Sometimes the tortoise loses. Trying to stop Tennessee from scoring was like "trying to hold back a river with a piece of plywood," said 'Nova Coach Perretta. For the first 20 minutes, it looked like 'Nova could perform another miracle, but the 23-3 run to open the second half was more than the Cats could handle.

Coach Harry didn't take Geno's remarks criticizing the Harry-Pat Axis of Evil too seriously. Coach Summitt said they were out of line.

Duke recovered from one of its worst starts all season. The offensieve flow wasn't there, but the Devils made crucial plays down the stretch. It was all about Tillis and Beard -- Iciss had a terrible shooting night, but made the huge 3 at the end; Alana just scored whenever she wanted to. She won't let them lose.

Texas Tech believed all season that it had the spirit of the Sheryl Swoopes 1993 championship team guiding it, but destiny abandoned the Raiders last night. Plenette Pierson battled with a pulled groin muscle, but she just ran out of time. The loss, for her, was unbearable. In the end, it was Beard, not Pierson, who carried the mantle of Swoopes.

The locals in the Pit were definitely on Duke's side. Raider fans are angry at Lobo fans and at the refs.