As the Ohio State women’s lacrosse team was heading out to the practice fields Monday, senior midfielder Shannon Wilson got caught up in a discussion with one of her teammates while tying her shoes.

After exchanging small talk, Wilson stood up and said, “It’s the biggest game of our lives.”

The game is a first-round match-up with fourth-seeded Duke (13-4) tomorrow at 3 p.m. in the NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Championship.

“One and done” is what many people have come to call the tournament, referring to the pressure to win because it’s single elimination for all 16 teams.

“Everybody here is ready to work,” Wilson said. “We’re going to do what we need to do, strategize and hopefully things will play out.”

This will be the second year in a row the No. 10 Buckeyes (13-3, 5-1 ALC) get a shot to play for the national championship after they accepted an at-large bid Sunday night. An 11-7 first-round loss at Notre Dame last season was the only other time OSU has seen tournament action.

“We’re definitely excited to get another opportunity to go,” said OSU coach Sue Stimmel. “I think the team realizes it’s not a prize just to go, that you want to win when you’re there, too.”

OSU’s entry into the NCAA tournament was due in part to its stellar play against top competition this past season. An 8-2 record versus teams ranked in the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association Poll, including a 3-1 mark against top-10 teams, and becoming the outright American Lacrosse Champion following Thursday’s win over Ohio University all helped to propel the Buckeyes into the tournament.

OSU ended the season tied with Penn State (5-1) in the ALC standings, but the Buckeyes held the edge in head-to-head competition after beating the Nittany Lions 10-9 on April 27.

Buckeye attacker Tracey Bounds said although OSU won the ALC, advancing in the tournament is now the major hurdle the team is focused on overcoming.

“Getting past the first round is definitely one of our goals since the beginning of the season,” she said. “We were supposed to win the conference, which we did, get ranked in the Top 10, which we were, and our last goal is to get past the first round, so it would be a huge disappointment if we don’t.”

OSU’s opponent is no stranger to the NCAA tournament as Duke has competed in it for the past six seasons and has reached the quarterfinals four straight years. To make matters worse, the Buckeyes must travel to Durham, N.C. to face the No. 4 Blue Devils, where they went 7-1 on their home field inside Koskinen Stadium.

“I think something we have going for us is that Duke is going to be looking on to the next round and is not really going to be too worried about us,” Wilson said. “So that’s going to be playing in our favor, but I think they’re in for a big surprise.”

Despite the Blue Devils’ impressive resume of NCAA appearances and consistently being ranked in the Top 5, OSU completed the 2003 schedule with the best season in the program’s eight-year history. A 13-win season is the best ever by a Buckeye team, and in the midst of its breakout year, they’ve become road warriors, going a perfect 8-0 on the road this season.

“It helps that we’re successful on the road going into this, being a road game,” Stimmel said. “We have our work cut out for us, but I don’t see anything that we can’t handle.”

Tomorrow will be the first meeting between OSU and Duke. But with all the scouting and preparation teams do for each other, the Buckeyes should not be caught off-guard by what the Blue Devils do strategically.

“Every game our coaches do a good job of getting us ready, watching film, actually going over their attack so the defense is well aware,” said midfielder Kelly Cook. “Then the attack will work on how their defense plays.”

Stimmel said she and her coaching staff have watched a couple of videotapes of the Blue Devils and think it will be a great game.

“Their goalie reminds me of Penn State’s goalie, which we were successful against,” she said. “Duke’s defense reminds me of North Carolina’s defense, which we were successful against, and then their offense reminds me a little bit of Penn State’s. So it’s a combination of teams we’ve seen over the year, but we’ve been successful against these teams.”

If OSU beats Duke tomorrow, it will face the winner of Le Moyne-Princeton in the quarterfinals on Sunday.