updated 1:20 a.m. ET March 21, 2007

RALEIGH, N.C. - Duke is headed back to the NCAA tournament’s round of 16 — just not in its usual lopsided style.

Lindsey Harding had 13 of her 18 points in the first half and the top-seeded Blue Devils beat pesky Temple 62-52 on Tuesday in the second round of the Greensboro Regional.

Wanisha Smith scored 15 points and Carrem Gay added 13 points and 11 rebounds for Duke (32-1), which blew most of a big early lead, overcame leading scorer Abby Waner’s foul trouble and pulled away late to beat the eighth-seeded Owls and advance to the round of 16 for the 10th straight year.

Now, it’s on to nearby Greensboro, where the Blue Devils will face the Michigan State-Rutgers winner in the regional semifinals.

That was the site of Duke’s only loss of the season, a 70-65 defeat to an inspired North Carolina State team in the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. The last time Duke’s NCAA tournament path went through Greensboro, the Blue Devils advanced to their first Final Four in 1999.

Duke, which was outscoring its opponents by 25 points per game, led by 14 in the first half before its lead was trimmed to 51-46 on Lady Comfort’s layup with 9:21 left. The Blue Devils countered with a 9-0 burst, sealing the outcome by holding Temple scoreless for six minutes.

Duke, which lost in last year’s national championship game, denied the Owls their first trip to the regional semifinals. The Blue Devils have won at least two games in every NCAA tournament since 1997, while Temple’s first-round victory over Nebraska two days earlier was just its third tournament win ever.

WOMEN’S NCAA TOURNAMENT RESULTS Elite Eight games EAST REGIONAL Rutgers 64, Arizona State 45 WEST REGIONAL LSU 73, UConn 50 MIDWEST REGIONAL Tennessee 98, Mississippi 62 SOUTH REGIONAL North Carolina 84, Purdue 72

Fatima Maddox scored 18 points for the Owls (25-8), who closed the season with losses in three of five. Kamesha Hairston had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Comfort added 12 points.

Waner, who had six 3-pointers and 26 points against Holy Cross, finished with eight points after picking up her fourth foul with 11 minutes left.

The coaches, Duke’s Gail Goestenkors and Temple’s Dawn Staley, both are assistants for the U.S. national team that won the bronze in last summer’s world championships. Staley, formerly a star guard at Virginia, also played on the U.S. team assisted by Goestenkors in the 2002 championships and 2004 Olympics.

MORE FROM COLLEGE BASKETBALL

College basketball Section Front

Unbeaten Florida upsets No. 2 Michigan State Duke tops UConn in all-time coaching matchup Top-ranked Kansas trounces Tennessee Tech Hayward, Marquette stun No. 15 Michigan Latest ’Cuse victory moves Boeheim into 7th on wins list Ebanks plays, helps No. 8 W.Va. beat Texas A&M Portland surprises No. 22 Minnesota Northwestern knocks off No. 23 Notre Dame Live: Follow Friday's games UConn's Auriemma quickest coach to reach 700 wins College basketball Section Front   Add College basketball headlines to your news reader: