Women believe time for title is right now

Six more games.

Just six more games separate the women's basketball team from erasing the memories of two consecutive losses in the Final Four and from capturing the program's first-ever national championship.

"It's time to get down to business," said senior Alana Beard, who is a leading candidate for National Player of the Year honors. "Once our name popped up and once our opponent's name popped up, I automatically started thinking about our scouting report and everything. We've had the number one seed the four years we've been here, but it hasn't turned out the way that we wanted it."

Duke (27-3) received the No. 1 seed in the Mideast bracket and the No. 2 overall seeding, despite finishing the regular season at the top of the AP poll for the first time in school history.

Because of the pre-determined site system used in the women's tournament, the Blue Devils will host the first two rounds Sunday and Tuesday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. They open with a game against Northwestern State, which they defeated 105-53 in December, and would then face the winner of the matchup between No. 8 Old Dominion and No. 9 Marquette. The Lady Monarchs beat fifth-ranked Penn State earlier this year and are making their 13th consecutive NCAA appearance.

If Duke advances as expected to the Mideast regionals in Norfolk, Va., a rematch of last year's Elite Eight with Texas Tech is possible, although the Lady Raiders have been decimated by injuries this year.

Perhaps most dangerous Mideast foe is No. 2 seed Kansas State, which is led by Big 12 Player of the Year Nicole Ohlde. The senior All-American teams with juniors Kendra Wecker and Laurie Koehn to form one of the most dynamic scoring trios in the nation.

"We've got some great teams in our bracket, like Kansas State and Texas Tech," point guard Lindsey Harding said. "But I don't think it's going to be an extremely difficult bracket because it's teams that we know we can beat down the line to the Final Four."

Awaiting the winner of Duke's Mideast region for a Final Four date in New Orleans is the champion of the East bracket, where, for the first time in six years, Connecticut is not a No. 1 seed. The Huskies are just 2-2 in their last four games, dropping them to the No. 2 position in the East and allowing Penn State to grab the top spot.

Despite its lower seed, Connecticut will have a home-crowd advantage--its games will be played in Bridgeport, Conn. and at the Hartford Civic Center--and can reach Bourbon Street without having to leave its home state.

"I know UConn is a household name, but it's not about the name," Beard said. "[Penn State] has played great basketball up until this point so they are very deserving of a number one seed."

The other half of the draw features top seeds Tennessee and Texas, two of the three teams that have defeated Duke this year. The Lady Vols--who have received a No. 1 seed 15 of the last 17 years--are the top seed in the Midwest, while the Longhorns are No. 1 in the West.

Tennessee will have to contend with No. 6 Stanford, which is upset with its low seeding, and No. 3 Oklahoma, which is fresh off a Big 12 Tournament title over Kansas State. Texas also faces several potential road blocks on its quest for New Orleans, with No. 2 Purdue, No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 LSU all boasting strong tournament credentials.

The Blue Devils are familiar with many of the top teams in the tournament, having picked up victories over both Connecticut and Purdue, but they know that regular-season results have little meaning come tournament time.

"The experience playing those teams is good, but you can't really count on that going into the tournament because teams play totally different," Harding said. "Even though we did beat Purdue by a lot, they've been playing great basketball recently. We can't depend on how we've played in the past and we have to start fresh."

Duke enters March Madness as one of the hottest teams in the nation, having won both the regular season and ACC tournament championships, and Beard continues to make her case for National Player of the Year, averaging 20.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.8 blocks per game.

Beard and fellow seniors Iciss Tillis and Vicki Krapohl will have one last chance to capture the national championship that has eluded them for the past three years, and they are anxious for the games to begin.

"I think this whole year has been special because we [seniors] know it's our last time through doing everything that we're doing," Krapohl said. "Iciss and Alana and I are just going to enjoy this more than we have the last three years, and hopefully we'll have more to enjoy at the end."