Maryland's zone helps Blue Devils

With 11:10 left to play and her team trailing by 14 points, Maryland freshman Kalika France made a decision--her team would not whimper away in its final home game of the season, and she would ignite the Terrapins' comeback.

 What ensued was perhaps one of the most impressive individual performances by a freshman this year. Over the subsequent three and a half minutes, France scored her team's next nine points, and brought her squad to within seven when she stole Alana Beard's fastbreak pass and then nailed a jump shot from the left elbow. At that point, the Blue Devils were clearly on the ropes, and seemed to have no answer to the tangible change in momentum.

 Fortunately, they didn't need one. During the subsequent official timeout, Maryland coach Brenda Frese made a decision that ultimately doomed the Terrapins: she reinserted the zone defense.

 To the untrained eye, a quick look at the stats suggests that the Maryland's 2-3 defense was quite effective. The zone, after all, is designed to make opponents shoot the basketball, and the Blue Devils shot a paltry 5-for-21 behind the arc.

 The three-point shooting statistics belie the truth, however--Duke shredded the Maryland zone with a textbook passing attack. The Terrapins would never get any closer after their change in defensive strategy.

 Why was Duke so successful? For starters, Lindsey Harding, who finished the game with 11 assists, had no problem penetrating right into the heart of the Maryland defense. Whenever Harding entered the paint, the Terrapins collapsed upon her, allowing the sophomore point guard to kick the ball out to her wide open teammates, who consistently knocked down shots from the floor.

 Second, the zone defense greatly handicapped the Terrapins' ability to keep the Blue Devils off the offensive boards. Duke dominated the glass, grabbing a total of 18 offensive rebounds, and outscoring Maryland 18-10 in the paint.

 In the zone, the three Terrapins on the baseline were simply incapable of locating and boxing out their assigned Blue Devils. Although Maryland was able to contain Duke's three-point shooters, it sacrificed its rebounding to achieve that end, and wound up yielding second-chance baskets that eventually cost it the game.