When Maryland officials scheduled senior night against Duke, they should have realized that Alana Beard was a senior.
In front of 13,446 fans, the second-largest crowd in ACC women's basketball history, Beard led No. 4 Duke (22-3, 13-1 in the ACC) to a victory against Maryland (15-11, 7-8). The Blue Devils also clinched the ACC regular-season title for the fourth consecutive time.
The Duke offense was catalyzed by Beard, who scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Lindsey Harding also filled up the stat sheet, recording a double-double with 10 rebounds and 11 assists. In the post for the Blue Devils, Monique Currie and Mistie Bass scored 14 and 12 points, respectively.
Throughout the contest, the Terrapins either played zone defense or a sagging man-to-man defense, which forced the Blue Devils to take shots from the perimeter. This caused Duke to shoot an unusually low 41.8 percent from the field, including 23.8 percent from three-point range.
"In the last seven games, we've been shooting over 50 percent from behind the three-point line," Duke head coach Gail Goestenkors said. "We've had confidence shooting three-pointers, they just weren't falling today."
When Lindsey Harding knocked down a rare Duke three pointer to start the second half, it appeared like Duke's momentum would carry them to a comfortable win. However, Maryland had a lot of fight left in it, and at one point cut the deficit to seven points with 2:16 left in regulation. But the game was sealed when senior guard Vicki Krapohl responded with a three of her own.
For the Terrapins, senior center Delvona Oliver and freshman guard Kalika France guided the way. Oliver and France scored 16 and 15 respectively, with 13 of France's 15 points coming in the second half. Shay Doron, Maryland's leading scorer, finished 0-11 from the field and committed a team-high three turnovers. And although her most prolific scorer had a bad night, Maryland head coach Brenda Frese was happy with her team's effort.
"We have a lot of respect for Duke and what they've accomplished and their tradition," Frese said. "That is where we want to take our program. It should give us a ton of confidence that we can play with anyone, especially with their All-Americans. To see the heart and the will that my team played with was exciting."
Beard also gave Maryland credit for clawing back into the game.
"In the first half they didn't play their game," Beard said. "But I think they came out in the second half and played an awesome game. They started to attack us and they played great team ball."
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