Nov. 30, 2002
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland women's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season when they dropped a 70-64 decision to Rhode Island, the 2002 Terrapin Classic champions. The Terrapins fall to 3-1 on the season in loss while the Rams remain perfect (4-0) with the victory.
In the early going, it appeared as though Rhode Island had not cooled off from Friday's 89-58 win over UMES as they raced out to an early 20-12 lead on the Terrapins. After the sluggish start, Maryland battled back to tie the score at 20 a with seven minutes remaining in the first half and took its first lead of the game when Terri Daniels (Ellicott City, Md.) sank a jumper to give the Terps a 22-20 advantage with 5:57 remaining on the clock. The Terps lead would be short lived, as the Rams responded to take a two-point lead shortly after thanks to a free throw from Tanya Rhodes. Maryland answered to regain the lead in the contest by reeling off a 9-0 run to close out the half, that included a pair of buckets by freshman center Vanessa Ruffin (Hagerstown, Md.) to give the Terps a 31-24 lead at the break. Renneika Razor (New York, N.Y.) paced the Terrapins in the first half of action with eight points while Daniels grabbed five rebounds on the defensive end of the floor.
The Terrapin run to close out the first half served as a wake-up call for the Rams as they opened the second half with a 14-6 run to take a 38-37 lead with 14:00 minutes remaining in the contest. Trailing by as many as seven, the Terps climbed within one after Razor hit a bucket to make it 58-57, but it was the closest they would get as Rhode Island outscored the Terps 12-6 over the final three minutes of play to clinch the tournament crown. In the loss, Razor netted 20 points while red shirt-junior Vicki Brick (Timonium, Md.) reached double figures with 13. Rhode Island was led by Shayla Johnson, who followed up Friday's 20-point performance by dropping 30 more in the tournament finale.
The Terrapins will return to action on Wednesday, Dec. 1,when they travel to the Keystone State to take on Penn State in a non-conference match-up. Game time is set to tip-off at 7 p.m. (ET)
