Maryland Women Knock Off Duke, 63-62
Feb. 3, 2000
DURHAM, N.C. - Deedee Warley made two free throws with 10.5 seconds left as Maryland held off a furious second-half rally by No. 12/10 Duke and beat the Blue Devils 63-62 to end their ACC home court win streak at 20 games.
The Terrapins (13-8, 4-6), who have alternated wins and losses in their last 13 games, avenged a 79-61 defeat on January 3 by overcoming 25 turnovers and an 11-of-24 effort from the free throw line. A first half flurry of 3-point field goals staked the Terps to a 34-29 lead at the intermission as Tiffany Brown and March? Strickland combined for 7 of 11 shooting behind the arc in the first 20 minutes.
Maryland led by as many as 14 points in the second half before Duke went on a 14-3 run to cut the Terrapin lead to three, 51-48, with 5:28 remaining in the second half. Maryland was able to extend the lead to eight at the 3:23 mark but the Blue Devils made one final run as they outscored the Terrapins 8-2 in the final 2:30 of the game.
Duke freshman Michele Matyasovsky scored on a layup assisted by Krista Gingrich, which cut the lead to 61-59 at the 39.8 mark. But Warley hit a pair of free throws with 10.5 seconds left after she was fouled with one second remaining on the shot clock.
The Blue Devils came down the court and Gingrich nailed a three-pointer with 3.6 seconds remaining to cut the lead to one. Maryland was able to run out the final 3.6 seconds to win the game.
March? Strickland and Deedee Warley paced the Terrapins with 19 points and 18 points, respectively. Tiffany Brown added 14 points, 12 of which came in the first half.
"It's a very big, big, big win for us," said Maryland head coach Chris Weller. "It's an emotional win. We've had some close games. At the infamous portion of the second half, about the 8:00 mark, we've kind of given-in to the other team's pressure and poise. This time we demonstrated some poise of our own, and I'm real proud of our team."
For Maryland it marked the Terrapins' first win against a ranked opponent since Feb. 27, 1998 and their first road win against a ranked opponent since Feb. 22, 1997. It was the Terps' first road win against a top 10 opponent since Jan. 6, 1993 at No. 3 Clemson.
Duke (18-4, 7-3) was led by Lauren Rice with 17 points, while Georgia Schweitzer scored 16, and Matyasovsky added 14. Senior Peppi Browne did not dress for the second game in a row after suffering a torn ACL the previous week. It was Duke's first ACC loss at home since Feb. 19, 1997 vs. Virginia.
"Give credit to Maryland," said Duke head coach Gail Goestenkors. "I thought they played a tremendous game both offensively and defensively. I've seen a lot of tape on them and by far I think this is the best I've seen them play. They had a great inside-outside attack. In the first half, it was their outside attack, and in the second half, Warley really caused us a lot of problems. I thought it was a complete game for them on both ends of the floor."
Maryland hosts defending ACC tournament champion Clemson on Sunday night at 7:30, following the Terrapin men's game with NC State. Duke is off for eight days before hosting Georgia Tech on Feb. 11 at 7 pm in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
