BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - The Blue Devils are firing on all cylinders.
After limping into the NCAA Tournament with a loss to North Carolina at the end of the regular season and another defeat to Maryland in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament, Duke has cruised through the first three rounds of the Big Dance to make an appearance in the Elite Eight for the seventh time in the past eight years.
After easy wins over Southern and USC in the opening two rounds, the top-seeded Blue Devils trounced fourth-seeded Michigan State by 25 points in the Sweet 16 Sunday night.
"We felt like we haven't peaked at all this year and we knew that it was just due time for us to reach our full potential, and I think we're definitely on track to peak right now," senior Monique Currie said. "What better time of the season than to do that when it's the last run? I'm very proud of my team and the way we're playing."
In the victory over the Spartans, Duke played stifling defense, and almost every Blue Devil helped out in the team's offensive attack.
Entering the game, Michigan State's Liz Shimek led her team in scoring, averaging 17.9 points per contest. Against Duke however, the senior forward was limited to just five shots and five points in 35 minutes of action.
"Shimek was one of our focuses this week preparing for MSU," Currie said. "We know she's their first or second leading scorer all-time and we know she's really capable, so we really focused on double-teaming her whenever she got the ball and denying her whenever we can."
The Blue Devils also forced 17 Spartan turnovers and have now forced an average of 20 turnovers per game in the NCAA Tournament.
With things under wraps at the defensive end, Duke continued its lethal and balanced offensive attack. Six Blue Devils scored in double figures Sunday night with Currie leading the way with 17 in just 26 minutes. A testament to Duke's depth, only point guard Lindsey Harding played more than 30 minutes in the contest and eight players saw more than 15 minutes in the game.
"I think our bench is pretty productive, it's probably as productive as any other team in the country," head coach Gail Goestenkors said. "It's quality depth."
With its ability to substitute, the Blue Devils outran the Spartans all game. Duke had 18 fast break points compared to just two for Michigan State.
In their half-court sets, the Spartans ran a zone against the Blue Devils and Duke responded well. Harding was proficient passing the ball into the low post for most of the game as Duke recorded 48 points in the paint.
In a span of less than four minutes in the first half, the Blue Devils drilled three open three-pointers, which were made possible from assists by Harding and freshman Abby Waner. Just after entering the game, senior Jessica Foley got open on the left baseline and received a crisp pass from Harding. Foley calmly drained the three to give Duke a five-point lead. Foley hit the final trifecta of the spurt as well, giving Duke a commanding 11-point advantage that the Spartans never threatened.
"We wanted to attack the baseline," Goestenkors said. "They were running either a 2-3 or a 3-2 matchup [zone], and a lot of times they were in their 3-2 and when they were, we knew that the baselines were the weakness of that zone.. So we had our shooters set on the baseline, and our guards did a good job of penetrating, drawing help, and skipping it to the baseline."
Still searching for that elusive NCAA Title, Goestenkors will take her team to the Elite Eight Tuesday night against second-seeded Connecticut in a game that will be played in the Huskies' backyard. If her Blue Devils keep playing this well, however, they could easily negate the Huskies' home-state advantage and roll into their fourth Final Four.
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