COLLEGE PARK, Md. - As the Blue Devils filed out of the Comcast Center with solemn faces and heads hung low, a scream on the loudspeakers could only rub salt in the wounds.
"We beat Duke!" senior forward Laura Harper yelled, punctuated by a shriek of joy as Maryland celebrated in the middle of the court, excited at finally earning the home victory that had eluded it the last 10 years.
Although Harper was speaking for the entire squad, the statement may have rung even truer for the three Maryland post players. Along with the senior, center Crystal Langhorne and small forward Marissa Coleman constituted the majority of the Terrapins' offense, scoring an overwhelming 59 of their 85 points. In comparison, their Blue Devil counterparts failed to deliver, as the trio of Chante Black, Joy Cheek and Carrem Gay accounted for only 17 Duke points.
Perhaps Blue Devils guard Wanisha Smith reacted best to the staggering numbers when she repeated the Maryland total and simply looked down.
And in a game with dangerous sharpshooters on both squads, no one was deadlier than Coleman, who tied her career high with a dominating 30-point performance.
"She's a matchup nightmare," Maryland head coach Brenda Frese said. "Duke had no answer for Marissa."
Although several Blue Devils attempted to shut down the 6-foot-1 junior, every big bucket seemed to come out of Coleman's hands. Whether it was two big shots from behind the arc to finish out the first half and create a wave of momentum, or a timely layup to finish up the fast break, her versatility exposed Duke's holes on the defensive end.
Although the Maryland fans were hardly silent, Coleman's buckets seemed to intensify the atmosphere, causing the crowd to come to a deafening roar in the final minutes of the first half. Even when she wasn't delivering a key basket, Coleman's enthusiasm remained a catalyst for both her teammates and the home crowd.
Even as the Blue Devils tried to push back in the final three minutes in an attempt to close the gap, it was once again Coleman who delivered the final blow: a three-pointer from the corner to give Maryland an 11-point lead.
"Marissa was a difference maker in the game," Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "She's a great player. She made terrific plays and has an awful lot of confidence in her shooting."
While Coleman seemed unstoppable from any point on the court, Duke may have had a chance had its own post players come through in the clutch. Following a 19-point performance Friday night against Florida State, Black was held to a season-low four points. Cheek and Gay did not fare much better against the overwhelming physical presence of Maryland, with neither player able to break double digits.
Coleman's offensive explosion was undoubtedly the difference on a night where the teams were comparable on the boards and in second-chance points.
Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, Coleman is only the first of many talented forwards Duke will soon face, with Tennessee's Candace Parker and North Carolina's Erlana Larkins on the schedule in the next month.
But for now, Duke can only think about the player who got the best of the Blue Devils Monday night.
"It's a tough pill to swallow when she drops 30 points on us and we lose," junior Abby Waner said.
Kind of makes you want to shriek.
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