The Chronicle

January 15th, 2008

For Maryland, a “special” win over Duke

I doubt anyone who has ever chanted, “Not our rivals!” at a Duke/Maryland game would continue to sing the same tune if he or she had been in the media room following Duke’s 85-70 loss at the Comcast Center Monday night.

Even if such a skeptic had been completely oblivious to the in-game effects of the fifth-largest crowd in ACC women’s basketball history—which seemed to congregate as much to cheer for its fourth-ranked team as against the much-hated Duke—the gravity of this game was palpable when contrasting the two postgame press conferences.

(A quick aside: I’ve never seen a women’s game at Tennessee or UConn, but I imagine the atmosphere would feel pretty similar to the one in College Park. The announcements of the starting lineups took me back to the good ole’ days of Ray Clay, spotlights and Michael Jordan. Each fan screamed in anticipation of tip, waving red and green glow sticks in the darkened arena and creating an excitement I had yet to witness for a women’s game. As a basketball fan, it was pretty cool to see. If I were a player, I would have feared the turtle big time.)

After the game, the Blue Devils’ Abby Waner and Wanisha Smith were the first to arrive in the pressroom. The backcourt duo appeared visibly frustrated, tired and on the verge of tears from the moment they stepped inside. And they didn’t get much happier as the questioning continued. Questioned about what enabled the Maryland frontcourt to score 59 points collectively on Duke, Smith asked for the number to be repeated as she sat in a state of disbelief. When Smith was sure she had heard right, she let out a sigh of exasperation, lowered her head and buried her eyes in her hands. Waner tried to smile as she answered her share of questions, but was more quiet than usual (even for a loss) and could not get beyond the word “ridiculous” in describing her team’s foul trouble and Maryland’s consequent 42 trips to the free-throw line. For as tough as this brief media session was, you got the impression that it was a barrel of laughs compared to the Duke locker room immediately following the game. The players left as head coach Joanne P. McCallie walked into the room. The coach sounded as frustrated as her players, saying that the game could have been much closer than it was but that they had to show more poise down the stretch of ballgames to come away with wins.

The Terrapins, by contrast, were the most excited team I’ve ever seen after a regular-season January win. As five players and head coach Brenda Frese filtered into the room, Maryland star Kristi Toliver asked teasingly why the whole team showed up for the presser. Just minutes before, they had been standing at center court, addressing the fans, thanking them for coming. That emotional moment was capped by senior Laura Harper, who evoked an uproarious response from the crowd when she screamed into the microphone, “We beat Duke!” and let out a shriek of joy and relief that could only come after nearly 10 years of failing to do so at home. Now, the streak-breakers sat in front of a room full of reporters, beaming about their “special” win. Harper even broke the fundamental rule of coachspeak, admitting that this game meant more to her and her teammates than she would even liked to admit. The smiles, the laughter, the confidence at that table made the Terrapins seem like a team that just won the national championship. It makes you think that they could be a team that is well on their way to doing just that. Frese said at the press conference that this year’s Maryland squad works twice as hard to have twice as much fun. Judging by Monday night, the Terrapins have been working overtime.

–Meredith Shiner

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 at 10:54 am and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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