Women's Basketball Host Kazakistan Team Friday
6/21/1999 8:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
November 2, 1998
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Picking itself up from an 82-60 setback to an older, more experienced Finnish team last Sunday, Maryland's women's basketball team returns to the floor on Friday evening, Nov. 6 against a touring team from Kazakistan, a former republic of Russia. It is the second and final exhibition game for the Terrapins who are preparing for their regular season opener in two weeks.
Game Facts and Coverage
Kazakistan at Maryland (Exh.)
Date: Friday, Nov. 6
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Site: Cole Field House
Led predominently by six freshmen, Maryland fell behind quickly to Tapiolan Honka of the championship division of the Finnish Basketball Association. The Topcats raced to a 43-22 halftime advantage and never looked back while recording an exhibition victory in the first game of their nine-team U.S. tour.
The Terrapins were led by 18 points from freshman Marche Strickland (Kingston, Mass.), and 12 points and 13 boards by returning junior Antonieta Gabriel (Virginia Beach, Va.).
Maryland hosts Kazakistan on Friday at 7:30 before opening the regular season with UNC Greensboro at Cole Field House,Saturday, Nov. 14 at 2 p.m. The regular season opener is an afternoon prelim to the top 10-ranked Maryland men's team vs. Western Carolina at 8 p.m.
HEAD COACH CHRIS WELLER
Chris Weller (Maryland '66) has guided her alma mater to a national championship game and three Final Four appearances. She has engineered an unprecedented eight ACC championships while compiling a 447-221 (.669) record through 23 seasons. In 1995, she became just the fifth coach in women's college basketball history to earn at least 400 victories at the same school. Three years earlier, her Terps were No. 1-ranked for a month which led to her naming as the 1992 Naismith and United States Basketball Writers Association national coach of the year. A member of the WBCA legislative committee, she also has coached three different U.S. Select Teams. Weller was a member of Maryland basketball, lacrosse and swimming teams as a student-athlete.
LAST GAME - FINNISH EXPERIENCE TAKES TOLL ON FRESHMEN-LADEN TERPS
Kaisa Kepsu scored 20 points and added 10 rebounds Sunday afternoon to lead Tapiolan Honka, as the Finnish Basketball Association team won the opening game of its U.S. women's college basketball tour, downing Maryland 82-60 at Cole Field House.
With a starting lineup averaging 26 years of age against a Terrapin team building around six freshmen, Tapiolan Honka raced to a 43-22 halftime lead and never looked back. The touring Topcats took advantage of 23 Terrapin turnovers and utilized an effortless transition game to shoot 53 percent for the game.
"Obviously, I'm not pleased with our performance," said Chris Weller during postgame comments. "I knew we would be tested tonight and I knew we had a long ways to go considering all the freshmen we're going to play. We learned first-hand just how much we need to improve."
Maryland shot just 34 percent and never found rhythm in its offense. Freshman guard Marche Strickland led Maryland with 18 points on 7 of 22 shooting. Junior Antonieta Gabriel scored 12 points and paced the Terps with 13 rebounds.
The Topcats opened the second half with a 14-6 run for their largest lead at 32, 60-28, with 15:26 to play. Strickland contributed eight points and freshman Ginji Perry (Hyattsville, Md.) added five in an 18-6 run by the Terps to narrow the margin to 20 with just under 10 minutes to play, but Maryland never get closer.
TAPIOLAN HONKA 82, MARYLAND 60 (Exhibition)
Cole Field House - November 1, 1998
Tapiolan Honka fg 3fg ft reb pf pts a t b s min Mustakari f 2-7 1-2 0-2 0-3-3 4 5 3 3 0 5 24 Kepsu f 10-13 0-1 0-0 2-8-10 5 20 2 1 0 1 32 McCory c 4-10 0-0 2-2 3-3-6 0 10 3 0 2 0 20 Hellman g 2-8 0-4 0-1 0-4-4 1 4 6 2 0 3 26 Myllyla g 7-10 2-3 0-0 0-1-1 3 16 5 2 0 1 33 Jarviluoma 2-5 1-1 0-0 0-1-1 1 5 2 1 0 1 24 Karhunen 1-1 0-0 0-0 1-0-1 1 2 0 1 0 0 4 Puolitaival 2-2 1-1 0-0 0-1-1 0 5 0 1 0 0 4 Ropponen 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0-0 1 0 0 2 0 0 5 Junnila 7-12 1-3 0-2 2-2-4 3 15 3 2 0 3 28Maryland fg 3fg ft reb pf pts a t b s min Gabriel f 3-6 0-0 6-7 9-4-13 0 12 2 2 1 2 40 Ferris f 1-8 0-2 0-0 1-8-9 2 2 2 5 0 1 30 Warley f 3-7 0-0 3-5 2-2-4 2 9 1 2 0 0 21 Bogunovic c 3-6 0-0 0-1 2-2-4 2 6 0 1 0 0 12 Strickland g 7-22 0-2 4-4 0-5-5 1 18 0 6 0 1 39 Miller 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1-1 0 0 1 2 0 0 4 Ilic 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 4 Perry 4-6 0-0 1-2 2-2-4 1 0 1 3 0 0 20 Agba 1-3 0-0 1-2 2-1-3 3 3 0 1 0 1 14 Melbourne 0-5 0-0 1-2 2-2-4 2 1 0 0 0 0 16 Team 0-1-1 1 Totals 22-64 0-4 16-23 20-28-48 14 60 8 23 1 5 200
Tapiolan Honka 43 39 - 82 Maryland 22 38 - 60
FG% - Tapiolan Honka .536, Maryland .344 3FG% - Tapiolan Honka .400, Maryland .000 FT% - Tapiolan Honka .286, Maryland .696 Technical Fouls - none Officials - Argyopoulos, Lippa, Danaher A - 250
BROWN AND GIBSON OUT EARLY
The Terps will take on the early part of the 1998-99 schedule without returning starters Kelley Gibson and Tiffany Brown.
Gibson, the team's lone senior, team captain and Maryland's leader in assists (4.3) and blocks (0.6) last season, re-tore the ACL in her right knee during preseason workouts. It marks the third of her five seasons that injury to one knee or the other has resulted in missed action. She hopes to return for games in early January.
Brown is academically ineligible for the fall semester, and hopes to return for the Terps' non-conference date with Rutgers on Dec. 22. Brown is the Terps' leading returning scorer from 1997-98, averaging 7.3 points per game. She also is Maryland's career 3-point field goals leader after just two seasons.
NEW ROSTER ADDITION
Chris Weller announced the addition of a walk-on player to the 1998-99 roster this week. Leah Moore (Rye, N.Y.) joined the team last week, but did not dress for the Tapiolan Honka game. Moore is a sophomore who did not play last season and last played at Rye High School.
ACC MEDIA DAY POLLS; STRICKLAND EARNS VOTES
Maryland was tabbed for a seventh place finish in the ACC this season in voting by league media at last weekend's ACC Media Day in Charlotte. Among players earning recognition around the league, Terp freshman Marche Strickland earned three votes toward selection as the 1997-98 media preseason ACC Rookie of the Year.
Duke, which claimed its first-ever regular season ACC women's title in 1997-98, was picked to repeat this season on the strength of its 13 returning players, including all five starters. Second in the voting was Virginia, followed by defending tournament champion North Carolina, Final Four participant NC State and tournament finalist Clemson. Florida State was sixth, Georgia Tech was chosen eighth and Wake Forest ninth.
NEXT GAMES
Maryland opens its regular season on Saturday, Nov. 14 against UNC Greensboro, at Cole Field House at 2 p.m. The Terps make local road trips to Loyola (Md.) and Howard before hosting Hampton in a pre-Thanksgiving bout on Nov. 24.
RADIO/TV SCHEDULE
Campus radio station WMUC (650-AM and 88.1-FM) carries 13 home Maryland women's basketball games this season beginning Dec. 2 vs. Western Michigan.
The Terps appear on four regionally televised games. All four games fall during the ACC season beginning with a Jan. 21 date at Georgia Tech. Subsequent dates include Maryland at Duke on Feb. 1, Virginia at Maryland on Feb. 8, and Maryland at NC State on Feb. 15.
MARYLAND'S PROBABLE STARTERS (exhibition statistics)
Player (G/GS) Yr. PPG RPG APG
G 20 Marche Strickland (0/0) Fr. 18.0 5.0 0.0
Played 39 min. in first college gm.
F 33 Cara Ferris (0/0) Jr. 2.0 9.0 2.0
Transfer from Pensacola JC
F 34 Deedee Warley (0/0) Fr. 9.0 4.0 1.0
Inside and outside performer
F 32 Antonieta Gabriel (17/2) Jr. 12.0 13.0 2.0
Played 40 minutes vs. Finland
C 55 Branka Bogunovic (36/23) Jr. 6.0 4.0 0.0
56.8% shooting in ACC in '97-98
1997-98 ACC FINAL STANDINGS
ACC Overall
Teams W L Pct. W L Pct.
Duke 13 3 .813 24 8 .750
Clemson 12 4 .750 25 8 .757
NC State 12 4 .750 25 7 .781
No. Carolina 11 5 .688 27 7 .794
Virginia 9 7 .563 19 10 .655
Maryland 7 9 .438 15 13 .536
Florida State 5 11 .313 9 18 .333
Georgia Tech 3 13 .188 11 17 .393
Wake Forest 0 16 .000 4 23 .148
ACC Postseason Results
NC State: East Region champion, lost to Louisiana Tech in national semifinals
North Carolina: lost to Tennessee in Mideast Region Final
Duke: lost to Arkansas in West Region Final
Clemson: lost to Louisiana Tech in Midwest Region Second Round
TERPS BY THE NUMBERS
0
The number of seniors that played for Maryland against Tapiolan Honka.
1
Maryland's scoring defense led the Atlantic Coast Conference last season with an average of 60.2 points allowed per game. The Terps allowed just 59.4 in ACC action.
3
Only three classes of players under Chris Weller have failed to participate in at least one Sweet Sixteen appearance.
6
Maryland welcomes six freshmen to its 1998-99 roster. It is the most freshmen to grace a Maryland roster since seven in 1985-86.
8
The Terps have captured an unprecedented eight ACC championships.
9
The number of teams on the 1998-99 Terrapin schedule that qualified for last season's NCAA Tournament.
14
The number of games on the 1998-99 Terrapin schedule against participants in last season's NCAA Tournament.
15
The Maryland rebounding advantage against Tapiolan Honka. Maryland outrebounded the Finnish team 48 to 33.
22
Freshman guard Marche Strickland led Terp scorers with 18 points on 7 of 22 shooting in her college exhibition debut.
40
The ranking bestowed upon Terp freshman Rosita Melbourne as the 40th-best women's freshman in the country, by Athlon's College Basketball Preview Magazine.
40
The number of minutes played by junior Antonieta Gabriel. Her regular season career high was 25 minutes last season against Loyola (Md.).
200
The number of victories Chris Weller has posted against foes currently in the Atlantic Coast Conference, pre-dating the advent of the ACC women's basketball championship in 1978.
QUOTING COACH WELLER
On Tapiolan Honka game: "Obviously, I was not pleased with our performance. I knew we would be tested tonight and I knew we had a long ways to go considering all the freshmen we're going to play. We learned first-hand just how much we need to improve. We've only had two weeks practice, but I think we all learned we have a lot of work to do. I was pleased with our effort in the second half. I did think we showed a lot of poise in hanging in there, and coming back. We played even, for the most part, in the second half, and showed some signs that we really have some players that can play. We just have to find some consistency. We had flashes of really good play. We have to learn what we did during those times, and find how to control our play. That is a sign of not only youth, but maturity. This team will grow with every week and every game."
More on Tapiolan Honka game: "I thought we would have our hands full with their transition and defense just because they were an experienced team. I knew we would struggle with this game. We just weren't developed enough to play with their experience. I wasn't surprised that we lost, but I thought we would have stayed within about 15 [points]."
On lineup with four freshmen and Antonieta Gabriel: "That lineup is what you're going to see a lot of. That's who we are. In part because of missing Tiff [Tiffany Brown] and Kelley [Gibson], and in part because a lot of talent really is so young, we will have four freshmen in the lineup an awful lot of the time. I thought Toni really played like a leader and stepped up her game. She knows that right now, she has to. We're depending on her experience even though last year she really didn't play that often, herself. We have to look to her to help guide all the freshmen on the floor. Everybody is learning right now. And there's a lot to learn."
On just 12 minutes from Branka Bogunovic: "Actually, Branka's in great shape. Her stamina had nothing to do with her lack of minutes tonight. She'll be in a lot of games. We had to go with a much smaller lineup, though, with their speed and transition game. They got so many easy buckets and were so quick in their transition, we needed more speed in our lineup. When we play teams that are smart and transition like they did, Branka's minutes will definitely be more limited."
