SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Two left, two stayed behind and now, three years later, here they are facing each other for the national championship.
Purdue's Stephanie White-McCarty and Ukari Figgs will meet former teammates Michele VanGorp and Nicole Erickson when the No. 1-ranked Boilermakers play Duke Sunday night in a title game that will produce a first-time champion.All four played on Purdue's 1995-96 team, which was torn apart when coach Lin Dunn was fired after the season. VanGorp and Erickson headed for Duke, White-McCarty and Figgs remained at Purdue.
In an incredible coincidence, they're all ending their college careers in the same game. But VanGorp and Erickson weren't talking about that Saturday. Coach Gail Goestenkors wouldn't let them.
"We've been asked so many questions about that," Goestenkors said. "It kind of takes away from our team, Duke University. This is not about the past. It's about the present. Everybody is happy now. Everybody is to the Final Four. I think we just need to let well enough alone."
Purdue made the Final Four because Figgs and White-McCarty stuck it out, even after a second coaching change. Dunn's replacement, Nell Fortner, left after one season to coach the U.S. national team and was succeeded by her top assistant, Carolyn Peck.
That's three coaches in their first three years, but with one more solid effort on their part, the two seniors could reap the ultimate reward for their perseverance: an NCAA championship.
"I think it would be gratifying to cut down the nets no matter what, not just because we've gone through a lot," said White-McCarty, a unanimous All-American. "Because it's such a great honor and we've done a lot in this team. We've stuck together all year long. It's just a very special team to be around."
The game also will mark the end of Peck's career at Purdue. The second-year coach is leaving to become coach and general manager of the WNBA's new franchise in Orlando and she has to be ready for the league's expansion draft on April 6. But that can wait, she said.
"The focus right now is we've got to play for 40 minutes," Peck said.
After the top 16 seeds in the NCAA tournament all advanced to the regional round, March madness will end with a most untraditional championship game, the first since 1993 not to have Tennessee or Louisiana Tech.
Duke (29-6) eliminated Tennessee, winner of the last three titles, in the East Regional final, then beat Georgia 81-69 in the national semifinals Friday night.
Purdue (33-1), which has won 31 straight, beat Louisiana Tech 77-63 Friday night. So not only will there be a first-time champion, it's the first time these two teams have ever reached the final.
They've done it with much the same strengths: sound, smart team play, excellent guards, offensive balance and solid defense.
"We're very similar," said Goestenkors, who once was an assistant at, you guessed it, Purdue. "I think honestly it's going to come down to defense and to rebounding. Because I think both teams can score a lot of points.
"We're going to have to take something away from them and I know they're going to have to take something away from us, either our inside game or our outside game."
Purdue, however, is tough to defend because its players are so versatile and have a knack for picking each other up. Friday night, for example, White-McCarty was 1-for-7 in the first half. But Figgs scored 18 points in the opening half and the Boilermakers led by 13. She finished with 24.
"She's kind of been a secret all year long," Peck said. "I haven't minded because some teams haven't been ready for her and then she comes out and plays like she did last night."
Figgs isn't going to catch Duke by surprise.
"Our biggest things is we're just going to limit her touches on the ball and try to make somebody else beat us," Duke guard Hilary Howard said. "We know we're not going to stop her. But we want to stop her from having a game like last night where she did everything."
Purdue doesn't have anyone as big as the 6-foot-6 VanGorp inside. If Erickson and Howard can get the ball to VanGorp for her turnaround jumpers and hit a few outside shots, the Blue Devils could be hard to stop.
They haven't been stopped so far in this tournament and they're confident they can keep it going one more game.
"We just feel like we belong here," Goestenkors said. "And you know, we've charted this path from day one. So it's not something that we feel is unexpected. Because of that, I think we feel pretty comfortable."