Goring, despite having 3 fouls, stuck back a Whittington miss to start the second half. Whittington had to head to the locker room to have her ankle brace reset, but she came out with fire to start the second period. The Pack then took the lead on a Fields basket and had a chance to extend it but turned the ball over. Bales drew Goring's 4th foul, sending her to the bench for nearly 8 minutes. Ali hit 2 foul shots, giving Duke a 36-35 lead. Harding blocked the shot of a much taller player and got the board, but then turned it over. Dickens then sank another pull-up jumper to put State ahead, but Duke countered with a Joy Cheek 17' shot. Fields drained a three, but Abby pulled up from near the top of the key to rain down a 22' three.

State's Sasha Reaves missed 2 free throws, and Waner jumped on that opportunity, sinking her 5th three of the game. Key sank another shot and Duke missed 2 good looks, as Key was fouled by Harding and hit a basket. She missed the free throw and Waner struck back with a 19' shot. State hit yet another jumper to tie the game at 46. Waner then dished to Bales inside for a post-up and then grabbed a rebound. Bales posted up again against the smaller Reaves and was fouled, nailing both. Then came a key breakdown for Duke: Dickens missed on a drive, and Whittington outworked Carrem Gay for the rebound and wound up with a three point play.

Gay then turned the ball over, but Bales forced a miss and grabbed the rebound. She then threw a rocket of an outlet pass to Harding, who found Smith in transition. Cheek then rebounded a miss and Bales found Harding for a 10' jumper, screening her off nicely. With under nine minutes to go, Duke had a 54-49 lead. State countered with 2 free throw, but Bales nailed another long jumper. Key hit another shot over Harding, but Waner drove and found Smith for a huge three. Nish followed that up with 2 free throws to make it 61-53 with 6:18 left. Duke seemed to be in control, but State was gearing up for a 15th-round KO.

Whittington powered up for a basket and then grabbed a Bales miss. Key sank a three to cut Duke's lead to three and had a shot to tie, but missed. Waner found Gay for a short jumper that just barely crawled over the rim. That gave Duke a 5-point lead with over four minutes to go. Key then missed, Harding got the rebound and tossed it down to Smith, who just barely missed the layup. This was the play that turned around the game, because State came up with the ball in the ensuing scramble. Whittington missed but Goring got the stickback to draw the Pack within 3. Harding then passed to Waner on the wing, who was loading up at her favorite spot for a three. However, Abby slipped on a wet spot and turned the ball over as she was trying to plant her feet, and the Pack got an easy basket to give them momentum. Smith was then whistled for an offensive foul and Goring stuck back another Whittington miss to give the Pack the lead with 2:27 left. Bales fouled out Goring and hit both free throws to give Duke back the lead with 2:11 left.

Bales then blocked Key and Harding got the ball. Joy Cheek then threw the ball away thinking a teammate would be on the sideline, another critical Duke error. Key hit a shot to put the Pack back on top, and Smith missed a three. Cheek grabbed the o-board and Duke called time-out. The play would go to Bales inside, who missed a short shot. Reaves hit 2 free throws to put State up by 3. In what she would later describe as "a stupid shot" ("The Nutshell" photo), Waner put up a wild three with 8 seconds left that missed. Key hit 2 clinching foul shots to put the game away and trigger a wild celebration. To add insult to injury, Gail was part of a group of ACC coaches presenting Kay Yow and Debbie Ryan an award honoring them for their bravery in their fight against cancer. Duke's whole team had to stay out there, watching the whole stadium celebrate their first defeat.

In the end, the game came down to details: missed block-outs, bad passes, a lack of communication at both ends. Certainly NC State played brilliantly, hitting a plethora of unlikely shots. However, that could have been overcome if Duke had simply matched State's effort. Battling foul trouble and injury, State's frontcourt made every play they had to have. Duke's energy kept fluctuating--they'd play hard in spots, getting small leads. When it came time to putting together a consistent run, Duke simply didn't make a small handful of plays that would have meant the difference between a win and a loss.

I have never bought into the "pressure" theory of being undefeated in postseason, that a loss somehow relieves that pressure. Quite the opposite, in my view: being undefeated gives you the confidence that you can pull out a game no matter what. In postseason play, the pressure is always there, and one's record doesn't do much to alter it. This loss will also give Duke's future opponents confidence. The good news is that the problems here are all correctable. A couple of weeks of tough practices will help the team get back on line. Coach G must be careful not to overreact after the one loss, however--the team needs encouragement and positive reinforcement. That's especially true for its younger players, who will need to step up in postseason play. That said, everyone needs to understand that the stakes are higher in the postseason, and it will require a different level of focus, commitment and intensity from everyone. Still, Duke lost to one of the hottest and certainly the most motivated team in the country. They matched up well with Duke and shored up their weaknesses (point guard play, shooting, consistent inside scoring) to the point where they became strengths. If they can continue to play like this in a couple of weeks, we won't see another first-round NCAA tournament flame-out from the Pack; indeed, this team could make it to the Final Four.