WBB Duke vs. Maryland Round II

[CameronBornAndBred]

Huge game today in College Park, on FSN before the men play, so it's a Duke double-header. We won a close one in Cameron, and Maryland was without one of their best players. They will be fully loaded and at home against Duke, and hungry. I'm sure the Md. fans would like to have 2 big wins to celebrate the weekend. One poll has us higer, one has Maryland higher. This is a giant game for NCAA seeding, and ACC standings. We had some sick players versus VT., hopefully tonight everyone is healthy. GO DUKE!! Spear the turtle!

[godukerocks]

Here in Pensacola I'm getting the Orlando Magic pregame show on FSN. :-/

[Indoor66]

Here in Pensacola I'm getting the Orlando Magic pregame show on FSN. :-/

on Pompano Beach, FL Comcast, the Orlando-Miami game is on ESPN starting at 5:30. The Duke game is at 7:30 on FSN.

[miramar]

Unfortunately, that was the second time Duke's had a second-half meltdown against a top-10 team after having a two-point lead at the half.

Against Carolina Duke was outscored 50-33 in the second half, and against Maryland it was 46-26.

[miramar]

I just checked the stats, and Duke shot 34% overall and 24% from three point range, compared to 43% and 44% for Maryland. Needless to say, Duke is supposed to be the better defensive team.

Waner and Jasmine Thomas shot a combined 3/26 (11.5%).

[Indoor66]

It is very frustrating to read about a game with no one posting the score!

[Ders24]

Don't forget this is the same Maryland team we already beat (with defense mind you). This was a team coming out on senior night, clearly amped for the game. I didn't see the game, but I'm guessing a lot of it came down to tempo. Oftentimes, in basketball the team that dictates the tempo is able to win the game. We did that when we beat Maryland in Cameron. We might not have done that tonight.

To say our defense is "extremely overrated" over looks the entire body of work we have put together this season and focuses on, really, two bad performances. It happens. And to be honest, I can bet most people would appreciate something other than you showing up and being negative when we have a bad game, these girls are out there working very hard (coaching staff included), and have put together a very solid contender. I don't think we've heard from you when we've earned a solid win.

[Duvall]

And to be honest, I can most people would appreciate something other than you showing up and being negative when we have a bad game, these girls are out there working very hard (coaching staff included), and have put together a very solid contender.

Contender for what?

[msdukie]

It wasn"t Senior Night.

[Ders24]

Contender for what?

Final four? ACC tournament (I don't think FSU's schedule will give us a shot at the ACC regular season). My bad on senior night, I thought I was told something about Toliver's jersey being retired, so I might have mixed it up.

[Duvall]

Final four? ACC tournament (I don't think FSU's schedule will give us a shot at the ACC regular season). My bad on senior night, I thought I was told something about Toliver's jersey being retired, so I might have mixed it up.

I would be very surprised if Duke won an NCAA regional or the ACC tournament this year. I mean, anything can happen with a fortunate draw in a tournament, but we've seen little from this team to indicate that they are capable of beating an elite team on a neutral floor. Too many turnovers.

[zingit]

Don't forget this is the same Maryland team we already beat (with defense mind you). This was a team coming out on senior night, clearly amped for the game. I didn't see the game, but I'm guessing a lot of it came down to tempo. Oftentimes, in basketball the team that dictates the tempo is able to win the game. We did that when we beat Maryland in Cameron. We might not have done that tonight.

To say our defense is "extremely overrated" over looks the entire body of work we have put together this season and focuses on, really, two bad performances. It happens. And to be honest, I can bet most people would appreciate something other than you showing up and being negative when we have a bad game, these girls are out there working very hard (coaching staff included), and have put together a very solid contender. I don't think we've heard from you when we've earned a solid win.

I totally agree. Our defense has been consistently very good for the whole year, with three tough road games, two of them against ACC rivals ranked in the top 10, being the only real exceptions. Look at their whole record: they have quality wins against Oklahoma St, Stanford, Maryland, Virginia, and Tennessee. Hopefully they'll learn from this loss. Next play.

[zingit]

I would be very surprised if Duke won an NCAA regional or the ACC tournament this year. I mean, anything can happen with a fortunate draw in a tournament, but we've seen little from this team to indicate that they are capable of beating an elite team on a neutral floor. Too many turnovers.

It would be a pleasant surprise, maybe, but it's not unthinkable. We've seen flashes of what this team is capable of. They led both UNC and Maryland at halftime; they just need to put it together for 40 minutes. To win the ACC tournament, we'll probably have to beat Maryland, UNC, and/or Florida State at some point. Maryland would be tough but we already know that we're capable of beating Maryland because we already did it, UNC would be tough too but they are beatable (they've lost 3 conference games just like us), and Florida State is also tough but remember they needed OT to beat us last time. So any of those games would be very difficult, but definitely winnable.

Losing to Maryland is never fun, and the women certainly have some work to do, but I'm still optimistic about this team. I don't think it's time to hang our heads about this team.

[CameronBornAndBred]

I would be very surprised if Duke won an NCAA regional or the ACC tournament this year. I mean, anything can happen with a fortunate draw in a tournament, but we've seen little from this team to indicate that they are capable of beating an elite team on a neutral floor. Too many turnovers.
I think we've seen lots that indicate this team can win on a neutral court. We have only lost on one neutral court (very early to a team we shouldn't have) and have three losses to top programs at their houses. That's 4 losses, total. And all (except that first one) are completely resepectable. Just as our wins (a lot of incredible ones) are respectable. As for the comment above on defense being overrated, if it weren't for our defense this year we would not have only 4 losses. Our offense is our big problem, and since we can't score we have to survive by preventing the other team from doing so, which we have done very well.
That breakaway, uncontested, wide open layup that we missed last night is the epitome of our offensive woes. I've never seen a team shoot so badly from inside the paint. Good thing we can rebound, too.

[captmojo]

I think we've seen lots that indicate this team can win on a neutral court. We have only lost on one neutral court (very early to a team we shouldn't have) and have three losses to top programs at their houses. That's 4 losses, total. And all (except that first one) are completely resepectable. Just as our wins (a lot of incredible ones) are respectable. As for the comment above on defense being overrated, if it weren't for our defense this year we would not have only 4 losses. Our offense is our big problem, and since we can't score we have to survive by preventing the other team from doing so, which we have done very well.
That breakaway, uncontested, wide open layup that we missed last night is the epitome of our offensive woes. I've never seen a team shoot so badly from inside the paint. Good thing we can rebound, too.

The only thing left out here is the outstanding shooting day had by Tolliver and Coleman.

[bjornolf]

The crowd DEFINITELY had something to do with it. I was at the game. It was INSANE there. Almost sounded like a men's game, except it was more civil. The attendance was announced at 16,344, which they said was the 5th largest ACC women's basketball crowd EVER, and they were rowdy. In fact, even when Duke made a play, they stayed loud.

There were actually quite a few Duke fans there in their gear last night (most people in Duke gear were families all wearing Duke stuff). I would guess about 5% of the crowd was wearing Duke blue, and none of them were catching any flack, which was nice. Another 5% or so were pulling for Duke but NOT wearing Duke stuff. I noticed this because most of the more boisterous Duke supporters were in plain clothes (maybe they were more boisterous B/C they weren't with their families). The student section was more than half students (it was totally full, though, as they put others there). The only sections that were 50% or more empty were the absolute back nosebleed sections, and even those were nearly 50% full. I don't know how many comcast holds when full, but it was VERY packed in the lower sections. We sat next to the parents of Maryland's #13. Her dad's mom apparently played for NCSU back in the day, and her dad had a very healthy respect for Duke, and the mom was very nice, too, so my mom had fun talking to them. My mom even bought a Testudo hat, which is very cool (it's an actual Testudo head...she's going to curse it before the game on Wednesday ;) ). I have a great story about her at the gone in 54 seconds game if anybody's interested in hearing it. Anyway, it was actually a really nice college basketball environment. Very positive and supportive of their team w/o all the negativity towards Duke. It was all the good of a men's game w/o any of the ugliness. Much nicer than most men's games I've been to or heard about at Maryland. Anyway, Duke lost, which sucked, but Mom and I had a great time.

[Ders24]

I think we've seen lots that indicate this team can win on a neutral court. We have only lost on one neutral court (very early to a team we shouldn't have) and have three losses to top programs at their houses. That's 4 losses, total. And all (except that first one) are completely resepectable. Just as our wins (a lot of incredible ones) are respectable. As for the comment above on defense being overrated, if it weren't for our defense this year we would not have only 4 losses. Our offense is our big problem, and since we can't score we have to survive by preventing the other team from doing so, which we have done very well.
That breakaway, uncontested, wide open layup that we missed last night is the epitome of our offensive woes. I've never seen a team shoot so badly from inside the paint. Good thing we can rebound, too.

Agreed. The reason our defense has "gotten the reputation" of being stellar, is because it has been stellar. Slow down, grind it out teams can and do win in March.

[miramar]

I don't think we have to be overly negative, but we can't ignore the recent second-half meltdowns either. Right now Duke is competitive against top twenty teams such as Tennessee, but obviously we have had some serious problems with top ten teams.

We did have a big win against Maryland in Cameron, but they are not the same team they were back then. In fact, that loss seems to have settled them:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/columns/story?columnist=voepel_mechelle&id=3920167

The big question with teams that rely on maximum effort day in and day out is what happens when they get to the end of the season and opponents start to kick it up a notch. Duke has already been giving 110%, which they should be commended for, but we have to see whether this kind of team has any upside at this point. We will get a better idea on Sunday, March 1 when Carolina visits Cameron.

But no matter what they are 21-3, which I would have never expected given their offensive performance.