Feb. 13, 2005
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By DAVID GINSBURG
AP Sports Writer
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) - Some of it was stage fright. Much of it can be attributed to Duke's defense.
Whatever the reason, Maryland picked an awful time to have one of its poorest shooting games of the season.
Playing before the largest crowd to watch an Atlantic Coast Conference women's basketball game, the 19th-ranked Terrapins clanged several dozen shots off the rim Sunday and fell to No. 3 Duke 60-49.
Maryland went 23-for-68 from the field (34 percent) and 1-for-6 at the line, much to the dismay of many of the 17,243 in attendance - and coach Brenda Frese.
"It was a tough shooting night for us, probably the worst game we've had," Frese said. "Duke's a great team, and they took us out of a lot defensively. They were very tough inside."
Monique Currie scored 14 points, and Chante Black had 13 rebounds and eight points for the Blue Devils (23-2, 9-1). It was Duke's 11th straight victory over Maryland and fifth consecutive overall.
The previous record for attendance at an ACC women's game was 14,500, when No. 1 Maryland hosted No. 2 Virginia at Cole Field House on Feb. 12, 1992. The Terps and Blue Devils drew 13,446 at the Comcast Center last season, then the second-biggest crowd for an ACC women's game.
Shay Doron scored 18 and Kalika France had 13 for the Terrapins (17-6, 6-5), whose average attendance at home before Sunday was 3,336.
One night earlier, 17,950 fans packed the arena for the Duke-Maryland men's game, won by the Terps in overtime. Although Sunday's contest wasn't a sellout, there was a pregame traffic jam, a television crew from ESPN and an enthusiastic student section that was filled long before the opening tip.
"It was a tremendous environment for women's basketball," Duke coach Gail Goestenkors said.
The Blue Devils played before 11,459 earlier this season at Tennessee, so the big crowd wasn't really a big deal to the many of the players.
"It just gave us more energy to keep going at it," Black said.
The Terrapins had won four straight and lost by only three points at Duke last month, but Sunday they came away with only a memory - not a victory.
"Our team can be very proud of the fact that we broke the all-time attendance record," Frese said. "After they're done playing, they're going to remember that for a long time."
Down 27-23 at halftime, Maryland opened the second half with a 9-0 run during which Duke missed eight straight shots. Doron had five points in the surge, including one of the Terrapins' two 3-pointers.
The Blue Devils responded with a 10-0 spree - two points apiece by five players - to go up 37-33 with 11:15 left. Maryland closed to 39-38 before a 3-pointer by Wanisha Smith and a 15-footer by Wynter Whitley put Duke ahead by six.
After Doron scored in the lane, Jessica Foley hit a 3-pointer, and Black made two free throws to make it 49-40 with 2:33 to go.
Duke missed 13 of its first 16 shots, yet the game was tied at 12 after 13 minutes because the Terrapins were 6-for-23 from the field and missed all four foul shots.
"It wasn't a pretty game, but both teams played exceptional defensively," Goestenkors said.
Currie, playing with two broken bones in her left foot, made only three of 12 field-goal tries. But she was 8-for-11 at the line and grabbed nine rebounds.
"It's pretty much uncomfortable playing," she said, "but I can work with it."
