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Game Intro
Thanks to NC State knocking off UNC in an emotional Senior Day for the
Wolfpack Women, Duke was in a position where one more win would wrap up the
ACC regular season title, and earn the crucial #1 seed in the ACC tournament.
There's been little doubt for quite some time that Duke would be a #1 seed
in the NCAA tournament; the only question has been where they will be sent.
State is certain to get an NCAA bid, meaning that by NCAA rule they will be allowed
to play in their hosting facility. That leaves only one Raleigh "pod" for another ACC
team - almost certainly Duke or UNC, but not both. So, with UNC looming on Senior
Day for Harding and Bales, Duke is still in a position where they have to keep winning
to stay close to home - working towards a Raleigh pod and Greensboro regional seeding.
The first obstacle on their quest was Maryland on Shay Doron's Senior Day.
As Brenda Frese's first key recruit, Doron has meant a lot to their program,
seeing it rise from shambles to one of the best in the country. Still,
her teams had never beaten Duke in the regular season, and she was looking for a
big win in a sold-out facility to close our her home career. And, the Terps were
doing the same, having lost each of their past 5 attendance record setting games,
dating back to Cole Field House and legend Chris Weller. Always eager to "Beat Duke,"
Maryland fans matched their earlier sell-out of the UNC game with a sell-out here,
and the wave of emotion from the crowd and the Senior Day ceremony carried the Terps
early in the game.
Maryland had been stung by Lindsey Harding before: destroying their guards with
dribble penetration, attacking from difficult angles, and evading shot-blockers.
This time, the Terps were determined to make Harding beat them with her jumper,
which is the weakest part of her game. They would soon find that Lindsey
epitomizes her entire team: find out what your opponent will give you on
offense, exploit that to the max, and never waver in defensive effort.
While the two teams put on an offensive show in the first half, it was Duke's
effort in the trenches later in the game that defined what the Devils do so
well and what the Terps struggle with. In the end, it was Duke who was able to
bait the Terps into taking bad shots and keeping them off the boards. The
Devils weren't clicking on all cylinders on offense in this game, but they got
scoring from some unexpected places and every player gave their all
defensively.
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