NCAA.com team of the week, Maryland capped a three-win first week with an 85-80 home win over longtime rival and No. 11 ranked Duke on Sunday. This was the Terrapins first matchup against the Blue Devils since they defeated Duke in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament on March 28, 2015, and it was a rematch of the 2006 national championship game, also won by Maryland. It was the 82nd matchup all-time against Duke, with both schools now tied at 41 wins apiece in the competitive head-to-head series.
The Terps improved to 3-0 with the victory and moved from No. 18 to 11 in Monday’s AP Top 25 Women’s Basketball Poll. The Blue Devils were handed their first loss of the season to fall to 2-1. The win was Maryland’s first ranked win of the season and the Terps’ 96th under head coach Brenda Frese. The 85 points were a season-high for Maryland, which improved to 94-7 when scoring 80 points or more over the last six seasons.
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In the win over Duke, the Terps led from start to finish, opening the game with nine unanswered points while forcing the Blue Devils to miss their first five shots from the floor. They remained in control the rest of the way, leading by as many as 15 early in the fourth period.
Maryland had four scorers reach double figures as junior Kaylene Smikle led the way with 23 points, including connecting on all three of her 3-point field goal attempts. Shyanne Sellers backed Smikle with 17 points while dishing out seven assists to go along with five rebounds, while Bri McDaniel added 15 points, including 11 in the second half. Christina Dalce also impacted the game, scoring 12 points, grabbing 14 rebounds and blocking a shot.
The Terrapins earlier in the week had scored wins over UMBC (74-32) on Nov. 4 and Coppin State (70-47) on Nov. 7. Smikle led the way for the week, averaging 16.7 points per game, including leading all scorers with 20 points in the win over Coppin State.
Maryland will return to action on Nov. 13 at Syracuse.
