Second Road Trip Takes Maryland Women's Basketball to Blacksburg
12/11/2003 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 11, 2003
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
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GAME #8: at Virginia Tech
Saturday, Dec. 13 at 2 p.m.
Cassell Coliseum
Blacksburg, Va.
* Maryland plays its second ranked opponent of the season when it travels to Blacksburg, Va., to take on No. 20/18 Virginia Tech on Saturday, Nov. 13. This will be the last non-conference clash between the teams as the Hokies join the ACC next season.
* The Terps will have a tough task at hand when they visit Cassell Coliseum. Tech has a 2-0 record this season on their home court, winning 21 of its last 23 games. However, Maryland's two wins over the Hokies have come in Blacksburg.
Last Time Out
* Led by senior Crystal Washington, five different Terps scored in double figures en route to a 76-61 win over Loyola at Comcast Center. Washington posted her second-career double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing a career-high tying 10 rebounds. Freshman Shay Doron netted 14 points as well. Maryland broke the game open with a 13-2 run at the end of the first half to go up by 12 points and claiming a 39-27 lead at the break. The Terps increased their margin to 21 points, 14:55, and the Greyhounds never got closer than 11 points the rest of the way.
* Washington also had three blocks to tie her personal best. Freshman Kalika France contributed 12 points in the win, sophomore Chrissy Fisher added 11 and junior Anesia Smith scored 10 to round out the double-digit scorers. Maryland extended its win streak against Loyola to five games, improving its series lead to 11-3.
About the Hokies
* The Hokies are ranked No. 20 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 18 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll. Virginia Tech is 6-0 for just the second time in school history equaling its record from the 1998-99 season when it went to the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen. The Hokies are winning their games with defense, allowing its opponents to 62 points or less in five of their six games. Their opponents are shooting just 38 percent from the field and 30 percent from behind the arc. The Hokies are not fouling very much, either, as their opponents have made just 90 trips to the free throw line.
* Picked to finish fourth in its final season in the Big East, Tech has four players averaging in double figures, led by first team preseason All-Big East selection Ieva Kublina. She is scoring 14.3 points per game. Second on the team with 7.3 rebounds per game, she has almost half of the team's blocks. She has 15 of the team's 36 blocks. Erin Gibson is the team's rebounding leader with 8.7 rpg to go along with 12.5 ppg. The Hokies are 2-0 this season at the Cassell Coliseum and have won 21 of their last 23 home games.
* Virginia Tech reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season, finishing the year at 22-10 and fifth in the Big East with a 10-6 record. The Hokies return eight letterwinners and two starters from last year's team.
Series vs. The Hokies
* The series is tied against the Hokies, 2-2. Last year, Virginia Tech edged Maryland last year, 60-57, at Comcast Center. The Hokies shot 51.1 percent in the second half to pull out the win. Renneika Razor scored a game-high 27 points. Angel Ross has nine points, nine rebounds and four steals in the loss.
* Each of the team's two wins have come on each other's home court. Maryland won defeated the Hokies, 68-60, in overtime during the 1999-200 season. Its other win was a 64-51 decision during the 1975-76 season. * The ACC is 1-3 against Big East teams this year and 19-21 in the last five years.
Terps Double Up
* Three different Terps have recorded double-doubles this season and in each case, the players have accomplished that feat for the first time in their careers.
* Senior Crystal Washington's 18 points and 10 rebounds against Niagara were career highs. She posted the second double-double of her career in the win over Loyola with 14 points and 10 boards.
* Senior Delvona Oliver netted 18 points and grabbed 10 boards in the win over Sacred Heart for her first-career double-double as a Terp.
* Sophomore Chrissy Fisher needed just 20 minutes for her first-career double-double. She had 11 points and 11 rebounds in the first half against UMES and ended the game 18 points and a career-high 13 rebounds.
* Sophomores Charmaine Carr and Angel Ross are the only other current Terps to ever post double-doubles. Carr had 14 points and 11 rebounds against Rider on Nov. 29. Ross accomplished that feat three times last season.
Oliver Looking Perfect
* Senior Delvona Oliver has made 13 trips to the free throw line this season and has converted on all 13 opportunities. She is one of three players in the ACC who has not missed from the charity stripe. Duke's Iciss Tillis has hit on 20 free throw opportunities and Georgia Tech's Megan Harpring is 12-for-12 from the line.
* Maryland leads the league in team free throw percentage at .750 (120-160). The Terps' have made a huge improvement from the line. Last year, they were eighth in the ACC with a .616 free throw percentage.
The Dish on Spence
* Junior transfer Alli Spence has led the team in assists in every game, handing out a career-high 10 helpers in the win over Niagara. As a result, she is averaging a league-leading 6.67 assists per game. She is also fifth in the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.0.
* The 10 assists Spence handed out against Niagara is not only a career high but is also the most assists dished out by an ACC player so far.
Moving Up
* Two Terps are looking to make moves in the Maryland record books. Fifth-year senior Vicki Brick is ninth in the record books in career steals at 210. She also ranks 12th with 323 career assists.
* In just one season, sophomore Chrissy Fisher has already made her mark in the Maryland record books. One of the best three-point sharp shooters in school history, she ranks sixth in the career record books with 51 three-pointers made and sixth with 133 three-point field goals attempted. Entering the season with a .382 field goal percentage behind the arc, she ranked fourth-best all-time.
Terps Receive Votes in Weekly Poll
* Maryland is receiving votes in the Nov. 24 AP Top 25 Women's Basketball Poll. The Terps got off to their best start in four years, going 4-0.
Doron Sets Record, Ties NCAA Mark
* In her first-collegiate game, freshman Shay Doron made 23 free throws in the 79-64 win over Coppin State, tying the NCAA record for makes and breaking the ACC and Maryland records. Her 27 attempts were also a conference and school records.
Turtle Tracks...
* Freshman Kalika France has pulled down five or more rebounds in four of the seven games played. She grabbed a season-high 10 in her first-collegiate game vs. Coppin State.
* Freshmen Kalika France and Shay Doron have accounted for 32 percent of the team's points. Doron has reached double-digit scoring five times, reaching the 20-point plateau twice. France has scored in double-figures three times.
* Senior Crystal Washington has already surpassed her point total from a year ago. This season, she has netted 82 points, topping the 55 points she scored in 15 games last season. Prior to this year, Washington had never started in a game.
* Washington's team-leading 13 blocks is five more than she had last season. She is rapidly approaching her career-high of 16 which she set in 2000-01.
* Junior transfer Alli Spence's career-high 22 points vs. No. 8/8 Penn State was more than she scored in the first four games of the season (20 points). Since then, she has posted back-to-back double-figure games, dropping 19 points at St. Bonaventure.
* Junior transfer Alli Spence has been red hot from three-point land the last two games she played. She is shooting at a rate of .550 from beyond the arc, going 11-for-20. Spence sat out the game vs. Loyola because of illness.
* The Terps' 6-1 start is their best since going 7-0 in 1991-92 when they started the year 7-0. That year, Maryland finished 25-6 overall and 13-1 in the ACC, reaching the NCAA Tournament Mideast Regional. The Terps also went 6-1 in 1992-93 and 2000-01.
* In head coach Brenda Frese's second season, the Terps are already seeing improvement. Maryland is scoring more (79.1 vs. 67.4), shooting better from the field (.466 vs. .414) and from three-point land (.436 vs. 316). The Terps have seen a lot of improvement from the charity stripe, leading the ACC at .750. Last year, they were second-to-last in that category in the conference at .616.
Top Recruits Sign with Maryland
* Head coach Brenda Frese announced the signing of four of the nation's top recruits, bringing even more excitement to the New Era of Women's Basketball as the Terps look to return to national prominence. Laura Harper, Crystal Langhorne, Jade Perry and Ashleigh Newman have signed National Letters of Intent to play basketball in College Park beginning the 2004-05 season. Full bios and list of accomplishments can be found on www.umterps.com.
Maryland on the Tube
* The Terps will make at least six television appearances this season as part of the ACC women's basketball schedule. Maryland's first televised contest is against Virginia in Comcast Center on Jan. 4.
Terps on the Airwaves
* For the second-straight year nearly every Maryland women's basketball game can be heard over the radio airwaves either by the Terrapin Sports Network or by Maryland's student radio station, WMUC. Voice of the Terps Johnny Holliday returns as play-by-play announcer on the Terrapin Sports Network and will be announcing six of the Terps' games.
* Games airing on the Terrapins Sports Network can be heard on affiliates throughout Maryland and Baltimore areas. Maryland home and road games broadcast by WMUC can be heard on 88.1 FM as well as on the web at www.wmuc.com and www.wmucsports.com.
Up Next
* Maryland comes home for the last time in 2003, hosting UMBC on Saturday, Dec. 20 at 1 p.m. The game will be played in the Comcast Center Gymnasium.
