Women's Basketball Returns for ACC Contest vs. Georgia Tech
1/13/2004 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 13, 2004
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
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Game 16: Georgia Tech (10-5, 1-2)
Thursday, Jan. 15
Comcast Center (17,950)
College Park, Md.
Terps Return Home for ACC Contest vs. Georgia Tech
* The Terrapins return home to face ACC opponent Georgia Tech on Thursday, Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. After getting off to a 3-0 start in conference action, their best in over 10 years, the Terps were edged by Florida State on Monday night in Tallahassee for their first league loss and first loss to an unranked opponent.
* Tied for second in the ACC with a 3-1 mark, the Terps look to strengthen their position in the conference and tie its conference win total of four from a year ago. Maryland ended the season with a 4-12 record last year.
Family Night with the Terps
* Join the Maryland women's basketball team for Family Night. Buy for tickets, four hot dogs and four sodas for $20! Order forms are available on line at www.umterps.com under the Marketing link. For additional information, call 301-314-7070.
Future Family Nights: Thursday, Jan. 15 vs. Georgia Tech, 7 p.m Thursday, Jan. 29 vs. Clemson, 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 9 vs. Wake Forest, 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12 vs. Florida State, 7 p.m.
Terps Make Impressive Turnaround
* Second year head coach and 2002 Associated Press Coach of the Year Brenda Frese is known for her amazing turnarounds and is the midst of another in College Park. Maryland opened ACC play 3-0, its best start since the 1991-92 season, before dropping its first conference game of the year. The team is currently tied for second in the ACC standings with No. 13 North Carolina.
* With its 75-58 win at Wake Forest, Maryland picked up its 11th win of the season, eclipsing its win total of a year ago. Its 11-4 record through 15 games is its best since the 1992-93 season when it went 12-3.
* The Terps' 17-point win over the Demon Deacons is their biggest since a 75-54 win over NC State on Feb. 25, 2001. In its three wins, Maryland averaged 14.4-point margin of victory. Maryland's first two ACC wins came over traditional powers NC State and Virginia.
* This season, the Terps are scoring more (71.8 vs. 67.4), shooting better from the field (.429 vs. .414), from three-point land (.399 vs. .316) and from the charity stripe (.745 vs. .616). Maryland leads the ACC in three-point shooting and in free throw percentage and ranks nationally in both those categories.
Terps Receive Votes in National Poll
* The Maryland women's basketball team received 29 votes in the Jan. 12 AP Top 25 poll, five spots out of the top 25. The Terps eclipsed their season win total from a year ago with 11 and started the ACC slate going 3-0. Three of Maryland's losses have come to teams that are ranked.
* Maryland also received votes in the Nov. 24 AP Top 25 Poll. The Terps got off to their best start in four years, going 4-0.
Last Time Out: Terps Drop First ACC Game
* Florida State handed Maryland its first ACC loss of the season and its first loss to an unranked opponent in Tallahassee, Fla., 82-77. Freshman Kalika France led all scorers with a career-high 26 points and also posted a team-high seven rebounds.
* The Terps trailed at halftime, 40-33, but used a 7-0 run to open the second half to tie the game, 40-40. Maryland was close behind throughout, but fell to its only double-digit deficit of the game, 68-58, with under nine minutes to play in the game. The Terps responded, cutting the lead to one, 68-67, with a 9-0 run, but the Seminoles would not relinquish its lead. With 21 seconds to go, the Terps hit back-to-back three pointers to cut the lead to 80-77, but FSU went 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the final 10 seconds to seal the win.
* Junior Alli Spence tallied 11 points and had a team-leading five assists. She shot 50 percent from the field and was 3-for-6 from behind the arc.
Terrapin Turf
* The Terps are 8-1 this season at Comcast Center, improving their all-time record at home to 371-107 (.776) for one of the best all-time home records in the country. Entering the 2003-04 season, College Park was ranked 27th all-time for best city record. Cole Field House, which was the home of the Terps from 1974-2002, ranks as the 46th-best home venue all-time at 288-95 (75.2 percent).
About the Yellow Jackets
* The Yellow Jackets are coming off of a 60-59 defeat at Virginia. Cavalier guard LaTonya Blue hit a pair of free throws with just over five seconds remaining to clinch the game for the Wahoos. With the Jackets, Tech fell to 10-5 overall and 1-2 in the ACC. Tech's other conference loss came at the hands of top-ranked Duke, 77-45. Georgia Tech edged Florida State, 66-59, in its ACC opener.
* Senior Fallon Stokes continues to anchor the Georgia Tech offense, averaging over 10 points and six rebounds per game. Stokes, who ranks second in the ACC in scoring, has recorded 22-straight double-figure scoring games, the most of any league player this season. Alex Stewart and Megan Isom average over eight points per game each, while three Jackets - Stokes, Stewart and Jessica Williams - average over five rebounds per game.
* First year head coach MaChelle Joseph, a 1992 graduate of Purdue, is at the helm of the Georgia Tech program. In her third season with the team, she was a Jackets' assistant coach the last two years.
* Georgia Tech, who was picked to finish four in the ACC Preseason Poll, was 20-11 last season and tied for fourth in the league with an 8-8 record. The Yellow Jackets earned a bid into the NCAA Tournament but lost in the first round to future ACC foe Virginia Tech, 61-59. The Jackets return 12 letterwinners from last season's squad, losing just one starter. Fallon Stokes and Alex Stewart are among the returnees. Both were named third team All-ACC performers.
Series Vs. The Yellow Jackets
* The Terrapins split games with Georgia Tech last season, defeating the Jackets, 71-63, at home and dropping a 59-51 decision in Atlanta. Maryland holds a 34-14 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to 1979, and has dominated games played in College Park by a 20-3 margin.
In the ACC Stats
* Several Terps rank among the top 10 in a number of key statistical categories in the ACC. Junior Alli Spence leads the conference with a .528 three-point field goal percentage and 2.15 three-point field goals made. She is also fifth with 4.46 assists per game and eighth with a 1.49 assist-to-turnover ratio, a category which teammate Anesia Smith is the conference's leader at 2.20.
* Freshman Shay Doron is ninth in scoring (12.7) and third in free throw percentage (.833). Classmate Kalika France is 10th in scoring (12.5) and 13th in rebounding (5.8). She is also tied for fifth in the conference with 2.67 offensive rebounds. Having the best season of her career, senior Crystal Washington is sixth in the ACC with a .535 shooting percentage and fifth at 1.33 blocks per game.
* Maryland has seen much improvement under second-year head coach Brenda Frese. The Terps are the best free throw shooting team in the ACC at .745. Last year, Maryland ended the season ranked eighth at .616. Maryland is also the conference's leader with a .399 shooting percentage from three-point land, which is up from its 2002-03 rate of .316.
In the National Stats
* As of Jan. 5, junior Alli Spence has the third-best three-point shooting percentage in the nation at .528.
* Maryland's .399 three-point shooting rate ranks eighth in the country. The Terps .745 free throw shooting percentage is 25th in the nation. A list of where the Terps rank in several categories in the nation (out of 324 team) is on page four.
Doron Receives Conference Nod Again
* Freshman Shay Doron's record-tying 32-point outing at Wake Forest led to ACC Co-Rookie of the Week honors on Jan. 12. Doron garnered the award for the second time this season. Her 32 points ties for the most by an ACC player this season. It is also the seventh-highest total scored by a Terp in school history and ties the freshman school record.
* Doron was also 11-for-12 from the charity stripe vs. the Deacons and led the team with five assists. It is the second time this season she has been named Rookie of the Week by the ACC.
Fab Freshmen
* Two freshmen who were expected to make an immediate impact, Shay Doron and Kalika France are No. 1 and No. 2 on the team in scoring, averaging 12.7 and 12.5 ppg, respectively. In the history of the program, a freshman has led the team in scoring only four times and never have two freshmen been ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in scoring on the team. Below is a list of players who have led Maryland in scoring as a freshman.
Year Player Scoring Average 1985-86 Deanna Tate 16.7 1986-87 Edna Campbell 16.1 1994-95 Stephanie Cross 11.5 1998-99 Deedee Warley 13.4
Brick Reaches Milestone
* With her next appearance in a game, fifth-year senior Vicki Brick will be playing in her 100th-career game. Brick has been with the Maryland program since the 1999-2000 season when the Terps reached the quarterfinals of the WNIT Tournament.
* Christy Winters holds the school record for most games played in a Terrapin uniform with 123 games, a record she set from 1987-90.
How Low Can You Go?
* In the 69-55 win over Virginia, the Terps' stifling defense limited the Cavaliers to just 12 points and 16.7 percent shooting in the first half and claimed a 34-12 edge heading into the locker room en route to the dominating win.
Moving Up
* Two Terps are ascending up the Maryland record books. Fifth-year senior Vicki Brick broke into the top 10 in career steals last year and is now tied for eighth in the record books at 212. She also ranks 12th with 345 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 55 three-pointers made and with 154 three-point field goals attempted. Entering the season with a .382 field goal percentage behind the arc, she ranked fourth-best all-time.
Turtle Tracks...
* The Terps recorded their biggest ACC win when they bested Wake Forest, 75-58, since a 75-54 triumph vs. NC State State on Feb. 25, 2001. In its three ACC victories, Maryland has outscored its conference opponents this season by 12 (vs. NC State), 14 (vs. Virginia) and 17 (at WFU), averaging a 14.4-point margin of victory in those game.
* Bishop McNamara High School alums Kalika France and Crystal Washington each posted double-doubles in the win over the Wolfpack. France's 19 points were a then-career high and her 10 rebounds tied a career best. Washington grabbed a career-high 13 boards to go along with 10 points. The last time the Terps had two players post double-doubles was in the 104-66 win over Rider last season on Nov. 29. Angel Ross (19 pts, 13 reb) and Charmaine Carr (14 pts, 11 reb) both recorded their first-career double-doubles.
* All five starters scored in double-figures in the 76-61 win over Loyola. Senior Crystal Washington and freshman Shay Doron paved the way, each scoring game-highs of 14 points.
* Maryland's four freshmen scored in double-figures to lead the Terps to a 72-38 rout of UMBC. Rookie C'Vette Henson tallied a career-high 12 points to lead all scorers.
* Freshman Kalika France has pulled down five or more rebounds in nine of Maryland's 15 games. She grabbed a career-high 10 in her first-collegiate game vs. Coppin State and tied that mark in the Terps' ACC opener vs. NC State to complete her first-career double-double.
* Expected to make an immediate impact this season, freshmen Kalika France and Shay Doron have accounted for 35 percent of the team's points. Doron has reached double-digit scoring nine times, reaching the 20-point plateau three times, including a 32-point effort at Wake Forest. France has scored in double-figures 10 times, including her first 20-point outing at Florida State. Both lead the team in scoring (Doron - 12.7 ppg; France - 12.5 ppg)
* Senior Crystal Washington has already surpassed her point total from a year ago. This season, she has netted 126 points, topping the 55 points she scored in 15 games last season. Prior to this year, Washington had never started in a game.
* Senior Crystal Washington's two blocks against No. 3/3 Texas Tech tied a then-career-high with 16 blocks on the season which she set during the 2000-01 season. She broke that mark and leads the team with 20, 12 more than she had last season. She is currently fifth in the ACC with 1.33 blocks per game.
* 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). She then dropped 19 points at St. Bonaventure for her first back-to-back double-digit outings of the season. She also strung together three-straight double-digit outings from 12/30-1/4.
* Junior transfer Alli Spence has been red hot from three-point land. A career .328 shooter from behind the arc while at Old Dominion, she leads the ACC with a .532 three-point shooting percentage and ranks fourth in the nation in the category.
* The Terps' 6-1 start this year was their best since going 7-0 in 1991-92. 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.
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 was against Virginia in Comcast Center on Jan. 4. The Terps are 1-0 in TV games so far.
Day Game TV Time Jan. 4 Virginia at Maryland RSN 1 p.m. Jan. 19 North Carolina at Maryland RSN 7 p.m. Jan. 25 Maryland at NC State RSN 1 p.m. Feb. 5 Maryland at Virginia RSN 7 p.m. Feb. 9 Wake Forest at Maryland RSN 7 p.m. Feb. 22 Duke at Maryland ESPN2 4 p.m. TV: Regional Sports Network (Fox Sports South, Sunshine Network, Comcast SportsNet)
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
* The Terps stay home to host No. 13 North Carolina on Monday, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. It is the second TV game for the Terps and will aire on Comcast SportsNet locally, as well as on Fox Sports South and the Sunshine Network. The game can also be heard on the Terrapin Sports Network.
