The Terps face their first real test on Sunday against an old ACC rival.
No. 18 Maryland women’s basketball will take a trip back to its time in the ACC and face an old rival Sunday.
No. 11 Duke visits College Park for the first time since 2014, representing Maryland’s first true test of the 2024-25 campaign.
“We are very excited for this game, especially for our fans, when you talk about going back to the ACC days and … it’s always been those Maryland-Duke games, just a fierce rivalry,” head coach Brenda Frese said.
Sunday’s game will tip-off at 1 p.m. and be broadcast on Fox Sports 1.
No. 11 Duke Blue Devils (2-0, 0-0 ACC)
2023-24 record: 22-12, 11-7 ACC
Head coach Kara Lawson is in her fifth season with Duke and has led the Blue Devils to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances, including a Sweet 16 appearance last season. She was previously an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics, becoming the franchise’s first-ever female coach.
Duke heads into this matchup 2-0 after beating Radford and Liberty.
“As we’re looking into this nonconference third game of the season for both teams, Duke brings in an experienced team that’s coming back from a Sweet 16 finish last year,” Frese said.
Players to watch
Reigan Richardson, senior guard, 5-foot-11, No. 24 — Richardson is in her third season with the Blue Devils after leading the team in scoring with 12.4 points per game last season. She is once again a starter and scored 13 and 11 points in her first two games this season. Last year, she was an All-ACC second team member and scored more than 25 points in back-to-back NCAA Tournament games against Richmond and Ohio State.
Ashlon Jackson, junior guard, 6-foot-0, No. 3 — Jackson was also a starter on last year’s team and returned to Duke for her third season. She led the team in scoring last game against Liberty with 22 points. Last season, she averaged 9.2 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists. She ranked second on the team with a 36.2% 3-point percentage.
Taina Mair, junior guard, 5-foot-9, No. 22 — Mair led Duke with 3.6 assists per game last season. Last season, after transferring from Boston College, she finished second on the team with 9.8 points points per game and fourth with 3.8 rebounds per game. She’s totaled 11 points, six rebounds and seven assists across Duke’s first two games.
Strength
Shooting from the field. Duke has been prolific from the field since last year and at the outset of this season. So far, the Blue Devils are 59 for 125 for a 47.2% field goal percentage, compared to their opponents going 34 for 97 with a 35.1% field goal percentage. Last season, the Blue Devils recorded a 44.3% field goal percentage, compared to their opponents’ 37% field goal percentage.
Weakness
Playing ranked opponents. Last season, Duke went 5-8 against opponents. Duke lost to then-No. 1 South Carolina, then-No. 17 Louisville, then-No. 16 Notre Dame and then-No. 10 UConn. Duke played NC State three times last season, losing to the Wolfpack when they were ranked No. 4 and No. 10 and defeating them when they were ranked No. 6. Duke also split two games with Virginia Tech, defeating the Hokies when they were ranked No. 14, but losing when they were ranked No. 12.
Three things to watch
1. Rivalry renewed. Back when the Terps were in the ACC, Duke was their biggest rival in every sport — especially basketball. That rivalry will be revived on Sunday.
“The history, winning in the national championship in ‘06 against them, 2009, the overtime win for the ACC championship game,” Frese said. “2012, who can forget the the block by [Alyssa Thomas] to win the game here at Xfinity [Center]. … Then [2014], the last time we played them, a win in the Sweet 16 with the team that went to the Final Four.”
2. Nelson returns to Maryland, but won’t play. Riley Nelson, who played her freshman year at Maryland, transferred to Duke after last season. Nelson suffered a torn ACL on Jan. 14 against Purdue and is redshirting this season while still recovering. However, she will return to College Park Sunday for the first time since her departure.
“It’s a redshirt year for her, so we just hope that she gets healthy”, Frese said. “We’ll look forward to when we see her back in a uniform, when we get to play them on the return.”
3. Ball security. Maryland believes the keys to Sunday’s game will be rebounding, preventing turnovers and defense. Those are areas where the Terps have shown some strengths and weaknesses thus far and will need to clean up before their first big test.
“It’s really going to come down to rebounding and then valuing the basketball,” Frese said. “Both teams like to get after it on the defensive end. So, who is able to have better ball security.”