing much better team defense," junior guard Vicki Krapohl said. "That's something that we're going to try to keep getting better with, especially as the tournament approaches... defense is something that we're really going to have to lean on because sometimes your offense is just not there."
For the Seminoles, their key offensive threat is Tasheika Morris, their only player averaging in double-figure scoring. In January's contest, she successfully held Beard to a season-low seven points, forcing the national player of the year candidate to the bench with four fouls and 12:16 left on the clock. Beard will be looking for revenge, creating an exciting matchup.
"They're both great athletes, they're both very versatile," Krapohl said. "We look to Alana and they look to Tasheika in the same sort of way. They do a good job involving everyone else."
Duke will have little trouble stopping the three, as Florida State has a measly 26.2 shooting percentage from beyond the arc. It does, however, have one of the league's strongest post players in 6-foot-3 senior Katelyn Vujas. The team's leading rebounder, Vujas can also power herself to the basket or hit short jumpers.
Harding has the ability take the spotlight again, either on the defensive or offensive end of the court. She is coming off a career-high 19 points against Maryland.
"Lindsey's been playing awesome, she's such a spark for us," Krapohl said. "Coach put her in the starting line up because we were getting slow starts and we weren't really attacking the other team at the beginning of the game. She just does a great job. If you don't stop her, she'll take it coast to coast."
Though Florida State has a deep bench and can rotate nine players into the game, the Duke bench is just as powerful, if not stronger.
"I feel like we could match up to them with our depth as well," Foley said. " We're pretty athletic and fit, so hopefully we can run on them as well."
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