Duke began the day in sole possession of first place in the ACC. But after another disappointing defeat to a ranked opponent, the team has now lost three of its last six—and is tied for first in the conference.
Maryland went on a 30-9 run to close out the game, and the Blue Devils lost to the Terrapins 69-47 Thursday night in College Park, Md.
“We played a real dominating 40 minutes,” Maryland head coach Brenda Frese said. “It’s always a special win when we can beat Duke.”
No. 7 Duke (23-3, 9-2 in the ACC) got off to a hot start, rushing out to an early 7-0 lead and holding its opponent scoreless for the first four minutes of the contest. With 8:48 left in the first half, the Blue Devils led 16-11, but No. 17 Maryland (21-5, 7-4) began to shut down Duke’s half-court offense, holding the team to zero field goals for the remainder of the half. The Terrapins outscored the Blue Devils 16-3 from that point, due in large part to their offensive rebounding, an area that Maryland dominated for most of the night.
As the two teams headed into the locker room for halftime, they had amassed 22 turnovers and only 19 field goals.
Coming out of the break, both teams showed improvement on the offensive end after the sloppy first period. Duke roared back with a 13-2 run thanks to key baskets from Karima Christmas and Chloe Wells to cut the lead to 39-38 with 12 minutes left in the second half. Tianna Hawkins, Diandra Tchatchouang and Dara Taylor combined to score nine unanswered points, though, extending the Terrapins’ lead to 10.
Then, Allison Vernerey scored back-to-back field goals, helping cut the lead to 50-42 with around seven minutes remaining in regulation.
Alyssa Thomas and Lynetta Kizer quelled any Duke comeback, however, scoring a combined 14 points to shut down Duke’s late surge. The Blue Devils didn’t score another field goal for seven minutes, their second drought of seven minutes or longer in the game.
Jasmine Thomas scored 12 to lead the team, and Vernerey tacked on 12 points, with the duo shooting a combined 40 percent from the field. Overall, the Blue Devils shot 35 percent from the floor. It was Duke’s second lowest point total of the year and lowest amount scored on the road this season.
The Blue Devils were outrebounded 42-31, highlighted by a 18-9 offensive rebounding edge for Maryland. Duke also committed 20 turnovers, eight of which came from Thomas. The national player of the year hopeful was displeased with the performance and put the blame for the team’s loss on herself.
“From a senior, from a point guard, that’s just unacceptable,” she said. “Your team feeds off what you’re doing, and if I’m careless with the ball, I think that trickles down.”
Duke has now lost three of its last four on the road, allowing nearly 73 points per game during those losses. Head coach Joanne P. McCallie left the latest loss for the Blue Devils calling for immediate improvement.
“[We’ve been] rushing, going too quickly, not setting things, not getting any second shots, and turning the ball over,” McCallie said. “There’s no excuse for the way we played tonight. Absolutely none.”
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