Dec. 20, 2004

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COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Sophomore Kalika France scored 15 of her game-high 20 points in the second half, leading #17/21 Maryland to its 10th-straight win over Coppin State in as many tries with an 83-51 romping on Monday night at Comcast Center.

Maryland won its sixth-straight game to improve to 8-1 on the season, matching its best win streak since 2000-01, while the Lady Eagles fell to 6-3.

France (Forestville, Md./Bishop McNamara) also added a career-high five steals, four assists and four rebounds. Freshman Laura Harper (Elkins Park, Pa./Cheltenham) was one rebound short of her fourth double-double, scoring 19 points to go with nine rebounds. Classmate and ACC Preseason Rookie of the Year Crystal Langhorne (Willingboro, N.J./Willingboro) chipped in 14 points.

Langhorne scored eight points in a 15-0 Maryland run which turned a 17-14 slim lead into a 33-16 advantage with less than 2 and 1/2 minutes to go in the first half. The 17-point lead was the Terps' biggest lead of the half. Maryland turned 12 Coppin turnovers into 20 points, while shooting better than 47 percent from the field.

France and Harper combined to score 13 points in the first 4 minutes and 20 seconds of the second half as the Terrapins tallied the first 15 points of the period to put the game away early, 54-29. The Lady Eagles committed 13 more turnovers and trailed by as many as 35 points, 68-33, with just under nine minutes to go in the game and were never closer than 26 points, 75-49, with less than three minutes to play in the game.

The Terps, who lead the ACC in rebounding margin and rank eighth in the nation as of Dec. 13, outrebounded CSU, 46-30.

Maryland shot almost 51 percent from the field, the fourth time in the last five games it has shot better than 50 percent. The 30+-point margin of victory is the third-straight for the Terps, the first time since the 1989-90 season they have won three-consecutive games by at least 30.

Harper, who was fifth in the conference in field goal percentage heading into tonight's game, hit 7-of-10 buckets, the sixth time this season she has shot better than 60 percent. Langhorne was nearly perfect from the field, going 6-for-7.

Maryland closes out a five-game homestretch with the annual Terrapin Classic on Dec. 29 and 30. Marshall and Elon open the tournament at 5 p.m. on Dec. 29, followed by the Terps and Massachusetts at 7 p.m. The following day, the first game tips off at 5 p.m. and Maryland plays the Thundering Herd or Phoenix at 7 p.m.

-TERPS-