Terps Have an Easy Time

No. 5 Maryland Is Overwhelming In 40-Point Victory: Maryland 90, Miami 50

Perhaps it was the back-to-back double-overtime games that caused fifth-ranked Maryland to come out sluggishly against Miami last night at Comcast Center. Or maybe it was just difficult for the Terrapins to generate enthusiasm to play a team with only one ACC victory this season after they suffered a heartbreaking loss to North Carolina on Saturday.

Whatever the reason, Maryland eventually overcame its listless start to easily dispatch the Hurricanes, 90-50, handing Miami its most lopsided loss of the season. The Terrapins (23-2, 7-1 ACC), who beat the Hurricanes, 111-53, last season, have won the last two meetings of these teams by an average of 49 points.

"To be able to have such a convincing win like tonight says a lot about our character," Maryland Coach Brenda Frese said.

With a starting lineup that featured four players 5 feet 10 or shorter, Miami (8-13, 1-5) had no answer for Maryland's powerful inside duo of Crystal Langhorne and Laura Harper, neither of whom played more than 20 minutes. Langhorne finished with 19 points on 5-of-7 shooting, and Harper scored 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting.

Langhorne, who needed only two points to reach 2,000 points for her career, reached that milestone 24 seconds into the game. The senior all-American forward rarely makes shots more than a few feet away from the basket, but she confidently swished a jumper near the free throw line for her 2,000th point. She became only the fifth ACC player in the NCAA era to record 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. After the game, Langhorne was presented with a game ball marking her accomplishment, then was hoisted onto her teammates' shoulders.

"I don't know what they were thinking," Langhorne said. "It was fun getting up on their shoulders."

Kristi Toliver, who made the assist on Langhorne's basket, assisted on Harper's layup on Maryland's next possession. That gave Toliver her 500th career assist. Her 10 assists, the eighth double-digit assist game of the season, moved her into second place on the school's career assist list.

"She's trying to get a ball too," Frese joked. "I don't know if we're going to have any balls to practice with here pretty soon the way we're going. It says a lot in terms of what this team has accomplished. Our veterans as they've gone through their careers here and what they've meant to Maryland."

Miami made it interesting early, forcing Maryland to call a timeout at 14 minutes 21 seconds when the Hurricanes tied the score at 14. Though the Terrapins started building their lead over the next few minutes, it wasn't until a scheduled timeout near the eight-minute mark that their usual energy appeared. Over the next three minutes, Maryland's lead ballooned to 34-20. After Maurita Reid sank a three-pointer with 4:15 left in the first half, Miami did not score again. The Terrapins closed out the half on a 10-0 run to go into halftime with a 21-point lead.

The lopsided score gave Maryland a chance to play freshman guard Kat Lyons and freshman forward Drey Mingo. Lyons, who hadn't played in four of the last five games, played 20 minutes, sinking two three-pointers to finish with eight points. Mingo, who had played four minutes in the last four games, scored three points and grabbed five rebounds in 18 minutes.

"We're definitely continuing to evaluate where our depth is because we feel like we need to be able to have that," Frese said. "It's also a credit to Kat and Drey. They've had two of their best practices coming into this game. . . . You're seeing the maturity as freshmen turn the corner. They're doing some valuable things for us and we need them to."