Practice and planning only carry a team so far. Knowing what to do in the abstract, in simulations, versus actually taking the appropriate action in the heat of the moment, are different matters entirely.

Monday night, in a battle of top-10 women’s squads, that variation was all that stood between a season-defining victory for Duke and another assertion of eminence for Tennessee, the defending national champions.

Thus it was that Lady Vols head coach Pat Summitt scanned a box score at Cameron Indoor Stadium Monday night as the victor, despite watching her team commit 23 turnovers and shoot 40 percent from the floor. Moreover, Candace Parker, her All-America frontcourt player, had just turned in a sub-par offensive performance – until the game hung in the balance.

The final 67-64 score, said Summitt, a note of satisfaction in her voice, “says we find a way to win. That’s what great teams do.”

The Hall of Famer, who spent much of the evening standing near her bench, arms folded, in a dark pinstripe suit and green blouse, speaks with some authority. The SEC master has 965 career victories and seven national titles to her credit. Take that, Bob Knight.

As Summitt noted, the triumph by her second-ranked squad, now 18-1, was secured on the boards, where it held a 40-29 edge. More glaring still, Tennessee enjoyed 22 second-chance points compared to zero for Duke, which saw a 24-game home winning streak, longest in the nation, come to an end.

As another Hall of Famer, North Carolina’s Dean Smith, once asked rhetorically, “If I get two shots to your every one, guess who wins?”

Everything that happens on the court can be said to be a matter of technique and effort, but nothing more so than rebounding. That often is the statistic to which coaches’ eyes gravitate first when studying the numerical outlines of a game just completed.

For Duke’s Joanne P. McCallie, the sight was painful, particularly when contemplating the points derived from Tennessee’s 16 offensive rebounds. “That was very unfortunate,” she said as senior Wanisha Smith sat nearby, wiping her swollen eyes. “I think the most glaring statistic that will bother us a lot from this game is the second-chance points, and the boards.”

No one can anticipate the warping pressures of fatigue and emotion, the ebb and flow of momentum and confidence, the effects of expectation and nationally televised scrutiny.

No one can say why a team endures a brief lull in concentration, allowing its opponent to gain control, as happened to the Blue Devils following a halftime that saw the score tied at 33. The Devils fell behind, 45-36, at the 16:21 mark of the second period, and spent most of the remainder of the game furiously chasing Tennessee.

No one can explain why Duke’s Abby Waner missed 16 consecutive 3-pointers at home before her bomb knotted the score at 64-64 with 45.8 seconds to go; why junior classmate Chante Black, the team’s top rebounder and most improved player, came away with 2 boards in 30 minutes; or what entered the mind of forward Joy Cheek, who missed her defensive assignment on the game’s decisive play.

Parker’s presence surely disrupted the Devils’ interior operations. While making only 4 of 13 shots, the junior did get to the foul line 12 times. That equaled Duke’s team total. Such production is nothing new – Parker, sporting a long ponytail and a white headband tucked behind her ears, entered the game attempting virtually as many free throws as any three Blue Devils combined.

On this night, she made 75 percent, slightly better than her season average. Her last free throw, of two attempts, provided Tennessee its final point. But it was her bank shot over Black, following a timeout with 39 seconds left, that was the killing blow.

Duke had double-teamed Parker, the 2007 national player of the year, for most of the night, enhancing her teammates’ rebounding opportunities. But, inexplicably, with the game in the balance, the fiancé of former Dukie Shelden Williams found herself facing a single defender, and took immediate advantage.

“God, don’t let her score,” thought Black, who came from the help side. Her prayer went unanswered, as Parker hit with 22.2 seconds left. Duke had several more chances, but could not convert before a sellout Cameron crowd that included men's players Gerald Henderson, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith.

In keeping with the supernatural theme, McCallie added, “This one stings and there are some great lessons for us, but the basketball gods said, ‘No, not tonight, not if you’re going to rebound like that.”

Tennessee players counted Duke and North Carolina as the toughest defensive squads they have faced. They  beat both, among 10 ranked opponents so far this season.

The women’s squads from UNC and Duke meet next Monday night at Cameron, which had plenty of orange-clad fans and empty seats despite the announced sellout for UT.

Tennessee senior Alexis Hornbuckle called the Gothic bandbox “by far the toughest environment to play in, I think, personally. Everything’s so close. You’re hearing every fan, good or bad reactions.”

Summitt had threatened to end the series with Duke because of the crowd’s rough treatment of Hornbuckle two years ago.

The Vols are accustomed to playing before large, hostile audiences, averaging at least 7,000 spectators on the road for 11 of the last 13 seasons. But, according to the UT press notes, the Cameron Crazies were “raucous” and occasionally “tended toward the vulgar end of the cheering spectrum” the last time Tennessee came to Durham.

In fact, cheering by Duke students is far more tame and scripted than ever before. Cheat sheets are handed out as undergrads enter the building, telling them how and when to chant and what to say. “Make sure your arms are going up and down for the boings,” the instructions read for actions taken when the opponent has the ball, “so we don’t look like Nazis.”

Hornbuckle had once been charged with shoplifting, so in ’06 students chanted the name of the store where the incident supposedly occurred. Now, they were urged to do it again despite Summitt’s objections to the personal nature of the attack.

“DON’T LET THEIR COACH CHANGE WHO THE CAMERON CRAZIES ARE!” the  gathering of independent thinkers was told. They dutifully obliged.

Hornbuckle did not have the best of games, but the guard did make all four of her free throws. Clearly savoring the moment, she stepped back from the line after hitting the first and blew a kiss to the student section behind press row.