Jones scores 22, No. 7 Duke women beat No. 8 Maryland 84-63
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Alexis Jones had 22 points, including a career-high five 3-pointers, and No. 7 Duke beat No. 8 Maryland 84-63 on Monday night.
Elizabeth Williams added 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Blue Devils (23-3, 10-2 ACC).
Duke avoided its first consecutive losses since 2007-08 and dodged its first three-game home slide in more than two decades by shooting 53 percent and outrebounding one of the nation's top teams on the boards, 44-37.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Alyssa Thomas had 14 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists for Maryland (20-5, 8-4).
Thomas missed eight of her first nine shots, but managed to make three in a row to help the Terrapins close to 53-48 with just under 11 minutes remaining.
Duke followed with three straight 3s, one by Tricia Liston, two by Jones. Liston added two free throws to make it 64-48 with 8:17 left.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Maryland didn't get closer than 11 after that.
Richa Jackson had 19 points and Liston finished with 12 for Duke, which denied the Terrapins their first victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium since 2008.
That stood as the Blue Devils' most recent ACC home loss until No. 2 Notre Dame blew them out earlier this month and rival North Carolina did the same last week.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Lexie Brown had 13 points and Alicia DeVaughn added 10 for the Big Ten-bound Terrapins, whose final scheduled game at Cameron came two nights after their men's team bid farewell to the famously hostile arena.
Unlike that matchup — in which coach Mark Turgeon was serenaded with "Sweat, Gary, Sweat" chants not heard since Gary Williams retired three years ago — there was noticeably less venom in this one.
That could have been because Duke lost a measure of its swagger lately during its first two-game losing streak at Cameron since 1994.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}And defense was the culprit: It allowed at least 83 points in each of its three double-digit home losses, including 89 to the Tar Heels last time out.
That prompted coach Joanne P. McCallie to say that "defense is something that this team generally wants other people to do."
With a week off to stew about that, the Blue Devils appeared determined to put the "D'' back in Duke. In the first half, they held Thomas — the two-time ACC player of the year — to three points on 1-of-7 shooting.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The offense always has been there for Duke, the nation's second-best 3-point-shooting team and its No. 3 team in field-goal percentage.
The Blue Devils hit nine of their final 12 shots of the first half to open a 38-30 lead on Kendall McCravey-Cooper's stickback with 9 seconds before the break. Jackson's 3 with just over 14 minutes to play gave Duke its first double-figure lead at 49-39.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Follow Joedy McCreary on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joedyap