Women's basketball stops slide, No. 7 Duke in win

With just more than a minute remaining on the clock last night, Terrapin women's basketball forward Alyssa Thomas smirked as she dribbled the ball to the top of the key.

And after stalling briefly to eat up the shot clock, Thomas started toward the basket. Two consecutive crossovers left her defender, Duke guard Tricia Liston, stumbling in the wrong direction, and Thomas drove hard to the hoop for an old-fashioned three-point play.

The points, as Thomas' confident smile had already indicated, meant little to the game's outcome. It was more so a final statement of superiority in the No. 16 Terps' dismantling of the No. 7 Blue Devils, a 69-47 victory at Comcast Center that ended their two-game skid emphatically.

"I don't really know, we're just so hyped," Thomas said of her late-game sneer. "An in-the-moment kind of thing."

In the team's largest victory over Duke since 1993, the Terps (21-5, 7-4 ACC) used their defense and athleticism to cripple the Blue Devils' offense from tip-off.

Even after Duke jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead — a familiar beginning for the Terps, whose recent slow starts were a major reason for their losing streak entering last night — it was clear that this was not the same Terp team that lost to Virginia at home on Sunday.

The Terps had a strut about them before the game even began, a swagger that had been missing in recent weeks. And while they scraped for points in the early going — "It just felt like a lid was on the basket," coach Brenda Frese said — their defensive intensity kept the conference-leading Blue Devils from extending their lead.

And when the shots started to fall for the team with an 8-0 run midway through the second half, the Terps took the lead and never looked back.

"A special win. We played a really dominating 40 minutes," Frese said. "This team has great character. I knew they'd come out and be ready to play."

The Terps' dominance began on the defensive end. They puzzled the Blue Devils (23-3, 9-2) by constantly switching between zone and man-to-man defenses and even successfully mixing in the occasional full-court press. They forced 20 Duke turnovers, including eight from All-ACC point guard Jasmine Thomas, and held one of the nation's top teams to its second-lowest scoring total on the season.

"Defensively, we were able to mix it up a lot," Frese said. "We did a tremendous job defending and rebounding the basketball."

Sophomore point guard Dara Taylor, whose struggles with ball control this season have limited her playing time, shined the brightest for Frese's defense.

With starting point guard Anjale Barrett struggling with foul trouble, Taylor was forced into a bigger role — and she didn't disappoint. Although she scored only two points, Taylor's defense nullified Thomas (12 points) as Duke tried to mount a comeback down the stretch. It certainly helped, though, that the Terps didn't have to worry about Thomas' starting backcourt mate, Chelsea Gray, who didn't make the trip because of the flu.

"I thought Dara Taylor was tremendous down the stretch," Frese said. "I just thought Dara had a really good demeanor to her in the game. I'm proud for Dara because she's been working hard."

With Taylor's stifling defense and overpowering second halves from center Lynetta Kizer (17 points, nine rebounds) and Thomas (15 points, 10 rebounds), the Terps had a recipe for squashing any and all Blue Devil comeback bids.

Finally, the Terps gave Frese what she has longed for of late: a full 40-minute effort, plus a fitting birthday present for her twin sons, Markus and Tyler, who turned 3 years old yesterday.

"First of all, I just want to say we don't lose on my boys' birthday," Frese said to begin her postgame press conference. "I can thank the players for just another special birthday present."

cwalsh@umdbk.com