Escape was at hand.

The Duke women’s team, top-seeded in the NCAA field, top-ranked in the polls, one defeat shy of perfection on the season, had not played well. The Blue Devils got off to a slow start. They scored eight points in the first 10 minutes, airballs equaling field goals. Their execution was not crisp. They were outhustled on the boards, with Rutgers holding a 9-1 edge in offensive rebounds in the first half. They failed to protect a second-half lead.

The team that rolled with ease over all opponents during the regular season -- winning at Tennessee, routing NCAA entrants Rutgers and Vanderbilt and Maryland, twice handling North Carolina -- a squad that displayed the confidence, spirit and poise of a champion, seemed uncomfortable and a bit out of sorts in the NCAAs at Raleigh and Greensboro.

Perhaps a loss to N.C. State in the ACC Tournament had exposed weaknesses that opponents could exploit, or widened fault lines in the confidence of a group that far exceeded expectations. Perhaps talk of coach Gail Goestenkors’ possible departure for richer coaching pastures was a distraction, although coach and players denied it. When you walk a tightrope across the abyss of single-game elimination, any waver in concentration can be fatal.

Still, the natural arrogance of achievement endured, an easy gait borne of 32 instances when challenge yielded victory. Observers familiar with Duke shared a sense that, sooner or later, the Devils would take command, eliminating a steady patter of uncharacteristic mistakes against fourth-seed Rutgers’ deliberate offense and physical, aggressive, pressing defense.

But there was no command to be had, and the game fluttered just out of Duke’s reach. In fact, as the game wore on the outlines of a different script emerged, one in which the Scarlet Knights and Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer were the unlikely heroines.

Stringer spoke of fate, of signs. She conjured the mysteries of numerology and the power of belief. “I truly believed that it was our destiny” to defeat what she called “probably the nation’s best team.”

Yet, for all that, Duke scrambled to the brink of victory after a frantic final 28 seconds. Senior Alison Bales (21 points) missed a jumper. Duke grabbed, then lost the rebound. Rutgers guard Epiphanny Prince dashed the length of the court for a go-ahead score. The Devils advanced the ball to midcourt under pressure and called timeout.

With the ball and a chance to win, senior Lindsay Harding, the ACC player of the year, had the ball stolen by Essence Carson with 5.6 seconds to go.

Now Duke, with only three team fouls and almost no chance of sending the Big East tournament champions to the free throw line, needed a steal or a five-second violation on the inbound play in order to regain possession. Blanketed by the Devils’ defense, Rutgers called timeout, then returned to the floor and committed a turnover on the ensuing inbounds pass, anyway.

Harding made the steal and quickly drove into the lane, where a foul sent her to the line for a pair of free throws with a tenth of a second left on the game clock.

Escape was at hand.

Goestenkors said there was no one she would rather have at the foul line than Harding, a 75.9 percent free throw shooter on the season. “She’s been a great player for us all year long,” the 44-year-old coach said. “She’s been tough as nails.”

Harding was equally confident, and said her first free throw attempt “came out perfectly,” only to bang off the back of the rim rather than slip into the basket. Still with a chance to force overtime, Harding reset and calmly let fly again, sure in her execution. And missed the second free throw almost exactly as she had the first.

Just like that, the 53-52 score was final, the season done.

Gone was the chance to secure a national title, the elusive piece lacking in the impressive resume of Duke women’s basketball. Instead of what seemed the best chance yet to reach the pinnacle, the Blue Devils suffered their worst scoring output of the year and failed to advance at least to the regional finals for the first time since 2001.

In a quiet moment, a calm Goestenkors admitted she never saw the end coming. “It didn’t cross my mind that we would lose,” she said. "I'm really shocked by the outcome."