Record crowd

The crowd set an ACC attendance record. The anti-Duke signs were everywhere. The coach of the Maryland Terrapins paced the bench constantly, and the fans in the student section stood the entire game.

Just 15 hours after the Maryland men outlasted Duke in overtime, Comcast Center rocked again yesterday with a female version of the rivalry that came complete with a pregame traffic jam and an ESPN broadcast.

Round 2 proved historic: The 17,243 fans in attendance shattered the previous ACC women’s mark of 14,500 set by the Terps and Virginia Cavaliers in 1992.

“After they’re done playing, they’re going to remember that for a long time,” Terps coach Brenda Frese said after Maryland dropped a sloppy 60-49 decision to the No. 3 Blue Devils.

The series between the men’s teams has been intense, bitterly contested and occasionally nasty in recent years, culminating in an ugly scene at last year’s meeting at Comcast.

At the close of that game, Terps fans directed a long, obscene chant at Duke guard J.J. Redick that was clearly audible to a nationwide audience on ESPN. That incident embarrassed alumni and school officials and prompted measures to encourage better behavior by fans at games.

A gentler version of the series was on display yesterday.

“Cram Comcast” capped a weekend in College Park in which both the men’s and women’s games were on national TV.

Terps officials felt only good weather and a victory by the men’s team Saturday were needed to ensure record attendance at the women’s game yesterday.

The men delivered, upsetting the seventh-ranked Blue Devils 99-92 and sweeping the season series. And the women got their record, though lengthy traffic delays kept some fans away until nearly halftime.

The profanity common at the men’s games was replaced by cheering a few octaves higher from the young girls filling the stands. The ear-piercing “I scream for ice cream” contest sounded like an ’N Sync concert. The student section was confined to one corner of the arena, with alumni gladly moving down to courtside seats.

But a gimmick wasn’t needed to draw the large crowd, which included just 701 students.

The Terrapins steadily progressed over the course of Frese’s three seasons, reaching the NCAA tournament last year for the first time since 1992.

Maryland (17-6, 6-5 ACC) now is ranked No. 19 and has the nation’s fourth-best recruiting class arriving for next season.

Frese even has her own weekly reality TV series — “Maryland Women’s Basketball: Under the Shell” — on Comcast SportsNet produced by FridgeTV.com creator Jess Atkinson.

The Terps averaged an attendance of 3,333 before yesterday, 1,000 more than the previous season. The ring of pricey courtside seats is now filled. The noise is a steady hum.

“We’ll get to the place where [large crowds] won’t be just once a season but ACC games like North Carolina and Virginia,” athletic director Debbie Yow said. “To set the ACC attendance record, Maryland belongs at the top. This is one step of the ultimate goal of winning the national championship.”

Frese promised to beat Duke (23-2, 9-1 ACC) during Midnight Madness nearly four months ago. The crowd cheered that night.

But promising is one thing. The Terps lost to the Blue Devils 60-57 on Jan. 27 and dropped their 11th straight in the series yesterday. Maryland last beat Duke at home in 1998.

“Just a tough night,” Frese said. “A tough shooting night. … We’ll bounce back from it.”

Maryland made only 23 of its 68 attempts from the field (34 percent), disappointing a crowd ready to down the Devils on back-to-back days at Comcast.

“Let’s Get It Started” by the Black Eyed Peas blared during the introductions as fans held up signs reading, “Let’s make it back to back.”

Indeed, it wasn’t easy to separate the intensity of the previous night from yesterday’s game.

“Keep Coach K. We Shay [Doron],” read a sign held aloft by llie Kiatzakin, 9, of West Potomac. “Terps, let’s put the Devil down” and “Puke on Duke” were among a dozen others. Old standbys like “Fear the Brenda” and “Future Lady Terps” dotted the crowd.

The difference in the crowd from the men’s games was evident at the start. Fans didn’t punctuate the end of the national anthem with “Oh” in deference to the Baltimore Orioles or sing “Rock and Roll, Part II,” but they shook newspapers to ignore the introduction of Duke’s players. They booed a close call against Doron and waved noodles behind the basket during Duke’s free throws.

Sometimes, the bigger cheers were for men’s players like Nik Caner-Medley or Chris McCray watching behind the basket or coach Gary Williams sitting discreetly in the corner. Occasionally, it was so quiet Frese’s “Yes” after a defensive stop could be heard by the crowd.

But the game was mostly the same as that of the men — just played below the rim.

Doron scored 18 and Kalika France 13 for the Terps. Monique Currie scored 14 points, and Chante Black had 13 rebounds and eight points for the Blue Devils.

Maryland trailed 27-23 at the break, then opened the second half with a 9-0 run during which Duke missed eight straight shots.

Maryland’s slim lead finally slipped away with 12:31 remaining, but the crowd largely stayed until the end.

The Terps just want them to come back.