The Duke women?s basketball team showed Maryland Saturday that it is still a force to be reckoned with both in the Atlantic Coast Conference and nationally, trouncing the defending national champion, 81-62, in Durham, N.C.
The win gave Duke (18-0) a measure of revenge after losing to Maryland (18-1) in last year’s ACC semifinals and in the NCAA final. However, it remains to be seen if Saturday?s victory turns into anything more than a single battle in the war of high-profile college recruiting.
Maryland has risen quickly to national prominence due in large part to fifth-year coach Brenda Frese’s ability to lure many of the top players in the country to College Park. From the time Frese arrived in 2002, Maryland has boasted a top-10 recruiting class each year. The Terps? current junior class of Crystal Langhorne, Laura Harper, Jade Perry and Ashleigh Newman were No. 2 nationally, while the following year’s class of Kristi Toliver and Marissa Coleman ranked fourth.
Duke coach Gail Goestenkors said Frese?s recruiting ability makes life more difficult for her and other national powers. Now, Goestenkors said, they have to work harder to lure players who, in years past, would not have considered Maryland.
“It’s very difficult to recruit because we’re all recruiting the same players,” Goestenkors said. “It used to be that we were just recruiting against Tennessee and Connecticut, and now Maryland is in there and [North] Carolina is in there. We don’t go up against Carolina as often as we go up against Maryland because we like that D.C. area. It’s been very good for us. Now, it is much more of a challenge because Brenda has done such a good job overall and particularly in that area.”
Maryland’s latest recruiting class supports Goestenkors? claim. The Terps’ next group of incoming freshmen is ranked No. 1 in the country, according to the All-Star Girls Report. The Terps? five-member class of 2011 includes two players from the D.C./Maryland/Virginia region, led by Towson Catholic guard Marah Strickland.
“I really appreciate the players that believed in our vision and chose to come here,” Frese said. “We’re going after the same players as Duke and North Carolina, and we’ve won some and lost some against them.”
Maryland returns to action this weekend when it hosts a pair of ACC opponents ? Virginia (12-5) at 7 p.m. Friday and Wake Forest (8-9) at 4 p.m. Sunday.
MARYLAND’S CLASS OF 2011
» Guard Anjale Barrett (St. Michael Academy, New York)
» Forward Drey Dingo (Marist High, Atlanta)
» Guard Katheryn Lyons (Bishop McGuiness High, Kernersville, N.C.)
» Guard Kim Rodgers (Princess Anne High, Virginia Beach, Va.)
» Guard Marah Strickland (Towson Catholic, Baltimore)
