DURHAM, N.C. — The travails on the home court of its most heated rival continued for the ninth-ranked Maryland women’s basketball team, which fell behind by double figures midway through the second half and was unable to catch No. 7 Duke on the way to an 84-63 loss Monday night.
The Terrapins stumbled for a sixth straight time at Cameron Indoor Stadium and had a four-game winning streak end amid balky three-point shooting and a slew of missed chances near the rim. During one stretch early in the second half, for instance, Maryland missed four layups.
In the final regular season meeting between the longtime ACC foes before Maryland (20-5, 8-4 ACC) departs for the Big Ten next year, the Terrapins shot 32 percent, missed 16 of 21 from three-point range and never recovered after Duke scored 11 in a row for a 64-48 lead with 8 minutes 18 seconds to play.
Alyssa Thomas led Maryland with 14 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists to flirt with the sixth triple-double of her career and third this season. The senior forward threw a scare into the Maryland bench when with 4:32 left in regulation when she landed awkwardly and remained on the court clutching her left knee.
Thomas limped off and sat in a chair to be examined before jogging into the locker room. Less than a minute later, she came running out of the tunnel and re-entered for the final four minutes of a game that ended with Duke fans predictably chanting, “A-C-C, A-C-C, A-C-C.”
Sophomore guard Alexis Jones scored a game-high 22 points for Duke (23-8, 10-2), which ended a two-game home slide that was its first such losing streak in 20 years. Richa Jackson had 19 points, and Elizabeth Williams chipped in 17 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Trailing by seven at halftime, Maryland came out of the break by scoring eight of the first 10 points, including a three-point play from center Alicia DeVaughn and a three-pointer from guard Katie Rutan. The Blue Devils countered with Jackson’s layup, a three-pointer by Haley Peters and Jackson’s jumper from just inside the arc for a 49-39 buffer.
But Maryland climbed right back when freshman forward Shatori Walker-Kimbrough made a jumper with the shot clock expiring before Thomas split a double-team for a layup while getting fouled. She made the bonus free throw, and Maryland had trimmed the deficit in half in a matter of seconds.
The first half featured eight lead changes, two ties and poise from Lexie Brown, the Terrapins’ starting freshman point guard whose second three-pointer provided a 27-24 lead. But Duke scored 10 in a row, and by the time sophomore Alexis Jones sank back-to-back jumpers, the Blue Devils had regained the lead at 34-27.
In the danger zone of having its deficit grow to double digits, Maryland got a jumper just inside the three-point line from Rutan, whose pump fake drew a defender in the air and allowed the senior to step aside for an unimpeded look at the basket.
The Terrapins managed only 2 of 4 foul shots thereafter, and Duke went into the locker room ahead, 38-31, courtesy of freshman forward-center Kendall McCravey-Cooper’s jumper and tip-in.
Maryland made its third trip this season to North Carolina playing as well as just about any program in the country not named Connecticut or Notre Dame. The Terrapins had beaten their previous four opponents by an average of 35 points, including a 67-52 triumph Wednesday night against Miami that kept them among the top four in the conference standings.
With the regular season winding down, Maryland continues to take aim at securing one of the coveted top four seeds in the ACC tournament that begins March 5 in Greensboro, N.C. The top four regular season finishers receive double byes into the quarterfinals and avoid having to play potentially five games in as many days.
The Terrapins’ last trip to Cameron ended in a 71-56 loss in which Frese was ejected for the first time in her career. Late in the second half with Maryland trailing, 59-50, Frese was displeased when officials failed to issue a foul against Duke point guard Chelsea Gray, who had moved in front of Thomas as the Terrapins’ third all-time leading scorer was running back on defense.
