Maryland and Duke Look for a First

One team’s resume will be complete tonight.

Either Duke or Maryland is going to win its first national championship in women’s Division I basketball. They are the last teams standing in the 2006 NCAA tournament.

There is a level of familiarity in this game that is rare in a championship game. The Blue Devils (31-3) and Terrapins (33-4), both Atlantic Coast Conference teams, have played each other three times before the NCAA final, Duke winning twice in the regular season, then losing to the Terrapins in the conference tournament.

“I think [tonight] is just another ACC game that we prepare ourselves to play,” Maryland sophomore forward Laura Harper said.

The Terrapins’ basketball tradition includes 15 NCAA tournament appearances and three Final Fours, including a berth in the very first in 1982. But this is the first time Maryland has reached the final. And the Terrapins are doing it with a young lineup. Four of the five starters are either freshmen or sophomores.

“These players have shown time and time again they belong here,” Maryland Coach Brenda Frese said. “From the moment they stepped on campus, they have shown they had a big picture, one goal they wanted to accomplish, and they’re one step away from achieving that goal.”

Freshman point guard Kristi Toliver, 19, who committed 12 turnovers but still led her team past North Carolina on Sunday, snickers when asked if Maryland is too young to be doing this well this soon.

“We don’t think we’re that young,” Toliver said. “We don’t think we’re that inexperienced. We have all been playing basketball forever. So we’re just out having fun, playing basketball, doing what we do.”

Duke, which made its only other title-game appearance in 1999, had beaten Maryland 14 consecutive times until the Terrapins knocked them off in the ACC tournament on March 4.

With that win, according to Langhorne, “The fear against Duke is just gone.”

Duke, though, remains a team to be reckoned with. The Blue Devils had nearly two weeks of practice before the NCAA tournament to rebuild the confidence that had been eroded in losses to North Carolina and Maryland, and Duke has won its last five by an average of 26 points. Sunday, the Blue Devils thrashed Louisiana State by 19 points in the semifinals.

In previous Final Four trips, Duke Coach Gail Goestenkors has been so wrapped up in trying to win a championship that her teams played tight. This time she has made it a point not to saddle the team with her ambitions.

“I’ve let that pressure go,” Goestenkors said. “I feel like we’re going to win it at some point. I know we’re going to win it at some point. I think in the past, I wanted it so badly for the team that I tried to force it to happen, and I found out that’s not really possible.”

Duke’s All-American guard Monique Currie, playing her last game before heading to Wednesday’s WNBA draft, does not want Goestenkors to be without a title any longer.

“I think it’s her time,” Currie said of her coach. “Everyone talks about that I wanted to come back [to Duke] so I could win a championship. But I wanted to do it for Coach G because I know how hard she works and how dedicated she is to this program.”

*

Women’s final

Maryland (33-4) vs. Duke (31-3)

Tonight, 5:30 PDT; TV: ESPN

TD Banknorth Garden, Boston

Duke starters: Mistie Williams (6-3, F) 11.4 ppg; Monique Currie (6-0, G-F) 16.2 ppg; Alison Bales (6-7, C) 6.6 rpg; Wanisha Smith (5-11, G) 7.6 ppg; Lindsey Harding (5-8, G) 4.6 apg.

* Maryland starters: Crystal Langhorne (6-2, F-C) 17.4 ppg; Laura Harper (6-4, F-C) 7.2 rpg; Kristi Toliver (5-7, G) 4.4 apg; Shay Doron (5-9, G) 13.4 ppg; Marissa Coleman (6-1, F) 13.9 ppg.

* Offenses: Maryland has five players scoring in double figures, led by Langhorne, who has been nearly unstoppable in the tournament. The faster the tempo the better the Terrapins like it. They turned the ball over 26 times Sunday against North Carolina but shot 56% and won, 81-70. Duke can play it quick as well and is almost as balanced, and the Blue Devils have the more experienced, productive bench. Edge: Duke.

* Defenses: The Blue Devils, with the 6-7 Bales and the 6-3 Williams, have size and formidable shot-blocking. But they are not as quick as the Terrapin frontcourt. Duke can clamp down on defense at any time. Maryland clamps down when it has to. Edge: Even.

* Keys to the game: Because this is the fourth time the teams have met this season, there should be no secrets or surprises. Duke cannot let Maryland get near its 45.4-rebound average or make a steady pilgrimage to the free-throw line. The Terrapins can’t be discouraged if they fall behind early or impatient if Duke slows the game.

* Prediction: Duke 69, Maryland 63.

-- MIKE TERRY