Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus UCLA on March 29, 2026 , Loss , 58, to, 70
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Final
Women's Basketball
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vs UCLA
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Tomko: 1999 Final Four Team Revisited
1/22/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
DURHAM, N.C. ? The 1998-1999 Duke women's basketball team never perceived itself as an underdog, even though the media and opponents might have seen it that way during their historic run to the Final Four and National Title game.
Krista Gingrich, a freshman that season, remembers the Elite Eight game versus three-time defending champion Tennessee very well.
“Tennessee had actually booked all of the rooms in the hotel in San Jose [Calif.], kind of overlooking us and expecting to walk right into the final four,” Gingrich said.
The fact that people perceived the Duke team as underdogs may have had more to do with the perception of the team, having never made it to the Final Four before, than the squad's actual ability.
The Blue Devils concluded the regular season with a 23-5 record and a 15-1 mark in the conference for their second ACC regular-season title.
Entering the ACC Tournament ranked eighth in the country, the Blue Devils opened the ACC Tournament against Florida State, dismantling the Seminoles 90-57 with four players scoring in double figures. The Duke squad would stumble though in the semifinals against Clemson, falling 76-71 to the sixteenth-ranked school in the country.
With the loss, Duke entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 3 seed and ranked 10th nationally, responding with a 79-51 win over Holy Cross in the opening-round game. Michele Van Gorp led the way with 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting.
In the second round, Duke once again got a solid effort from Van Gorp, who continued her strong shooting to the tune of 8-of-11 from the floor for 20 points in the 66-60 win over Saint Joseph's.
The first test in the tournament came from fifth-ranked Old Dominion, with the Blue Devils passing with flying colors. Led by a 24-point effort from Nicole Erickson, going a perfect 11-of-11 from the free throw line, the Blue Devils took down the Monarchs 76-63.
The win over Old Dominion set up an epic matchup in the elite eight between the Blue Devils and second-ranked Tennessee. The Lady Volunteers had lost only two games all season coming into the March 22 meeting between the schools.
“We never felt like underdogs that I think other people perceived us to be, but especially going into the Tennessee game,” Hilary Howard said. “We played them earlier in the year and we knew we could beat them and we knew they weren't taking us that seriously.”
Tennessee had an 11-10 advantage at the 13:24 mark of the first half, but would never own the lead again. The Blue Devils went into the locker room of the Greensboro Coliseum with an 11-point edge and no matter what the Lady Vols did, the Blue Devils never allowed them to tie or take the lead in a 69-63 win.
“It was such a powerhouse Tennessee team that we were going up against,” Gingrich said. “I think that they were three-time defending [champions] and they had [Chamique] Holdsclaw, who was everyone's Player of the Year.”
“Coach G [Gail Goestenkors] at least made us believe and that was enough to give us the win,” Gingrich added.
Georgia Schweitzer paced Duke with 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting, advancing to the school's first Final Four.
Duke played a triangle-and-two defense for most of the game against Tennessee, trying to make other people beat them besides Holdsclaw. It worked as they held the Lady Volunteers leading scorer to eight points on 2-of-18 shooting, fouling out in 38 minutes.
Entering their first Final Four game in the school's history, the Blue Devils would not be denied from playing in the National Championship game, defeating the 12th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs 81-69 thanks to a 22-point effort from Erickson.
“We were so composed in that game,” Howard said. “You would have thought that the nerves of playing in a Final Four would get to you, but we were really kind of focused and played well. It was a dream come true, especially as a senior to go as far as you can go in the college game. We were one of two teams left playing.”
“I always imagined myself playing in a National Title game but to be quite honest I didn't think it would be that quickly,” Gingrich said. “I think it was an amazing run that we had and not too many people expected us to go that far. It was kind of a beginning of a trend for Duke women's basketball.”
In the National Championship game in San Jose, Calif. the Blue Devils took a 22-17 lead into the locker room versus No. 1 Purdue, who had lost only once all season. Duke though couldn't claim the National Championship because the Boilermakers put forth a second-half comeback to win the championship 62-45.
Van Gorp ended the game as the Blue Devils' only double-digit scorer shooting 7-of-10 from the field, scoring 15 points.
The 1999 team helped to establish the program on a national stage only to be fueled more by the 2005-2006 team who reached the National Championship game as well.
“I think a lot of us from the 1999 team are proud of helping the program progress,” Howard said. “The program has come a long way in 10 years so I think we take some pride in how well the team is doing.”
This Sunday, when the current Blue Devils (16-1) take on Georgia Tech inside Cameron Indoor Stadium, 10 former players from the 1999 Final Four team will be on hand and recognized.
Scheduled to attend are: Lauren Rice, Payton Black, Hilary Howard, Rochelle Parent, Georgia Schweitzer, Krista Gingrich, Janee Hayes, Naz Medhanie, Peppie Browne, and Nicole Erickson.
Former assistant coach Shonta Taburn will be the only member of the coaching staff that will be attending.
Players not able to attend include Missy West, Michele Van Gorp, Jennifer Forte and Takisha Jones.
“I think it will be great,” Howard said. “It will be a nice way to celebrate.”
Notes: Gingrich, who is a physician assistant with the Brain Tumor Center at Duke and also the head coach for the Durham Academy varsity girl's basketball team, said, “It will be interesting to have the majority of our team back together at one time. I am sure they're going to be a lot of stories being told.”
Gingrich, who was instrumental coming off the bench, played in 34 of 36 contests including four of the teams NCAA Tournament games.
As a freshman the Lewistown, Pa. native averaged 5.5 points shooting 29-of-72 (.403) from three. She posted a season-high 22 points connecting on five threes against Florida State on Dec. 2 and dished out a season high 10 assists against Temple on Dec. 12.
Lauren Rice, who is currently in her third year as Duke women's basketball video coordinator, was a junior during the history making run by the Blue Devils. Rice, a 6'1” forward, saw action in all six games in the NCAA Tournament, recording an 11-point performance in the squad's 76-63 win over fifth-ranked Old Dominion in the Sweet 16.
In the NCAA tournament, the Peru, Ind., native averaged 6.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.
Howard, who lives out in Pacific Grove, Calif. and is the Director of Marketing and Communications for the Northern California Golf Association, has been back to Duke every year to catch at least one game.
Howard finished her career as the school's all-time assist leader with 533. The record now belongs to Lindsey Harding with 579 assists. Howard started all 36 games during the season as part of the Duke backcourt averaging 8.6 points per game, shooting 51-of-127 on three-pointers and handing out 4.25 assists.
Erickson, who broke the school record for three-pointers in a single season during her senior year, averaged 11.1 points per game during her final year as a Blue Devil. The Fullerton, Calif., native brought her play to another level during the team's Championship game run, averaging 14.5 points-per-game over six games in the NCAA Tournament.
Before Erickson transferred to Duke before her junior year, she played two seasons at Purdue, the team the Blue Devils lost to in the finals.
Tuesday, March 31
Tuesday, March 31
Tuesday, March 31
Tuesday, March 31
