Late-game woes hurt Terp women for third time against Blue Devils

GREENSBORO, N.C. – As guard Lori Bjork knocked down two free throws to give the Terrapin women's basketball team the lead with 2:29 left in Friday's game against No. 7 Duke, she remembered back to what happened in the teams' two previous meetings.

"We felt like we'd been there before — twice before, really, against Duke," Bjork said on Friday, referencing the team's 58-57 and 71-59 losses to the Blue Devils this season. "With a couple of minutes to go, we were right there in the game."

But when those minutes had ticked away in the Terps' 66-64 ACC Tournament loss, the Terps were again on the wrong side of the scoreboard, and, in all likelihood, the NCAA Tournament picture.

Given the stakes of the game — improved tournament standing, revenge against the rival Blue Devils, another step toward an ACC Tournament title defense — the Terps' late-game breakdown Friday may have mattered more than similar performances in the regular season match-ups. But the cause of their struggles remained the same.

In all three games, the Terps entered the final five minutes either tied or within one possession of the lead. But in those final stretches, the Terps (19-12, 5-9 ACC) never hit more than three field goals in any of the contests, averaging less than two made field goals in the last five minutes per game.

Friday, the Terps went without a field goal for the final 7:03.

"Trying to get a bucket and get a stop on the defensive end — it was just tough down the stretch," said center Lynetta Kizer, who didn't make a field goal in the decisive stretch after a 4-of-7 shooting performance to start the game.

The ill-timed stumbles were as much byproducts of off shooting nights as they were youth. In the Terps' one-point Jan. 24 home loss, the stronger and more mature Blue Devils front line simply wore down the Terps, corralling six of its 21 offensive rebounds in the final five-minute stretch.

Later, the Blue Devils fed off a buzzing home crowd at Cameron Indoor Stadium to spark a 17-6 closing run and put away the rattled Terps in their Feb. 21 double-digit win.

Friday, weary legs and exhausted psyches may have played a part in the late-game malfunctions. The Terps had battled to an 83-77 win over North Carolina less than 24 hours before.

"[It was] day two for us in terms of logging a lot of minutes," coach Brenda Frese said. "We battled, we competed for 40 minutes. We were right there. You talk about a play, a call, a possession, but we left everything out there."

TERP NOTE: The Terps will return to practice today, four days after their loss to Duke and less than a week before the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee announces their postseason fate. Yesterday, Kizer was named to the All-Tournament Second Team. The sophomore center averaged 19 points and eight rebounds in the Terps' two games last week.

shaffer@umdbk.com