January 28, 1999

Box Score

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Amy Geren scored 17 points and Itoro Umoh added 15 as No. 15-ranked Clemson outdistanced homestanding Maryland, 55-45, in Atlantic Coast Conference women's basketball action.

It was a far cry from the last time these two teams met.

Tied at 22 before taking a 32-26 lead into the intermission, Clemson (17-3, 7-3) could never shake the pesky Terrapins. Joanie Mungro's layup pushed Clemson to its largest lead of the evening, 48-37, with 9:40 to play, but Maryland outscored the Tigers 8-2 over the next eight minutes to draw within 50-45 on a Branka Bogunovic putback with 3:03 remaining. Geren's three-point play with 1:44 remaining pushed the lead to eight, and a pair of free throws by Umoh pushed the lead to 10 with 40 seconds to play.

Almost two months ago at Clemson, the Tigers raced to 20-2 and 40-17 leads en route to an 89-48 victory over a then-winless Maryland team which played five freshmen and lacked the presence of senior forward Kelley Gibson and starting point guard Tiffany Brown. Thirty-two Maryland turnovers resulted in 30 Clemson points.

Insert Brown and Gibson, however, and turn that freshman class into almost-sophomores, and the Terps handed the Tigers a 40-minute scare on Thursday night. Branka Bogunovic led Maryland (3-15, 1-8) with 19 points and 13 rebounds while Gibson sparked the Terps with four 3- pointers and 16 points. Brown contributed seven assists, four steals and eight rebounds.

Clemson shot just 32 percent for the game, and was held 22 points under its 77-point average.

Maryland travels to No. 9 Duke on Monday, Feb. 1 in a regionally-televised game which tips at 7 p.m. Clemson is at Virginia on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.