Joanne P. McCallie remembers standing on the sideline during the second half of the 2005 national championship game and realizing her six-deep Michigan State team had nothing left.
She won't have to worry about that this year at Duke.
The Blue Devils (30-3) have one of the deepest teams in program history, with all 11 players averaging at least 10 minutes. Heading into Monday's second-round NCAA tournament game against Marist, McCallie is hoping the benefits of having all those options will have other coaches feeling like she did with the Spartans six years ago.
''I remember as a coach thinking then that this can't happen again,'' McCallie said Sunday. ''If we ever get here again, we're going to have to be deeper.''
The Blue Devils seem to have the right makeup for a deep run. There's a star talent in point guard Jasmine Thomas to go with pair of senior starters in Karima Christmas and Krystal Thomas.
Duke, the No. 2 seed in the Philadelphia Regional, had all 11 players get at least 11 minutes in the first-round romp against Tennessee-Martin. Yet the minutes don't come only in blowouts; Duke had at least eight players in double-figure minutes in all seven games decided by six or fewer points.
''Our depth is one of the things that coming into the tournament you need to have if you want to make a long run,'' Christmas said. ''We're all confident that any player can come in and make an impact, whether it is passing, rebounding and shooting.''
Tenth-seeded Marist (31-2) has some similar balance with nine players averaging at least 10 minutes. But in Saturday's 74-64 first-round win against Iowa State, the Red Foxes' starters played at least 32 minutes while none of the five bench players managed more than seven.
''We see people that are tired and we can put some other people in who can play,'' Marist coach Brian Giorgis said. ''Maybe not at the caliber of theirs, but they can go in and play quality minutes if we get in foul trouble or if people need rest. The thing is (the Blue Devils) just bring them in waves.''
The depth is a blessing for McCallie, who got within a few minutes of the Final Four last year with primarily an eight-player rotation. Shortly after taking over here in 2007, she coached Team USA in the FIBA Under-21 World Championships in Moscow - which marked the first time she had managed the minutes of 12 players. That experience is paying off now, she said, as she blends freshmen like Chelsea Gray and Haley Peters into the lineup.
''They're humble and hungry kids,'' McCallie said. ''They all signed up to do something special at Duke, so they're all committed to learning. ... They've been excited about building this thing. Yes, they wanted playing time, too. But they've been rewarded when it's been due.
''The thing about the team is there's some good integrity. They know darn well if they don't defend or rebound or play aggressive, they might get to the back of the rotation and have to work their way around again.''
While Duke has relied on its defensive pressure all year, the Red Foxes entered the tournament allowing a national-best 48.6 points per game and ranked third by holding opponents to 32.8 percent from the field. They held Iowa State to 35 percent shooting, while leading scorer Erica Allenspach overcame a quiet shooting day by leading the effort that held Cyclones leading scorer Kelsey Bolte to 6-for-20 shooting.
The challenge will be even more daunting against a high seed playing on its home court in famed Cameron Indoor Stadium.
''We're running into a team that's obviously better than us 1 through 5, but that doesn't mean we can't outsmart them and play our own game,'' Allenspach said. ''We just have to hope that we knock down shots and we can stop what they like to do. ... It's not going to be easy, but we're just here to have fun now.''
