Terps' Fans Get Rare Treat

Maryland 85, Duke 70

Maryland was sure it would beat Duke this time. Ten years after their last win over the Blue Devils in College Park, the Terrapins were certain this would be the night they would end their ignominious streak of 14 regular season losses to Duke.

And though it proved much tougher than expected, fourth-ranked Maryland ultimately prevailed, 85-70, against No. 10 Duke last night at Comcast Center before 15,531, the fifth-largest crowd in ACC history.

The players were jubilant after beating their longtime nemesis. After the final buzzer sounded, Laura Harper grabbed the microphone from Maryland Coach Brenda Frese and shouted over the public address system, "We beat Duke, guys!"

Although Maryland (20-1, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) could claim two significant victories -- the 2006 ACC tournament semifinals and the 2006 national championship -- over Duke, the Blue Devils (13-4, 2-1) had tormented the Terrapins for years. Duke's average margin of victory during its winning streak against Maryland was 18.3 points, and the Terrapins hadn't gotten within 10 points of Duke in any home game during that run.

That dominance was why this victory was so sweet for Maryland.

"We wanted to end this streak, and as much as we didn't want to say it, that was something that was important for us," Harper said. "It just feels so good to finally say that as a team we did it. And it's over. And we move on to Virginia, but we're happy now. We can smile now."

Duke, which never led, had a chance to take the lead with 5 minutes 59 seconds remaining. Maryland was ahead 68-67 when Wanisha Smith, the All-Met player of the year from Riverdale Baptist who was coached in high school by current Maryland assistant coach Diane Richardson, went to the line to shoot a pair of free throws. Smith made the first and missed the second.

Maryland, relieved not to have given away the lead, capitalized. The Terrapins outscored the Blue Devils 17-2 over the final six minutes.

"Never, at any point in the game, was I thinking that we were going to lose," said Marissa Coleman, who tied her career-high with 30 points. "We knew they were going to go on a run. They're a great team."

Maryland hadn't been this confident entering a Duke game in a long while. The Terrapins, riding a nine-game winning streak, had won their past five games by an average of 39.4 points. That confidence, however, seemed to waver in the first half as Maryland looked anxious against Duke's matchup zone defense. The Terrapins missed countless layups, threw several errant passes and generally tried to do too much.

Harper was one of the few players who kept her poise for Maryland. Harper had scored a total of 12 points against Duke in two games last season, but had 12 points in the first half. She also was a force defensively, grabbing rebounds, diving on the floor for loose balls and tipping away passes for steals.

Coleman came on strong just before halftime, scoring 12 of the Terrapins' final 14 points of the half, including back-to-back three-pointers to close out the first 20 minutes.

"She's a matchup nightmare," Frese said. "Duke had no answer for Marissa."

The game was no less ragged for Duke. The Blue Devils made only 34 percent of their shots and turned the ball over 13 times in the first 20 minutes. Abby Waner, Duke's top three-point threat, missed five of her first six shots from behind the arc. Waner made only one three-pointer and finished with 15 points on 6-of-18 shooting. Chante Black, the team's leading scorer at 14.2 points per game, was held to two first-half points. Black finished with four points on 2-of-11 shooting.

The Blue Devils also struggled to stop Maryland's drives to the basket and wound up in foul trouble. Duke had 28 fouls, which led to 42 trips to the free throw line for the Terrapins. Maryland scored 33 of its points on foul shots.

The players were thrilled not only that they beat Duke but they finally gave their fans a game they could be proud of. Maryland had packed Comcast Center before for the Duke game, but never had the result been as good.

"I've never heard Comcast that loud, honestly," Harper said. "In the past, we've not really won against Duke. The fans were there but we actually gave them something today to get hyped about. That was nice."