Game #25 @ Duke

Part one of the road trip went well, thanks to some luck and us finally playing defense like we did early on in the season. Part two doesn't get any easier as we had to Cameron Indoor and look to knock off Duke for the first time in forever. Duke's beat us by a combined score of nearly 70 in the last three meetings and the closest game I remember was a three-point loss in Durham last year.

Duke beat us by 18 nearly a month ago, but we were a different team back then. Toliver was still coming off injury and everyone was readjusting to their roles. In the second half we played them straight up, only being outscored by 1 point. Duke has looked vulnerable since the loss to UNC. They have gone into defensive lapses and let teams creep back into games. That being said, they are still tough to beat, even tougher than UNC. The key to beating UNC was to slow them down and make them run an offense. Duke can run you, but they can also work their offense to perfection. Plus, they have scorers at every position. There were some positives to take from that game as we only lost the rebounding battle by 1 despite Crystal not getting one the whole game.

The game is on ESPN2 at 7:00

Duke-Maryland Box Score Gm 1

Keys to the Game

Match the intensity we had to start the UNC game and the way we ended it. Duke wants to put you away early like they did back at our place. We can't fall behind by double-digits and expect to come back. If we can keep with Duke for the entire game, I feel we can pull away in the end.

Crystal has to get rebounds. In the first game, she had 0. Yes, 0. Duke did a great job of having two to three people box her out. Crystal must fight through these and get in good position. Also, her teammates must step up and fill the gaps that are created by the extra attention.

Control Harding and Black. Harding had a field day in the first game, pentrating and dishing. Toliver must be stronger defensively to not let this happen again. Black seems to love playing against us. Harper, Lang and Perry must keep her off the glass and away from the basket.

Use pump fakes. Duke loves to go for the block on ever shot. Get them off their feet and then go up and under for the easy bucket and/or foul.

Limit turnovers. Duke will bring pressure as did UNC and we have to stop with the bad turnovers.

Make the most of each possession. Duke can score on almost every possession as can we, we just need to make the most of each one.

Help on the double teams. Toliver will get doubled as will Lang in the post. The others must get to open space so they can get the ball.

Have fun. They have played in hostile environments before and now they must treat it as another game and do what they do best.

Game Notes
Maryland | Duke

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