RALEIGH, N.C. — Duke’s big lead nearly vanished, and physical Temple was bruising the Blue Devils, delivering just the kind of postseason gut-check that championship-level teams must overcome.

The Blue Devils did, and now they’re headed back to the NCAA tournament’s round of 16.

Lindsey Harding had 13 of her 18 points in the first half, and topseeded Duke withstood Temple’s comeback bid, winning 62–52 yesterday in the second round of the Greensboro Regional.

“This was a great game for us to have to play — we had to fight for what we wanted,” coach Gail Goestenkors said. “It did not come easily. It was certainly not given to us. … It was good for us to have to face that.”

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 Rutgers 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.

“We’re going to take the things we need to work on from this game, and we’re going to keep adding on to it,” Smith said. “We’re going to have to come ready to play.”

***

TENNESSEE 68, PITTSBURGH 54 Unaccustomed to playing an early round NCAA women’s game on an opposing home court, Tennessee needed a big game from its best player to preserve the Lady Vols’ perfect record in the first two rounds of the tournament.

Candace Parker gave them exactly that, wearing out persistent Pittsburgh at both ends of the court with 30 points, 12 rebounds and a series of rally halting plays that carried the Vols to a 68–54 victory last night and the NCAA round of 16 for a 26th consecutive season.

Sidney Spencer helped Parker slow down Pitt’s muscular Marcedes Walker and scored 11 points, and Nicky Anosike and Shannon Bobbitt added 10 points each as Tennessee remained the only team to reach the final 16 in every season of the tournament’s 26-year history.

While this was a team the Vols (30–3) should have beaten — they were playing their 113th game in tournament history to Pitt’s second — the six-time champions rarely have played an early round game under such difficult circumstances. Pitt nearly filled its arena with fans, and the 6-foot-3, 257-pound Walker presented a difficult matchup problem.

***

MISSISSIPPI 89, MARYLAND 78 Maryland fell into Mississippi’s trap and the defending NCAA champion never got out.

Mississippi used its stifling defense to steal the ball 15 times and force 29 Maryland turnovers and the Rebels upset the no. 2 seed Terrapins 89–78 in the Dayton Regional last night.

Armintie Price scored 29 points to lead the Rebels, the same Ole Miss team that was blown out by the Terps 110–79 at a tournament in the Bahamas in November.

This time there was a lot more on the line.

Mississippi will play no. 3 Oklahoma in the Dayton Regional semifinals. The third-seeded Sooners beat Marquette 78–47 on Monday.

Kristi Toliver led Maryland with 24, including 14 in the second half when the Terps cut a 23-point lead to seven.

Maryland made its final run with 6 minutes left after Ole Miss’ Alliesha Easley was injured battling for and offensive rebound and Shantell Black hit two free throws to make it 75–60. The Terps, led by Toliver, went on a 12–4 run to make it 79–72.

But Shay Doron and Marissa Coleman fouled out late, and the Rebels hit their free throws down the stretch.

Ashley Awkward had 22, and Easley had 16 for Ole Miss.

***

RUTGERS 70, MICHIGAN ST. 57 Rutgers played so well on the road, the Scarlet Knights probably won’t mind doing it again.

Kia Vaughn had 12 of her 16 points in the first half to help fourth-seeded Rutgers beat Michigan State 70–57 on its home court last night in the second round of the Greensboro Regional.

Rutgers’ reward?

The Scarlet Knights (24–8) play the top-seeded Duke Blue Devils (32–1) Saturday in Greensboro, N.C. — about 50 miles from their campus.

Rutgers snatched command of the game with a 13–2 run in the first half while holding the Spartans without a field goal for nearly eight minutes.

That dominating stretch put the Scarlet Knights up 22–16 midway through the first half, and they maintained the lead with relentless defense and clutch shooting.

After trailing by 13 early in the second half, Michigan State woke up its fans by pulling within six, but Rutgers responded with five straight points to quiet the crowd.