jjohnson@heraldsun.com; 419-6667
GREENSBORO — Victory brought relief for top-seeded Duke, which held off No. 9-seeded Maryland 66-64 on Friday in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals at Greensboro Coliseum.
The Blue Devils, ranked No. 9 nationally, saw their first game action since a disappointing loss at North Carolina on Sunday in the regular-season finale.
Maryland, meanwhile, was coming off an opening-round win over the Tar Heels on Thursday. The Terrapins, at least in the early going, appeared to be the sharper team. But that edge dulled as the game went on.
“It was a great game,” Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “It was a very interesting game. It was a very physical game. It was a battle.
“I liked our composure down the stretch and some of the key plays we made down the stretch. I think the stops down the stretch were some of the best stops of the game.”
The Blue Devils battled back from an 11-point deficit in the first half when they trailed 20-9 on a follow shot by Yemi Oyefuwa with 11:16 remaining. But from that point, Duke clamped down at both ends to take a
37-32 lead into halftime.
In the second half, Duke was able to maintain a working margin against the Terrapins, who they have beaten three times this season.
But the game was decided in the final 5:12, as the teams were tied at 61 at that point.
The lead swapped twice down the stretch after Duke’s Bridgette Mitchell made one of two free throws with 3:26 left. Maryland’s Lori Bjork gave the Terrapins their final lead when she nailed a pair of free throws with 2:29 left. Mitchell came through again for Duke 11 seconds later with a pair at the line.
Senior forward Joy Cheek, who reached double figures in her fourth straight game, gave Duke a three-point cushion with 1:34 left when she scored around Maryland’s Lynetta Kizer, who was helpless on defense with four fouls.
Maryland then had two shots by Kizer, an all-ACC performer, to get back to within bucket but neither went in. As the teams scrambled to grab the misses, the Maryland bench was hit with a technical foul with 1:01 left in the game.
Thomas had a chance to extend Duke’s lead but missed both free throws, giving Maryland one last gasp.
Dara Taylor got to the line after being fouled by Duke’s Keturah Jackson with 37 seconds left but made only one of two free throws. With the differential between the game and shot clocks at seven seconds, Maryland decided to play defense straight up instead of fouling early in the Duke possession.
The Blue Devils ran the shot clock down as far as they could until the ball got to Cheek. She drove to the right block and put up a shot that came up short.
Maryland’s Jackie Nared grabbed the rebound and hustled up the court for a desperation shot from well beyond the 3-point arc that was off the mark.
“I loved the attack of [Jasmine Thomas] and Joy and Karima [Christmas],” McCallie said. “Joy made some key plays and so did Jasmine.
The game matched the closest finish ever between the top-seeded team and its lower-seeded opponent. A year ago, Maryland held off Wake Forest by two, as well, though the Demon Deacons hit an inconsequential 3-pointer to cut the final margin.
This year it was Maryland pushing the top seed to the brink before failing. The average victory margin for a top seed in its opening-round matchup had been 23 points.
Thomas led the Blue Devils with 21 points, including five buckets from 3-point range to match her career high.
“It feels good to come in here and grind this win out and move on,” Thomas said.
Duke, which reached the ACC semifinals for the 16th straight season, will face Georgia Tech today (1 p.m., Fox Sports). The No. 4-seeded Yellow Jackets beat No. 5-seeded Wake Forest 52-45 in Friday’s first quarterfinal game.
