Game Recap by Rob Clough
What did Duke learn in their loss to Maryland? They learned that they have the
talent to keep up with almost anyone in the country (UConn is an obvious
exception). They have the depth to wear out many opponents and weather foul
trouble. They have the tenacity to bounce back from huge deficits, even on the
road. Duke also learned that it's not easy to play from behind, especially
when
it's for most of the game. They learned that there's another gear they need to
find after they've tied up a game, and that they didn't do it in this game.
What the team has yet to learn is finding a way to win when their most reliable
scorer has been neutralized and keeping their cool when officiating doesn't go
their way and opponents make unlikely shots.
The Terps blew out to a 17-4 lead to start the game as Marissa Coleman dropped
in some bombs and the Terps were able to get some buckets inside, while Wanisha
Smith missed her first three shots and Chante Black had even more trouble.
Duke
regrouped with a 10-0 run triggered by Abby Waner. She grabbed a rebound and
found Keturah Jackson in transition, drained a 29' three point bomb, had a
gorgeous behind-the-back pass to Smith in transition and then finished on the
pass-back. When Smith baited Kristi Toliver into fouling her from beyond the
three point arc, she nailed all three shots to make it 17-14 Maryland with
under twelve minutes to go in the half.
The early fouls that Duke piled up (sending Joy Cheek to the bench) stunted
Duke's run, as the Terps scored 5 in a row at the foul line. Duke stayed
within striking distance as Waner hit a short jumper and found Krystal Thomas
inside for a basket. A fearless Jasmine Thomas sank a 15' jumper to make it
26-20 with eight minutes to go. A Laura Harper three point play and an open
Coleman jumper pushed it up to 11, aided by a Waner turnover. I've rarely seen
a more Jekyll/Hyde performance from Abby, who was either brilliant or awful in
this game, with very little in-between.
The Devils once again responded as Smith finally shot her way out of her
shooting slump with a three, Cheek had a key stickback of a Waner miss, and
then Abby had a spectacular steal and layup for a three-point play. Once
again, Duke pulled within 3 at 31-28. Two Waner turnovers and a missed three
aided Maryland as they scored 6 in a row at the foul line. With two minutes
left in the half, Maryland looked they were ready to pull away again, until
Jasmine Thomas drained a three. However, the Terps stunned Duke with
back-to-back threes by Toliver and Coleman and took an 11-point lead into the
locker room. The overall stats were pretty much equal for both teams at the
half, with the exception of free throws: the Terps caught Duke flatfooted at
times, and they took advantage. Waner kept the team afloat with 11 points, 3
assists and 2 steals.
In the second half, Cheek got a nice stickback but then was whistled for a
contact technical foul. After hitting one tech free throw, Toliver drained a three to
put the Terps up by 13; once again, they looked like they were ready to take
control. Then Duke stunningly ripped off 10 straight points to get back in the
game. Cheek posted up and scored with her left hand, Smith pulled up for
another three, Waner dished to J.Thomas for her first trey of the game, and
then Jasmine picked off a pass and scored on a runout. Once again, Duke was
within 3 at 47-44.
Maryland stayed above water with a combo of free throws and stickbacks, pushing
their lead up to 60-51 with under thirteen minutes left. By this time,
however,
Duke had started to click with Carrem Gay on the floor. She finished two
high-low passes (from Black and K.Thomas), while Jasmine blew by the defense
for a layup. Harper went out of the game with 4 fouls with under nine minutes
left, and Smith sank a 17' jumper and nailed 2 free throws. When Toliver left
with four fouls, Jasmine hit a free throw and tied the game at 65 with a
blazing baseline drive.
Coleman drove into Black and got the three point play as Chante wasn't quite
set; she did miss the foul shot, however. Waner tied it up again with a drive,
but Maryland went up by 1. Smith then went to the line with the opportunity to
give Duke the lead--but she only hit 1. That seemed to energize the Terps, who
scored 4 straight points. When Duke missed on three cracks at the basket and
then Cheek fouled out on the next play, the Terps went up 74-68 and Duke was
done. The Devils went four minutes without a score, and the Terps finally put
Duke away with what turned out to be a 13-0 run. By the time Jasmine Thomas
hit a jumper, it was too late.
Coleman wound up with 30 as Duke frequently lost her in whatever defense they
were playing, and also did a reasonable job handling the ball when Toliver went
to the bench. Toliver didn't shoot well (4-17), but she did well at the foul
line. Harper and Langhorne helped completely shut down Black, which was the
biggest key of the game for Maryland. Duke had to rely entirely on its
backcourt for scoring, and that's just not a tenable situation for a team that
prefers to go into the post first. Foul trouble really crippled Duke's
frontcourt, making them hesitant on defense. Everyone seemed out of position
on the boards, beaten to the spot by Maryland on more than one occasion. Duke
alternately looked disinterested on the floor and then intensely focused--but
that lack of consistency doomed them against a Maryland team that knows how to
win in a variety of ways. The question becomes: can Duke learn from this
experience and keep everyone on the same page throughout a game?
