Maryland Terrapins Defeat Duke Blue Devils, 77-59, in ACC Women's Basketball

Kristi Toliver had just come up with a steal and was charging down the court when she saw her fellow senior open on the left side. She fired a pass across the court to Marissa Coleman, who calmly converted a three-point shot. Toliver pumped her fist; Coleman screamed.

The two Maryland stars -- whose jerseys will be raised to the Comcast Center rafters on Friday night -- then ran toward each other and gleefully leapt into the air together as the 16,344 fans inside Comcast Center roared. There were still more than 17 minutes left in No. 9 Maryland's 77-59 victory over No. 7 Duke, but at that moment, as the Terrapins held an eight-point lead, it was time to exult.

Toliver finished with 34 points, one shy of her career high. Coleman scored 24 points, which gives her exactly 2,000 for her career -- she is now the eighth woman in ACC history to have at least 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds (she has 1,035). With the victory, they are now the winningest class in school history, with an overall record of 118-18. Maryland is 23-4 this season and 10-2 in the ACC, alone in second place.

"You have to compliment the very excellent play of Toliver and Coleman," Duke Coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "I don't think I've ever seen a stat sheet with 34 and 24 from two guard spots. That's pretty remarkable."

The crowd inside Comcast Center -- the fourth-largest in ACC women's history -- seemed to still be feeling the euphoric effects of the men's team's thrilling 88-85 overtime victory over No. 3 North Carolina the day before. When a handful of the men's players walked through the arena 20 minutes before tip-off, the fans -- many of whom were clad in bright red -- gave them a standing ovation. As Coach Brenda Frese put it when she addressed the crowd after the game, "Is it a great weekend to be a Terp, or what?"

Toliver and Coleman made sure of that. Toliver -- who missed a potentially game-winning three-pointer at Duke (22-4, 9-3) in the teams' first meeting of the season, a 68-65 Blue Devils win on Jan. 12 -- scored 17 points in the first half and was the only Terrapin with a shooting touch; she was 7 for 12, while her teammates were 2 for 20.

Duke led 33-31 at the break, but the Terrapins scored the first 10 points of the second half: Coleman drained a pull-up jumper, Toliver sank a shot with her toe on the arc, and then made a three-pointer off an inbounds play. She then came up with the steal and assist on Coleman's three-pointer. When Coleman scored on a drive with 10 minutes 17 seconds remaining, the Terrapins led, 58-46, and the two seniors had scored all 27 of Maryland's second-half points.

"These guys have done this all season long at different times," Frese said of Coleman and Toliver, who are averaging a combined 45.4 points in their past five games. "I thought it was great -- in the second half [Toliver] got Riss going, and we just started clicking on all cylinders. That's what great players do; they make great plays and they understand when they've got to get their teammates involved. She was patient and Marissa was able to come around."

The Terrapins' other three starters -- sophomore guard Marah Strickland, junior forward Dee Liles and freshman center Lynetta Kizer -- combined to score just 14 points, but they were part of a defensive effort that limited Duke to 33.8 percent shooting.

Strickland guarded Duke sharpshooter Abby Waner for much of the game. Waner finished with just five points on 2-for-11 shooting, and her backcourt mate, sophomore Jasmine Thomas (Oakton), missed 14 of 15 shots and had six points.

Liles blocked three shots, drew two charges that fired up her teammates, and forced turnovers on Duke's first two possessions of the second half. Kizer was scoreless for the first time this season, but she had four blocks -- including one on Duke's first shot of the game -- and three steals.

But this was the seniors' night. With 1:43 remaining, Toliver and Coleman left the game as the fans rose to their feet. They had combined to score 58 points -- and Duke had 57 at that moment.

"I was sitting there during starting lineups, and I saw all the glow sticks [in the crowd], and I just wanted to make it a special night," Coleman said. "Kristi and I almost outscored them -- I think that's pretty special of an evening."

Terrapins Notes: Senior guard Sa'de Wiley-Gatewood has left the team for personal reasons, according to Frese, but she is planning to remain enrolled in classes and to graduate in May. Wiley-Gatewood had a star-crossed career since being named the 2004 Parade national high school player of the year: she originally played at Tennessee, transferred to Maryland during her sophomore year, and then sat out last season with knee problems. She was averaging 4.2 points and 19.3 minutes per game this season, and made 14 starts. . . . Maryland has now hosted the 10 biggest crowds in ACC women's history; nine of the 10 games were played at Comcast Center, and six were against Duke.