Feb. 6, 2000
Box Score
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Freshman guard Chrissy Floyd scored 17 points and added a late free throw to lead Clemson a 59-57 victory over Maryland on Sunday night at Cole Field House. The Tigers avenged an earlier 16-point loss to the Terrapins and stretched its lead over Maryland in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings.
March? Strickland's 3-point attempt at the final buzzer was off the back rim as Clemson sealed its fourth straight victory and helped continued a Maryland cycle of alternating wins and losses over its last 14 games. Clemson, 15-7 overall and 6-4 in the ACC, withstood six second half lead changes and two ties to take a late lead and overcome a 24-22 halftime deficit.
Floyd scored nine of her team-high points in the second half including the first of two free throw attempts with 54 seconds in regulation. Clemson led 59-56 and both teams combined for three turnovers in the final minute before Strickland was fouled by Floyd with just 10 seconds remaining. Strickland hit the front end of two shots and after Maryland claimed the alternating possession on a loose ball rebound, the Terps setup the final play in a pair of back-to-back timeouts with two seconds on the clock. Strickland came loose off a double screen at the top of the key, but her shot was long as the Tigers escaped with the win.
Renneika Razor fueled the Terps' second half run with 11 consecutive points, but Angie Cossey's 3-pointer staked the Tigers to a 50-47 lead that it never relinquished, with just over five minutes to play. Maryland, 13-9 oveall and 4-7 in the ACC, assumed its largest lead at 28-24 and the Tigers led by as many as five, 54-49, after two free throws by Cossey with 4:04 remaining.
Trailing by five at the four-minute mark, Strickland scored a three-point play to cut the Tiger lead to two and after a basket by Floyd, Tiffany Brown hit a 3-point bomb for a 56-55 score. Clemson forward Nuria Forns scored in the lane to push its lead to three, but Warley answered with a foul shot for a two-point margin to setup Floyd's free throw and the final minute of play.
In the first half, Maryland rode Warley's inside game, shooting 6 of 7 from the floor and providing exactly half of the Terrapins' offense. Maryland raced to a 12-2 lead before the Tigers battled back to an 18-17 lead and scoring 10 consecutive points in one stretch. Warley, however, scored six of Maryland's seven points in a 7-0 run to recapture a 24-20 lead. Floyd scored a baseline jumper as the half expired for a 24-22 difference at intermission.
Floyd was joined in double figures by Clemson teammates Forns and Erin Batth, each with 10 points. Warley paced Maryland with 19 points, followed by Strickland with 15 and Razor 11.
Maryland, which upset No. 12-ranked Duke last Thursday, hosts No. 11 NC State on Thursday, Feb. 10 at 7:30 p.m. Clemson hosts North Carolina on Feb. 10 at 7 p.m.
