Today in Women's Basketball History: March 21
3/21/2020 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
(NCAA First Round, Baton Rouge)
- The 12th-seeded Terrapins shocked fifth-seeded Miami with an 86-85 victory in the NCAA First Round. The win was head coach Brenda Frese's first NCAA Tournament win at Maryland.
- Delvona Oliver and Crystal Washington each scored 22 points to lead the Terrapins to the upset victory. Shay Doron scored 19 for Maryland and Kalika France added 16. Chrissy Fisher grabbed 10 rebounds.
- Miami, which beat Maryland by 31 points the previous year, led 32-23 with 5:50 to go in the first half. Maryland battled back to take a 38-37 lead into halftime.
- The Terrapins outshot Miami 58 percent to 50 percent from the field.
- Miami's Tamara James hit a 3-pointer to tie the score at 79 with 1:29 left in the game. Oliver put the Terps back in front 81-79 with a layup. Maryland was up 86-83 with 10 seconds left. Wilkins drove to the basket and made a 2-pointer as time ran out to leave Miami a point short.
(NCAA Second Round, State College, Pa.)
- Sophomore Crystal Langhorne capped a 30-point effort with two late inside baskets as the second-seeded Terps held off No. 7 seed St. John's 81-74 in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
- Dominated in the post, St. John's stayed step-for-step with Maryland behind quick guard Kia Wright's great play and outside shooting by Tara Walker and Greeba Barlow.
- The game was tied at 72 with just over 3:00 to play. Maryland took over from there. Kristi Toliver connected with Langhorne for a layup inside. Langhorne then converted an offensive rebound to give the Terps a 76-72 lead, and Shay Doron hit two free throws. St. John's couldn't hit another field goal and Maryland put the game away with three more free throws over the last 8 seconds.
- Maryland advanced to its first Sweet Sixteen under head coach Brenda Frese en route to the 2006 NCAA title.
- Quotable: "She killed us," St. John's Kia Wright said of Langhorne. "She almost single-handedly beat us."
Published: March 21, 2006
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Coming into its second-round NCAA Tournament game against Maryland, St. John's knew it would take a maximum effort on both sides of the ball to win. Stopping Maryland's potent offense and talented post players would be a daunting task.
St. John's put forth the necessary effort, but it wasn't enough as Crystal Langhorne scored four of her game-high 30 points in the final 2:22 to help second-seeded Maryland deny the seventh-seeded Red Storm a berth in the Sweet 16 with an 81-74 victory at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center last night.
Maryland will face Baylor in the Albuquerque Regional on Saturday.
The Red Storm (22-8), overmatched on paper, was never out of the game. With the score tied at 72, St. John's had a chance to go ahead, but Greeba Barlow came up short on a long jumper.
After a layup by Langhorne gave Maryland (30-4) a 74-72 lead with 2:22 left, the Red Storm had two more opportunities to tie it, but missed shots on its two possessions.
Kia Wright, who led the Red Storm with 23 points and nine assists, lauded the play of Langhorne.
"She killed us," Wright said of the Terps center. "She almost single-handedly beat us."
Langhorne was aided by fellow sophomore Laura Harper, who had 15 points, and freshman Marissa Coleman, who chipped in 11.
The power of Maryland's post players notwithstanding, Wright thought her team was up to the challenge.
"We had it in our minds that we could win this game," Wright said. "We had them scared to death."
Although the loss was tough for coach Kim Barnes Arico, the Storm's accomplishments this season were not lost on her or her players. Earning an at-large bid and winning an NCAA Tournament game for the first time in 18 years were things Barnes Arico said the team should be proud of.
"We really showed up," Barnes Arico said. "It went down to the wire. The score may not indicate that it was a one-possession game, but for us, the whole game was a one-possession game."
Junior Angela Clark, who finished with nine points, praised the Red Storm's seniors, who she said were the key to the season.
St. John's found itself in an early hole as the Terrapins took advantage of their size and ran off seven straight points to start the game. But the Red Storm quickly shook off any jitters they had, went on a 15-6 run and took a 15-13 lead on a layup by Wright with 11:36 left.
The rest of the half was tight as the teams traded leads 10 times with Maryland ending the half on an 11-7 run for a 35-34 advantage at the break.
