DURHAM -- With the clock winding down Thursday night, the opponent was different but the scenario looked familiar for Duke's women's basketball team.
Tied with Maryland for much of the second half and trailing 60-58 with 2 minutes, 34 seconds remaining, the No. 3 Blue Devils found the necessary offense to complement their commanding defense.
That combination, which has proved lethal to ranked teams this season, carried the Devils to a 71-64 victory over Maryland before an announced crowd of 5,214 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Duke senior guard Jasmine Thomas, who struggled from the floor for 8-for-18 shooting, predictably came on strong in the end, scoring nine of the team's 12 points down the stretch.
Thomas nailed a 3-pointer with 1:54 left to give Duke a one-point lead, then hit an off-balance shot with 1:06 to put the Blue Devils up 63-60. Duke freshman Chelsea Gray followed with a steal near the Maryland bench and raced for a breakaway layup to extend the lead.
Thomas finished with a game-high 22 points, leading her team to victory in its ACC opener.
It was also a big night for Duke's freshmen, with guard Tricia Liston scoring 12 points in 20 minutes, knocking down 2-of-6 3-pointers. Forward Haley Peters, who muscled inside with Maryland's strong frontcourt, finished with nine points and nine rebounds.
Gray, coming off the bench, also played critical minutes, scoring seven points and dishing three assists and adding three steals.
The night started well for the Devils. Peters used a screen, flashed in the lane and drained a short jump shot.
The Devils, who have collected 21 charges this season, took two charges, and players drove the lane for layups, jumping ahead to a 13-8 lead at the 15:12 mark. Their offensive struggles from Tuesday against Kentucky seemed a distant memory as Gray drove the lane for a layup through traffic.
But their hot hands turned cold.
And the Terps responded with a 14-0 run capped by eight consecutive points by junior guard Kim Rodgers, who buried back-to-back 3-pointers and then drove the lane for a layup to put the Terrapins ahead 22-13 with 11:50 remaining in the first half.
Unable to put shots down - 3-for-15 from 3-point range in the first half - the Devils turned to their defensive roots and conjured a 13-4 run over the final seven minutes of the half.
There was a steal in the paint by Duke freshman guard Chloe Wells that lead to a breakaway layup by Gray. Jasmine Thomas followed that with a rainbow 3-pointer to cut Maryland's lead to 25-22 at 5:55.
Liston then knocked down a 3-pointer, followed by a block by senior center Krystal Thomas on Maryland's Lynetta Kizer. Krystal Thomas came back downcourt and scooped in a layup to tie the score at 27-27.
Maryland, which has one of the youngest rosters in the nation, closed out the half with a clutch 12-foot jump shot from Kizer to beat the buzzer and go into halftime ahead 33-29.
The Terps, bolstered by post players Diandra Tchatchouang (6-foot-3), Alicia DeVaughn (6-4), Yemi Oyefuwa (6-6) and Kizer, attacked the boards and pounded the Devils inside every chance they got.
Duke 71, Maryland 64
Maryland (13-2, 0-1): Hawkins 1-4 0-0 2, Tchatchouang 5-10 3-6 14, Thomas 3-15 5-6 11, Kizer 4-11 1-2 9, Barrett 1-7 2-3 4, Mincy 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor 0-0 0-0 0, Cloud 0-0 0-0 0, DeVaughn 2-2 2-2 6, Rodgers 7-12 1-2 18. Totals 23-61 14-21 64.
Duke (15-0, 1-0): Christmas 2-9 5-7 9, Peters 4-10 1-2 9, K. Thomas 4-7 0-0 8, Selby 0-3 0-0 0, J. Thomas 8-18 2-2 22, Wells 0-1 0-0 0, Gray 3-7 1-2 7, Scheer 2-4 0-0 4, Liston 3-8 4-4 12, Vernerey 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-68 13-17 71.
Halftime--Maryland 33-29. 3-point goals--Maryland 4-10 (Rodgers 3-7, Tchatchouang 1-2, Barrett 0-1), Duke 6-29 (J. Thomas 4-10, Liston 2-6, Scheer 0-1, Christmas 0-2, Selby 0-2, Peters 0-4, Gray 0-4). Fouled out--None. Rebounds--Maryland 42 (Thomas 12), Duke 46 (K. Thomas 10). Assists--Maryland 18 (Barrett 10), Duke 16 (Christmas, Gray, J. Thomas 3). Total fouls--Maryland 16, Duke 16. A--5,214.
