Guard Lexie Brown reacts to being fouled in the Terps’ 84-63 loss to Duke on Feb 17, 2014 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
DURHAM, N.C. — Brenda Frese hoped to exit Cameron Indoor Stadium on Monday night with a different result than what she has endured throughout the past 12 seasons.
But when the final horn sounded, the Terrapins women’s basketball coach walked to the visitor’s locker room with a familiar final score on the jumbotron, as the Terps suffered an 84-63 loss in their final trip to Duke’s famous gym before moving to the Big Ten conference.
“Tough night at the office,” Frese said. “Obviously when you shoot the percentages that we did tonight and then give up on both ends of the floor defensively, obviously we struggled.”
Frese gave birth to twin sons only hours before the Terps’ most recent win at Duke in 2008, and securing a victory with her on the sidelines was a big motivating factor for the players entering the matchup.
But after the opening tip, the team struggled to maintain its poise.
“Sometimes you can make a game bigger than what it is, and that’s an area that we can definitely improve in,” Frese said.
The Terps (20-5, 8-4 ACC) shot 32 percent from the field, while Duke (23-3, 10-2) shot 53 percent. Forward Alyssa Thomas finished the game with 14 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. Meanwhile, guard Lexie Brown, who had 11 points in the opening half, finished with 13.
Duke guard Alexis Jones shot 5-of-9 from three-point range and scored a game-high 22 points as one of four Blue Devils starters who scored in double digits.
Center Elizabeth Williams blocked Brown’s first shot, and Duke’s zone defense proved difficult to penetrate in the opening minutes. The No. 8 Terps missed their first four field goal attempts and had three turnovers in the first 1:37.
“That top part of the zone was really long, so it made it real difficult to get your shot off,” Brown said.
The team’s offense eventually found its rhythm in a seesawing first half that had eight lead changes. Thomas struggled to score in the opening frame, shooting 1-of-7 from the field, but she provided six assists in the half. Her pass to center Alicia DeVaughn for an open layup gave the Terps a 9-8 lead at 13:51.
They would never lead by more than three, however, and Duke went on a 14-4 run in the final 5:36 to take a 38-31 edge at halftime.
The Terps closed the deficit to 42-39 in the opening minutes of the second period, but then the Blue Devils, who shot 62 percent from three-point range in the game, found a groove from beyond the arc. They sank four of their next six 3-pointers to extend the lead to 62-48 with 8:47 remaining.
The Terps switched to a full-court press in the final minutes of the matchup but couldn’t capitalize on Duke turnovers to cut into the deficit.
In their past games against higher ranked opposition, the Terps had stretches in which they showed they can compete against the nation’s top teams. But they have also suffered dips in performance that have proven to be decisive in such matchups.
So by the end of the contest, the reality of another loss against a national contender overshadowed the history of Frese’s and the Terps’ rivalry with Duke.
“I think for us, first and foremost, we’ve got to be better on the road,” Frese said. “At times, we’re really good, and then at other times those elements impact us. But it’s continuing to grow as a team.”
