Maryland outlasts Old Dominion

Every game, it seems, brings a new lesson for the young Maryland women's basketball team. Earlier this week, the Terrapins had to learn how to survive when their shots weren't falling. On Thursday night, they had to figure out how to persevere after wasting a 26-point lead and repeatedly throwing the ball away.

Maryland leaned on Lynetta Kizer and Diandra Tchatchouang and pulled away for an 84-67 victory over Old Dominion in front of an announced crowd of 4,681 inside Comcast Center. The two forwards combined for 41 points on 17 of 23 shooting.

"That was a thrill of a game, and hang on because it's going to be quite a ride," Maryland Coach Brenda Frese said. "I'm really proud of the poise and composure that we kept in the second half. Obviously with the momentum changing -- building that lead coming out of halftime and then their press giving us some difficulties -- I thought we did a great job, with such a young team, of just keeping our poise and composure."

In their 63-43 win over New Hampshire on Monday, the Terrapins (3-0) shot poorly, making just 20 of 72 attempts (27.8 percent) from the floor. Three days later against Old Dominion (0-2), the Terrapins made 61.5 percent of their shots (32 of 52) -- their highest field goal percentage since Jan. 6, 2008, when they shot 62.1 percent in a 110-46 win over Clemson.

But Maryland committed 26 turnovers, nearly half of which came in the final 15 minutes of the game after the Lady Monarchs turned on their press. Freshman point guard Dara Taylor had nine of those turnovers, but also had nine of Maryland's 18 assists.

Maryland led, 43-30, at halftime and quickly doubled its advantage during the first 3 minutes 30 seconds of the second half. Tchatchouang (team-high 22 points) scored 12 points in that stretch, battling inside and outside, and after sophomore Anjalé Barrett (10 points) set her up for a wide-open layup, the Terrapins led, 59-33.

"It's amazing what [Tchatchouang] can do on the court, she's so smooth," said Kizer, who finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds. "Things don't affect her the way that they would affect other people. . . . She's real quiet, but she's constantly motivating people."

After building the big lead, however, the Terrapins made just two baskets -- a short jumper by Kizer and a layup by Tchatchouang -- over the next six minutes and were outscored by a 22-4 margin. They threw the ball away against the press, they stepped out-of-bounds, they were called for palming the ball and a backcourt violation. With 10:10 to go, the Terrapins' lead was down to 63-55.

But Maryland's veterans stepped up. Barrett converted two free throws and then sank a three-pointer from the right side, and the Terrapins' lead was back up to 13 points.

The Terrapins have another lesson scheduled for Sunday, when they play at 25th-ranked Mississippi State (3-0). It's the team's first road game, and represents its biggest challenge thus far. Last year, Maryland beat the Bulldogs, 80-73, but six players who accounted for 77 of the Terrapins' points in that game are no longer with the team.

"It's going to be a completely different element. Your mind-set has to be ready and prepared to go on the road," Frese said. "I love challenging this team; it's exciting to go play an SEC opponent, a team that is very similar to ACC teams, a team that's very athletic. I want to see how we match up. I'm excited about the competition."

-- VA. TECH 70, GEORGE MASON 41: Utahya Drye scored 10 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, and Lindsay Biggs added 18 as the Hokies improved to 2-1 by handling the Patriots in Blacksburg.

Ashleigh Braxton (Forest Park) led George Mason (1-2) with 11 points.

-- GW 68, COPPIN STATE 64: Tiana Myers (Bishop McNamara) scored a career-high 18 points and the Colonials came from behind to beat the Eagles and win their home opener.

After trailing by 14, Coppin State (2-1) took a 57-53 lead with 7:08 remaining. But Megan Nipe gave GW the lead back on a jumper with 1:23 left and Danni Jackson (Forest Park) found Sara Mostafa for another basket with 24 seconds left to clinch the win for GW (2-0).

Staff contributed to this report.