BRIDGEPORT, Conn - The dream has almost come true.
Searching for the team's first national title, Duke squeaked by Connecticut in an overtime nailbiter, 63-61, in the Elite Eight Tuesday night to advance to the Final Four.
The top-seeded Blue Devils (30-3) jumped out to a five-point advantage at 63-58 with 2:41 left in the extra period, but they failed to record a point in the closing minutes as the second-seeded Huskies (32-5) tried desperately to force a second overtime.
"It was not pretty by any means," head coach Gail Goestenkors said. "Things did not go well for us, and I give Connecticut credit for that. At the same time, we did what was necessary to win."
Clinging to a two-point lead in the final minute, Duke could not get off a good shot and turned the ball over to the Huskies with 13.4 seconds remaining. On the ensuing possession, Connecticut got the ball inside to Charde Houston. The forward shook off Blue Devil senior Monique Currie, who fell to the floor, giving Houston a good look at the hoop to tie the game as the clock was expiring.
The UConn sophomore's eight-foot baseline jumper swirled out of the hoop, however, sending Duke to its fourth Final Four and first since 2003.
"I was hoping it wouldn't go down," Currie said. "It rolled in and went out, thankfully. She had a good look-I was on the ground, and [Alison Bales] came over to help a little bit. I think she hesitated, and that threw off her shot."
At the end of regulation, Connecticut's Mel Thomas knotted the game at 55 with 20 seconds on the game clock. The Blue Devils advanced the ball across half court and called a timeout with 14 seconds still to play.
On the inbound, Duke could not pass the ball and freshman Abby Waner got trapped on the perimeter, forcing the Blue Devils to take another timeout, this time with just three seconds remaining.
With Husky forward Brittany Hunter hounding the second inbound attempt, point guard Lindsey Harding could not get off a good pass. On the broken play, the junior sent a contested pass to Currie, who was forced to put up a half-court shot that bounced off the backboard and sent the game into the extra period.
"On the play we wanted to run, we were supposed to get the ball to Ali, who was at the short corner, and she was going to hit Mo' on a little curl," Goestenkors said. "But they had some size on Lindsey who was taking the ball out of bounds, and she couldn't make the pass to Ali.
"Then Mo' was open, but [Harding] couldn't get the ball to her either, so Mo' had to continue to cut out toward the half-court and that's the only place that Lindsey could get the ball to her. That wasn't the play obviously, but Lindsey couldn't see the person we wanted her to hit. It was good defense."
The miss was one of nine for Currie, who hit just three field goals in the contest. The forward was dogged by the Huskies' defense all night, but she hit seven of her team-high 10 free-throw attempts to finish with 14 points.
Bales led Duke in scoring, rebounds and blocks in the game and was named the Bridgeport Regional Most Outstanding Player. The junior had 15 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocks Tuesday. Two of the rejections came in overtime.
"She blocked eight shots, but she probably changed 10 more because she had people thinking she might block their shot," Goestenkors said. "Once she gets in your head, she changes the things you want to do. She changed the game for us, she was the difference."
Throughout the game Tuesday, no team led by more than six points. Duke led at halftime, 33-28, after missing its first 10 shots. But Connecticut opened the second half on a 7-0 run to take the lead.
The Blue Devils and Huskies traded leads several more times before Thomas' bucket sent the game into overtime.
With their midnight ride into the Final Four in Boston, the Blue Devils join Maryland and North Carolina as the third ACC team to get past the Elite Eight. Duke will have a rematch with LSU Sunday, which knocked off the Blue Devils last season in the regional finals in Chattanooga, Tenn.
A victory over the Tigers would earn Goestenkors her second trip to the National Championship game.
"We've got a lot of work to do, a lot of work ahead of us to break down some tape and figure out what the best game plan for us might be," the coach said. "LSU is the team that put us out last year in the regional final, and we know they have an outstanding team."
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