SCOUTING REPORT

* About Duke: It’s likely Coach Gail Goestenkors will have her best defender, Hilary Howard, guard Purdue’s talented Ukari Figgs. If the matchup is as successful as it was Friday, when Howard held Georgia’s Kelly Miller to 13 points--she had averaged 23 in the NCAA tournament--Duke will have a good chance at victory. Figgs had an 18-point first half against Louisiana Tech Friday and Lady Techsters never recovered in losing 77-63. Duke’s Michele VanGorp is an agile, busy 6-foot-6 low-post player with some outside shooting ability. Moreover, she’s most effective when Nicole Erickson, Georgia Schweitzer and Howard are making three-point shots. “They’re very good at yo-yoing you in and out, and if they catch you playing VanGorp too tight inside, they can hit those threes,” Georgia Coach Andy Landers said after Erickson had four long-range baskets in Duke’s 81-69 victory. And three-point accuracy has a way of re-energizing tired legs, as Howard pointed out, commenting on Lauren Rice and Erickson making two three-point baskets a minute 17 seconds apart late in Friday’s game. “Those two [shots] were huge--it put some adrenaline in us, because we were starting to tire a bit then,” she said.

* About Purdue: Carolyn Peck is the third Purdue coach for seniors Ukari Figgs and Stephanie White-McCarty, and the team’s underclassmen lose Peck after tonight. The former assistant to Tennessee’s Pat Summitt becomes the head coach and general manager of the WNBA’s expansion team in Orlando. Her players badly want to give her a proper send-off. “She got us here,” White-McCarty said. “She is just a lot of fun to play for.” White-McCarty, one-time “Miss Indiana” prepster, hurts opponents with her shooting range, ability to drive to the basket, defense and rebounding. Against Indiana on Jan. 22, she had the first triple-double (22 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists) in Purdue women’s history. Her play often frees up Douglas and Figgs. Douglas, a streak shooter, was the major player in Purdue’s 82-59 blowout of North Carolina in the Midwest Regional semifinals, going nine of 10 from the field and scoring 21 points.

* Keys to game: Breaking either team’s confidence is a daunting task. Purdue has won 31 games in a row. Duke, far from having a letdown after upsetting Tennessee last Monday, is coming off an impressive victory over a good Georgia team. To win, Purdue must interrupt the rhythm of Duke’s inside/outside game. Purdue’s 6-4 sophomore, Camille Cooper, must compete inside with the 6-6 VanGorp. Duke needs success in what will be the game’s most-watched umatchup, Howard guarding Figgs.