SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – After taking care of their first order of business, the 1997 San Juan Shootout champs turned their attention to more important matters.

Which way to the Atlantic Ocean?

"I'm sure they'll want to do some of the beach stuff," Illinois women's basketball coach Theresa Grentz said. "And there's talk of a rain forest."

Their plane doesn't take off tonight until 6:50 Puerto Rico time, so the Illini are stuck here for a whole day with no more basketball to play.

Life's a beach, ain't it?

"The beach is really pretty, but we haven't had a chance to go out there," Tauja Catchings said. "We've just kind of been watching from the hotel. So now's our chance to hang out and have fun."

"They deserve it," Grentz said. "They're champions."

A 77-65 victory Sunday night over 15th-ranked Duke allowed the eighth-ranked Illini to mix a little pleasure in with all that business.

They leave tonight with three more victories than they checked in with and a feeling that they belong in the Top 10.

"We wanted to come into this tournament and really make a statement, which we did," said senior forward Ashley Berggren, who joined MVP Catchings on the all-tournament team.

Would you read the statement please?

"We wanted to let people know that we do belong up there in the rankings and you really can't underestimate the Illinois basketball team," Berggren said.

Folks around the country might have started to wonder after No. 3 Old Dominion had its way at the Illini's place, winning 79-65 a week ago.

Three days later, the Illini left for Puerto Rico.

"You go on the road and you're still thinking, 'Hey can we do this?' " Grentz said. "I know those questions were there. What I wanted them to know was that that's OK. But understand that I'm the head honcho up here and I believe in you."

Duke's Blue Devils do, too.

The loss was their second in nine months to Catchings & Co., who outduked them in a second-round NCAA tournament game in March.

They were 4-0 coming in, throwing down dunks in pregame warm-ups and itching to take a bite out of No. 8.

"Everybody that plays us is going to be jacked to get a piece of us," Grentz said. "We have to be able to handle that. And I've got to be very honest with you. We're young at that."

The Blue Devils were harder to kill than termites, hanging around until almost the very end.

They led 30-27 at halftime, all-tournament pick Payton Black taking the Illini to town with nine of her team-high 15 points.

That's when Grentz gave her little "I believe" spiel, a motivational tactic she picked up from Tommy Lasorda of all people.

And guess what? It worked.

"They seemed much more peaceful in the second half," Grentz said. "And they played much, much better basketball."

Berggren carried the heaviest load, hitting 7 of 9 shots and scoring 14 of her 17 points.

"I wasn't cutting it the first half," she said. "I was playing timid, I was worrying about my foul situation. In the second half, I returned to my style."

"Played like an All-American," Grentz said. "Came through when you needed her."

A Berggren layup put Illinois up 64-58 with 3:28 left, and the Blue Devils never got any closer. Alicia Sheeler scored next to make it eight, Catchings hit a jumper to make it 10 and Krista Reinking made a free throw to push it to 11.

Catchings finished with 17, Reinking 14, Katie Coleman 11 and Casey Leonhardt 10, marking the third time in three Shootout games the Illini have had five double-digit scorers.

All in all, not a bad six days for the Illini, who set a few school records, caught some rays and didn't have to get behind the wheel in the country with the world's worst drivers.

"In a foreign country you learn a lot more about different things," Coleman said. "Like being thankful that we play on a wood floor with 4,000 fans instead of a cement floor."