The Duke nation mourns its early exit and the end of the Alan Beard era.

In some ways, it's hard to understand what happened. The Devils have a team full of talented stars. They have a great coach. They have tournament experience. They got Mo Currie back. And last night, they managed to do the two most important things against Minnesota: force turnovers, and get McCarville in foul trouble.

"I don't know how to explain it," Brittany Hunter said. "With seven minutes left [and Minnesota leading 59-57] we said 'We've got this.' And with three minutes left [down 67-63], we said 'We've got this.' And with a minute left [trailing 70-68] we said 'We've got this.'"

That is exactly how the game felt. The fourth foul on McCarville seemed like the end of the ride. At the minute mark, Duke actually seemed in control of the game, and down only 2. But at every key moment, Minnesota kept making plays.

Coach G offered a candid and simple explanation for the result. "I think we were very, very tight going in... I thought we had had a handle on the pressure, but for some reason we didn't handle it well. Sometimes it is easier to be an underdog. You can just go out and play because no one expects you to win."