Top-Ranked Matchup Will Look Somewhat Different

Until this Saturday, most of Tennessee’s recent No. 1 vs. No. 2 regular-season games have involved Connecticut.

But there will be a different No. 1 for the No. 2 Lady Vols (15-1) to try to topple on national television this weekend.

The Duke Blue Devils (15-1) have been trying to wedge themselves into the national spotlight ever since their star player, Alana Beard, arrived on campus four years ago.

The Huskies and Lady Vols represent the college game’s gold standard. Tennessee has won an NCAA record six national championships (the last one in 1998) and appeared in 18 Final Fours. Connecticut has won consecutive NCAA titles, four in the last nine years.

Duke’s resume isn’t bad. The Blue Devils have been ranked No. 1 the last two years (and are No. 1 in both polls for the first time this season), gone to three Final Fours since 1999 and are 26-7 against ranked opponents the last four years.

But, beyond winning a national championship, it’s those rare head-to-head matchups against the Huskies and Lady Vols that Duke wants to be measured against.

Tennessee leads the all-time series, 3-2. The most recent meeting was last April’s Final Four semifinal in Atlanta, won by Tennessee, 66-56. That wiped out any good feeling the Blue Devils had from their 76-55 regular-season victory over the Lady Vols.

Duke Coach Gail Goestenkors remembers the loss as if it happened yesterday.

“I think that we were not physically or mentally as tough as we needed to be,” she said in her weekly conference call. “I think that Gwen Jackson, in particular, just abused us with the way that she rebounded the basketball and attacked the basket right on the floor.” Jackson is now in the WNBA.

Both teams have lost to Texas this season and have not lost since. Duke, led by Beard and Monique Currie, is on a 14-game winning streak, including a win at Connecticut that was nationally televised on Jan. 3. Tennessee, led by Shyra Ely and Shanna Zolman, has won eight in a row.

Both coaches have seen their teams emerge in different ways since season-defining moments.

“In our loss to Texas, it was a game in which I felt our defensive intensity was not where it needed to be,” Tennessee Coach Pat Summitt said during her weekly conference call.

“I suspected it in the road wins [at Stanford and DePaul] and I thought we escaped a situation there. And it caught up with us in Texas.

“There is no sense of urgency in players’ minds if what they’re doing is winning. But Texas broke us down with their passing; our perimeter defense was very poor.”

Tennessee was giving up an average of 62.1 points a game before the 70-60 loss to Texas. Since, the Lady Vols have lowered that to 52.4 points a game.

In beating Connecticut in Hartford, ending the Huskies’ 69-game home winning streak, Goestenkors said the Blue Devils learned a couple of lessons.

“One, that we’re very beatable because of the first 20 minutes in particular,” said Goestenkors, noting her team once trailed Connecticut by 20 points.

“We had many things we needed to work on. We watched the video of the game and all I showed them was the first 20 minutes because they had felt good about what had happened at the very end of the game.

“Two, we learned that we can go in a very difficult environment against a great team, be successful, and find a way to win. Things don’t always go the way you want them to, so you have to find a way. I think that’s what happened on that occasion that we had to find a way to be both mentally and physically tough down the stretch. Those are things we needed to know about ourselves.”

Saturday’s game is at Duke and is a sellout. There’s a good chance both teams could reach this year’s Final Four in New Orleans. Summitt calls Duke “one of the most athletic teams in the country.”

Goestenkors said the loss to Texas re-energized Tennessee.

“Great teams will always improve with losses, and I think that’s what’s happened,” she said.