They called it destiny. Call it whatever you want but the Rutgers Lady Scarlet Knights exacted revenge on Duke during today’s women’s Regional Semifinal in Greensboro.

The fourth seeded Lady Knights upset the top seeded Blue Devils 53-52 to advance to the Elite 8. But how they did it is what will be remembered. Trailing 52-48 with under a minute to go, they scored five unanswered points to pull off the stunning victory- avenging a 40 point defeat back in December.

With 48.5 seconds remaining, leading scorer Matee Ajavon hit a three to slice it to one. Then former Bergtraum standout Epiphanny Prince ripped away a rebound from Wanisha Smith and went all the way for an off balance go-ahead lay-in with 20 seconds left.

Less than six seconds away from the huge win, Rutgers’ inbounds pass was stolen by ACC Player of the Year Lindsey Harding. She then drove hard to the basket and drew a foul on Myia McCurdy with 0.1 seconds left, putting Rutger’s upset bid in serious jeopardy. A 75 percent free throw shooter, Harding unbelievably missed both to seal the victory for coach C. Vivian Stringer’s Lady Knights.

It was only Duke’s second loss of the season dropping them to 32-2 but ultimately ending their year. Ironically, both defeats came at Greensboro Coliseum where three weeks prior they fell to N.C. State in the ACC Tournament semis snapping a 30-game win streak.

For Rutgers (25-8), this was a great win which was not lost on their coach:

“I believed it was our destiny. When she missed the second shot, I still believed. The only thing I can say is ‘Wow.”‘

Wow indeed.

Harding on the missed free throws:

“They just didn’t fall. It felt good coming off. Everything felt good. It didn’t really go down.”

That had to be extremely tough on the star whose career ended. But her coach Gail Goestenkors pointed out:

“My heart just breaks for her right now. I just don’t want this to be her lasting memory, because she has meant so much to our program.”

That’s sports for you. There are winners and losers. Sometimes, not much separates the two. It’s what keeps fans on their edge of their seat. One minute you’re up. The next, you’re down. Today it went Rutgers’ way and they’re marching on.

Congrats to them!

Meanwhile, the first two men’s Regional Finals were anticlimatic. Top seeded Ohio State pulled away from No.2 seed Memphis to win by 16, taking the South to reach their first Final Four since the 1999 team led by Scoonie Penn and Michael Redd.

Freshman center Greg Oden bounced back from an off game to finish with 17 points and nine rebounds. He was a force in the middle in helping the Buckeyes cut down the nets. Mike Conley Jr. added 19 and Region MOP Ron Lewis finished with 22. Thad Matta’s Buckeyes will get the winner of tomorrow’s East Regional Final between top seeded North Carolina and No.2 seeded Georgetown.

In the second game, No.2 seed UCLA returned to the Final Four for the second straight year by eliminating top seeded Kansas 68-55 to win the West Region. Star guard Arron Afflalo was too much to handle for the Jayhawks, scoring 15 of his game best 24 in the second half. Darren Collison chipped in with 14 as Ben Howland’s Bruins await the Midwest winner between defending champ Florida and third seeded Oregon later today.

The Jayhawks’ undoing was the stifling aggressive D the Bruins played, forcing them into many turnovers.