Duke Makes Case for Parity

Now that the state of Connecticut has gone through its hand wringing and soul searching, what really happened Saturday in Hartford?

The top-ranked, two-time defending national champion Huskies lost a basketball game. That’s all. It was not the end of civilization as we know it.

What it did, besides knock Connecticut out of the top spot in the women’s rankings, was give credence to what basketball folks have said since October: This could be the most competitive season for the women’s college game since the NCAA starting having a championship tournament in 1982.

Duke, which vaulted to No. 1 this week in the Associated Press poll, certainly had a reason to celebrate its last-second victory, because the Huskies don’t lose that often.

Connecticut had won 69 consecutive home games and 76 straight regular-season games before Blue Devil guard Jessica Foley squared her Australian shoulders and floated in the winning three-pointer as time expired.

To put it another way: Since the 1994-95 season, when Connecticut won its first national title, the Huskies have played 328 games and lost 20.

But beyond the players piling on each other after Foley’s shot, (and after the officials went to check a replay to make sure it was a three), there was little outward emotion or gloating by the Blue Devils.

Coach Gail Goestenkors made sure she didn’t leave any bulletin-board material for the Huskies in case the teams meet in the NCAA tournament.

“Connecticut knows they had us on the ropes, and they let us back in,” Goestenkors said. “I’m sure we’ll both learn a great deal from this game.”

What Duke learned was what Connecticut already knew about itself and has been trying to hide the last two seasons. The Huskies, for all their court savvy and confidence, don’t handle full-court pressure well, although their four-minute meltdown Saturday, when they blew a 12-point lead, was extreme.

“Were we surprised? Yes and no,” senior point guard Maria Conlon said. “We did the same thing last year against them, and it’s happened many times against other teams. This was more noticeable, but it’s not the first time.”

Added junior forward Ashley Battle, “They kept getting their hands on passes, and the tipped balls seemed to come right back to them. We couldn’t grab anything.”

Others had their chance to exploit this flaw. USC pressured Connecticut during their game Dec. 7 and built up a 15-point first-half lead. The Huskies, however, pulled out the game by three.

All-out defensive pressure “is something that can be effective because they are a real rhythm team offensively. So you want to disrupt them,” said USC Coach Chris Gobrecht.

But, Gobrecht said, “it is easier to play the underdog role than the king-of-the-hill role. Duke had nothing to lose, and UConn had a situation where, when you get into a funk, it can be really hard to snap out of it. It is the most frightening thing a coach has to deal with. It’s very difficult, when you lose your edge, to get it back.”

Connecticut Coach Geno Auriemma didn’t let things unravel for his team when it lost the Big East tournament championship game to Villanova last year. He and his staff have 17 games, starting with West Virginia tonight, to correct things before tournament time.

“Duke’s the most talented team in America, and we kicked their behinds for 30 minutes. So we showed we’re good enough to do that,” Auriemma said. “And then in the last 10, we showed we’re capable of playing as poorly as you play. So we’re not much different than you are.

“We’ve got two teams in our locker room right now. A really good team and one that’s not so good.... Right now that’s where we are. Hopefully it will be better by March.”

*

The Big 12 Conference has six teams in the top 25, more than any other conference in Division I. Its two best teams, Texas Tech and Texas, were ranked second and third when Connecticut lost to Duke.

So the Red Raiders and Longhorns -- who handed Duke its only loss this season -- had to figure on moving up. Not so. Each kept its position in the AP poll while Duke and Connecticut swapped theirs.

Texas Tech was named No. 1 on Tuesday in the coaches’ poll.

If Texas and Texas Tech felt snubbed by the writers’ poll, they’re not admitting it publicly.

“I don’t know if we knew what to expect,” Texas Tech Coach Marsha Sharp said. “Our players have answered every challenge, but we haven’t played any top-five teams. I felt all along the No. 1 is Texas. They have beaten Georgia, Tennessee and Duke, which gives them a lot of credence.”

Texas Coach Jody Conradt said it was still too early to put much stock in either poll.

“We’ve all looked at the [nonconference schedule] as if there are any number of teams that would challenge for the national championship,” she said. “And the [nonconference play] has proved that.”