A second-seeded Duke team is getting ready to face an unheralded 15th seed in the NCAA tournament.
Sound familiar?
The Blue Devils look to avoid the same fate as the Duke men when they meet Samford for the first time in Sunday night's women's first round in Nashville, Tenn.
Duke (24-5) is getting ready to make its 18th straight tournament appearance and 19th overall. The Blue Devils have never lost their first game in this event, unlike what happened to the second-seeded men, who were stunned 75-70 on Friday by No. 15 seed Lehigh.
Coach Joanne P. McCallie seemed offended by the idea of using the loss by Mike Krzyzewski's team as motivation for her squad.
"Really I don't want to talk about it," McCallie said. "It just really hurts. I don't know what to say. You don't use it, I think that is inappropriate."
While McCallie didn't want to discuss the failure of the Duke men, Samford coach Mike Morris is using that contest as well as the defeat by the second-seeded Missouri men to Norfolk State as motivation for his team of underdogs.
"Obviously, you have seen what has happened on the men's side with the two 15 seeds," he said. "That can happen and basketball is a sport that that can happen in more than other sports."
Duke failed to extend its streak of reaching four straight ACC tournament finals, losing to North Carolina State in the quarterfinals after going 15-1 in regular-season conference play. The Blue Devils have a young lineup featuring two sophomores and freshman center Elizabeth Williams, the team's top scorer (14.3 ppg) and rebounder (8.3 per game).
"You have to remember the average age of our team is 19 years old and probably our two most formidable players are a freshman and a sophomore," McCallie said.
Duke is also tall, with three starters who are at least 6-foot-2, and that poses a major problem for a Samford starting lineup with just one six-footer - 6-3 forward Taylor Reece, a freshman averaging 8.8 points.
"We probably need to grow a little bit in the next couple of days in terms of height," Morris said. "I think our maturity level is pretty good but I think if we could grow physically that would be great."
Samford (20-12) is in its second straight NCAA tournament after losing 76-46 in the first round to Florida State last year, the first appearance in school history.
The Bulldogs should have many of the fans in their corner. Reece is a Nashville native, while starting forward Hannah Dawson and top 3-point shooter Shelby Campbell also hail from Tennessee.
"Within 40 minutes, we have three of our top six players," Morris said.
While Duke has the edge in height, both teams are among the nation's leaders in 3-point shooting with the Blue Devils at 37.1 percent and the Bulldogs at 35.7.
The winner will face No. 7 seed Vanderbilt or No. 10 Middle Tennessee in Tuesday's second round.
