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No. 16 Maryland Beats No. 7 Duke 69-47

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) -- Maryland fans learn at an early age how important it is to beat Duke.

When Maryland coach Brenda Frese woke up Thursday morning, she asked one of her 3-year-old twins, "Do you know what today is?"

Frese expected her son to answer, "It's my birthday."

Instead, Tyler said, "You play Duke?"

Lynetta Kizer scored 17 points, and the 16th-ranked Terrapins beat No. 7 Duke 69-47 Thursday night to drop the Blue Devils into a three-way tie for first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

"We played a real dominating 40 minutes," Frese said. "It's always a special win when we can beat Duke."

It was the Terrapins' most lopsided win over the Blue Devils since an 82-51 rout in 1993, and it gave Maryland a 38-37 lead in the rivalry. The Terrapins also avenged last month's 71-64 defeat at Duke.

"It means a lot. Anytime we can beat Duke, that's always best," Kizer said.

The Terrapins (21-5, 7-4) let a 12-point lead dwindle to 39-38 before pulling away. The victory enabled Maryland to avoid its first three-game skid of the season.

Duke (23-3, 9-2) shot only 35 percent, committed 20 turnovers and was outrebounded 42-31.

"Not a great game for us and a terrific game for Maryland," Duke coach Joanne McCallie said. "We turn the ball over 20 times, 22 second-chance points for them, get outrebounded. That pretty much explains it."

After starting the season with 20 straight wins, the Blue Devils are 3-3 in their last six games.

Jasmine Thomas led Duke with 12 points but committed eight turnovers.

"From a senior, from a point guard, that's unacceptable," Thomas said. "Your team feeds off what you're doing, and if I'm careless with the ball, I think that trickles down."

Allison Vernerey also scored 12. Chelsea Gray, who had totaled 43 points in her last three games, was sick and did not make the trip.

The defeat dropped the Blue Devils into a tie atop the ACC standings with Miami and Florida State.

"There is no excuse for the way we played tonight," McCallie said. "There is absolutely none."

Successive layups by Alyssa Thomas put Maryland up 35-23 with 17 minutes left. Soon after that, Jasmine Thomas scored five points and Chloe Wells contributed two baskets to a 13-2 spree that got Duke to 39-38.

Tianna Hawkins answered with two straight layups for the Terrapins, Diandra Tchatchouang drilled a 3-pointer and Dara Taylor bounced a jumper off the glass for a 48-38 lead.

That began a 30-9 run to the final buzzer.

Alyssa Thomas had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Hawkins scored 10 to help the Terps bounce back from successive losses to Miami and Virginia.

An ugly first half that featured 22 turnovers and 19 field goals ended with Maryland holding a 27-19 lead.

Eager to break an annoying pattern of slow starts, the Terrapins instead went scoreless for nearly 4 minutes and fell behind 7-0.

But Duke couldn't get a grip on the basketball, and Maryland used a 14-1 run to take a 25-17 lead. Sixteen of the Terrapins' 27 first-half points followed a turnover by the Blue Devils.

Duke went 7 for 19 from the floor with 14 turnovers before halftime but stayed close because Maryland shot only 36 percent and missed all five of its foul shots.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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