Terps win hours after Frese gives birth

Crystal Langhorne had 25 points and 12 rebounds Sunday to help fourth-ranked Maryland beat No. 12 Duke 76-69, a victory that came hours after coach Brenda Frese gave birth to twin boys.

Kristi Toliver added 23 points for the Terrapins (27-2, 11-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who controlled the entire game to sweep the regular-season series for the first time in 15 years. Maryland also earned its first win at Cameron Indoor Stadium since 2000.

Abby Waner had 13 points to lead the Blue Devils (19-7, 8-3), who hung around after falling behind by 14 points in the first half yet never could sustain a second-half rally.

The game was a rematch of the 2006 national championship game won by the Terrapins in overtime, but the biggest news on this day was the absent Frese and her newborns.

Markus William Thomas was born Sunday at 10:21 a.m. and Tyler Joseph Thomas was delivered 20 minutes later. Frese wasn't due to deliver until next month, but it became apparent in recent weeks that she wouldn't carry the twins full term. She long ago stopped accompanying the team on road games, with assistant Daron Park leading the team in her absence.

Maryland looked ready early to take advantage of Frese's emotional news, steadily going inside to Langhorne to build a double-digit lead midway through the first half. Langhorne scored over Carrem Gay to make it 31-17 with 7 1/2 minutes left until halftime, finishing with 14 first-half points.

Duke never folded, cutting the deficit to 41-33 at halftime on a 3-pointer from Wanisha Smith in the final minute before the break. And the Blue Devils managed to close the gap to six points on six separate occasions before finally pulling as close as 70-65 on a drive by Smith with 2:54 to play.

Yet Maryland remained in control. Langhorne hit a free throw to answer Smith's score, followed by two more from Marissa Coleman. Langhorne also came up with a key defensive play, getting back in transition to block a layup from Smith with about a minute left. Toliver closed that stretch with two more free throws, pushing the lead to 75-65 with 57 seconds left.