The Chattanooga Regional had used up its quota of upsets in the first two rounds -- heck, Liberty used it up all by itself -- and thus was left with nothing heartstopping to offer in rounds three and four.
In fact, the only way a heart was going to stop watching these three games was through tedium, as hardnosed defense erased offensive creativity and slowed the pace down to a dull, sometimes apparently endless, crawl.
But when the final horn sounded, LSU survived, as expected, and though the Tigers didn't get the artistic merit points they may have hoped for, a trip to Indianapolis is, after all, at trip to Indianapolis.
LSU 59, Duke 49
If you wanted pretty, you were in the wrong city.
LSU's grind-it-out-and-get-it-done 59-49 win over Duke in the Regional finals was hardly the sleek performance that we had come to expect from the Tigers, who had sailed through the first three rounds with pennons snapping in the wind. The Blue Devils weren't expected to be sleek, and minus quickness in the backcourt, weren't expected to give LSU a lot of trouble either.
But when the score was 24-12 in favor of Duke with 7:52 in the first half, it was clear this game was not going to play out according to the script. Sparked by Mistie Williams, who didn't miss a shot from the field all night, the Blue Devils controlled the early going as LSU couldn't muster a halfcourt offense -- which was true most of the evening, as a matter of fact -- or get out and run.
Temeka Johnson, though, buried a three from the left wing with 4:08 left in the half, and the comeback was on. After Currie leaned in to make it 28-18 (she wouldn't record another field goal until the waning seconds), Johnson and Seimone Augustus began steadily chipping away at the lead. Even a couple missed free throws by the marvelous Sylvia Fowles couldn't slow the tide, and an 8-0 LSU run tied the score at the half.
Well, OK. Order had been restored, the universe was now back in its proper orbit. Duke, which did great work all season despite the absence of a true point guard or a quick defender on the perimeter, would surely bow down to the inevitable and let the LSU show take center stage.
And when Augustus took a feed from Wendlyn Jones to give LSU the lead 24 seconds into the second half, Tiger fans began firming up those reservations in Indianapolis. But Williams scored inside (her last field goal of the game) to tie the score, and the tenacious Duke defense just wouldn't let LSU get going. And even though it was hard to figure out how the Blue Devils were going to change the scoreboard with Currie struggling and Williams ignored, Jessica Foley would hit a three, or Currie would make some free throws, or Chante Black would follow in a miss, and somehow they would keep it close.
Of course, the Tigers always had Augustus, who made it look so easy when she scored that you had to wonder why she didn't do it every time down the floor. The sweetest sequence was a defensive rebound, followed by a coast-to-coast drive and finished with a lovely half-hook while drifting right with 7:22 left in the game. That made it 45-39, and certainly Duke would give up after that.
But all credit to Gail Goestenkors and her band of warriors, who scrapped through poor shooting (take away Williams and Foley, and they shot 26.5%) and a lack of rebounding, and somehow stayed in the game. And when Black scored with 4:02 left it was 47-44, and the shocking thought crossed a lot of minds: 'Hey, Duke could actually win this thing.'
As it turned out, they couldn't, because LSU scored the next six points (though it took them nearly three minutes to do it) and the Blue Devils' lack of offense was simply too much to overcome. Duke, however, did expose the Tigers as a halfcourt team, because the Blue Devils managed to get them to just stand around and watch each other. Only when Johnson would blur past Wanisha Smith, or whoever happened to try to stay in front of her, would LSU look show championship caliber.
And you have to wonder what might have happened if Duke had had a couple more players. Only seven took the floor Tuesday, and Allison Bales was in foul trouble most of the night, and played only 21 minutes. A little more depth, some fresher legs late, another bucket here or there, and who knows?
On the other hand, LSU did win the game, and the Tigers did one thing almost every national title team has done: They didn't play particularly well and still managed to win. Very few teams are going to play well six nights in a row in late March, and the Tigers can now sigh and tell themselves 'We got that out of the way.'
But it sure wasn't pretty.
The received wisdom is that big people can't help you if they don't have the ball, and Georgia, despite a sixth seed, surely had enough backcourt quickness to keep the Duke guards from getting the ball to Mistie Williams, Allison Bales, Wynter Whitley and Chante Black.
And in fact, they did. The quartet took only 22 of Duke's 56 shots, though they did get to the line 12 times. And the Dawgs were in position to win the game late, when the wonderful Tasha Humphrey followed in a missed shot to tie the score at 54 with 3:06 left.
But then Georgia, as it is wont to do, self-destructed. Cori Chambers missed a wide-open three-pointer. Humphrey didn't screen out and Williams scored after an offensive rebound. Kendrick went wildly to the hoop and Williams blocked the shot.
Humphrey finally touched the ball and nailed a three, but by that time it was 59-54 with only 36 seconds left. Then the Bulldogs didn't foul Williams, the worst Duke free-throw shooter on the floor, took a bad shot and wound up scoring just three points in the last three minutes to lose by six.
If Georgia utilizes its athleticism, rather than squanders it, Duke's muscle is nullified -- but this version of the Dawgs, like so many others, doesn't seem to be able to take advantage of its strengths. And maybe it doesn't hurt that Andy Landers regularly goes ballistic on the sidelines, but it doesn't look like it helps either.
On talent, Georgia wins this game. On talent, Georgia is much better than a sixth seed, despite its lack of size. But talent doesn't always win ... and Duke advanced.
LSU 90, Liberty 48
I faithfully settled in to take notes on this one. It was suddenly 17-0 and it became clear to me, the national TV audience, the LSU Tigers, the Liberty Flames, and any pets that wandered into the room that this was not going to be a contest.
Liberty played like a team that had achieved its goals and was just happy to be there. LSU played like a national champion facing a midmajor with the fuel gauge on E.
Random facts: LSU has won 18 games by more than 20 points. The 42-point margin was the second-largest in Sweet 16 history. Alexander the Great's horse was named Bucephalus. Anyone who watched this game from start to finish needs to re-examine her priorities.