Though Rutgers pulled within 3 to start the second half after a three by Zurich, Duke responded with what seemed like a knockout punch: a 7-0 run fueled by Abby Waner & Wanisha Smith. Waner hit Smith on a cut, and then Nish alertly passed to Bales on an inbounds pass. Abby then grabbed a rebound and popped a three to make it 28-18 two minutes into the half.

Rutgers took a time and promptly responded with a 6-0 run of their own. Turning on their press, Rutgers turned Duke over twice. Ajavon scored on a three point play over Bales and then stuck a three. Harding hit a floater, but Carson hit another tough jumper to make it 30-26. Smith had a 2-on-1 prior to that score where she blew the layup instead of passing to Waner. Duke once again pounded the ball inside, with Gay scoring on a Waner feed and Bales sinking 2 free throws. Duke had an 8 point lead with 14:40 left, but Rutgers was starting to break down Duke's defense.

On Rutgers' next possession, Ajavon was able to penetrate, draw the defense and then dish to a wide-open Prince for a key three. A missed jumper by Harding led to a long rebound and fast break basket by Ajavon. The two squads kept exchanging baskets, as Smith this time found Waner on a perfectly-executed fast break and Brittany Mitch caught Rutgers sleeping with another inbounds pass to Bales, this time for a three point play. That put Duke up 39-33 with 11:25 left.

Bales turned the ball over thanks to Rutgers' pressure and Ajavon scored over her again. Prince then picked Mitch clean and scored on a runout to bring Rutgers within 2. Carson forced Harding into another tough shot (left), and Vaughn hit a long jumper from the top of the key to tie the game at 39 with under nine to go. Duke's seniors hooked up as Harding went to Bales (right), who sank a clutch turn-around jumper over Vaughn. Carson tied the game up again, but Bales stuck back a Smith missed to put Duke on top again.

Neither team scored over the next three minutes, and Duke wasted some prime opportunities. Waner and Smith both missed threes, Gay missed a layup and Smith blew another fast break bunny. Finally, Bales was fouled (left) going to the hoop and hit both to give Duke a 4-point edge with 3:17 left. Carson drove and dished to Zurich for a clutch jumper. Duke was having trouble stopping Rutgers' penetration and had further difficulty in rotating over to the jump-shooter in time to stop them. Duke struck back as Harding rocketed a pass to Smith in transition for a Rutgers team that was slow to get back. Ajavon slipped by the perimeter and scored over Bales yet again for a three point play, drawing Ali's 4th foul (right). When Smith struck back with a three point play of her own against Vaughn, Duke led by 4 once again with two minutes left.

Zurich hit another clutch jumper with 1:35 left, but Bales dished in to Gay for a score for that magic 4-point edge with 1:20 to go and a 52-48 lead. Duke had only 3 team fouls at this point, and Coach G had instructed Lindsey to foul Ajavon if she started to penetrate. At precisely the point she was about to do so, Lindsey slipped and Ajavon took advantage to drain a three with 47 seconds left.

Harding drove and passed (left) to Bales, who missed an open jumper (right) from the top of the key. Smith came up with the rebound, but, typically of Duke's offensive rebounding afternoon, Prince ripped it out of her hands and tore off downcourt to quickly score, putting Rutgers up by one.

Harding then coughed up the ball with 6 seconds left. With no ability to put Rutgers at the line, Duke had few options. Amazingly, Harding went high to intercept the inbounds pass from Carson and drove all the way to the hoop, getting hammered by McCurdy with .1 seconds left. We all know what happened then: she missed both shots and the game ended.

As I noted in the Nutshell, what I will remember about the game is not that she missed the free throws, but that her entire team ran over, picked her up off the floor and comforted their leader and "mini-mom". Lindsey was not just a great leader because of her toughness, but because of the way she understood and cared about every member of her team.

What went wrong for Duke? This game in many ways was a series of worst-case scenarios for Duke. First, they were playing a team that carefully looked at what Temple did and used a lot of their same physical and mental tactics. As far as Bales went, she was able to shrug off the subtle tricks Rutgers was using to put her off her game. On the other hand, the Scarlet Knights took full advantage of how the game was being called, in particular the way they were able to bump Duke's cutters. With few handchecks being called, Harding had trouble trying to penetrate and didn't use a lot of the same tactics on Ajavon. Duke had been in plenty of rugged games this season, but the difference is that they didn't adjust to the rugged play and the strategically employed traps. Rutgers was able to reduce Duke's usually cohesive backcourt into three individuals. Instead of Duke's guards being able to play off each other's strengths, Rutgers was able to exploit their weaknesses. Harding falling down and the ball squirting through Smith's hands were just bad luck at the worst possible time. Rutgers was smart enough to take advantage of every mistake and it was clear they had learned a lesson after their earlier beating. They overcame Duke's dominance in the paint and ultimately got it done with a 16-4 edge in points off turnovers. It was no surprise to see them dismantle Arizona State two days later, and it wouldn't surprise me to see them go to the national title game.

This was a particularly cruel way for this team to go out, given their toughness in close games all season. Still, their performance this year far outstripped even my expectations. This was the team that drew in students, that used a home-court advantage to dominate opponents, that played with style & grit, that exemplified team over individual play. Through it all, they were led by the two seniors, Lindsey Harding and Alison Bales, who in Coach G's estimation grew more over their careers than any other class. They're two of Duke's best players, and people, ever, and we will miss them.