Feb. 25, 2001
Box Score|
Quotes
College Park, Md. -
The Maryland women's basketball team upset No. 17 (AP)/19 (ESPN/USA Today) NC State Sunday 75-54 to finish the regular season off in style. Maryland now raises its record to 17-10 (8-8 ACC), while the Wolfpack fall to 18-9 (9-7 ACC).
The Terrapin victory snapped a seven-game win-streak for the Wolfpack, and marked the second time this season Maryland has upset NC State. The first was a 57-56 win on the Pack's home court on Jan. 25 when NC State was ranked 22nd in both polls.
Both teams started out sluggishly, beginning the game with a nine-minute stretch that saw the squads combine for 15 turnovers, 5-15 shooting, and only 12 total points. Once the 11-minute mark hit, however, the two teams settled into a rhythm with the Terps mounting a 9-2 run to stretch the lead to seven with eight minutes remaining in the half.
NC State made it's own charge, and brought the game within one before two fastbreak layups from sophomore guard Terri Daniels (Ellicott City, Md.) put Maryland up five again. The Terps were paced by seven first-half points from March? Strickland (Kingston, Mass.), and entered the half up three after a Wolfpack bucket by Talisha Scates with 24 seconds remaining.
Despite never possessing a lead the entire afternoon, the Pack stayed right with Maryland until a 11-2 run, including seven points from junior Deedee Warley (Fort Washington, Md.), gave the Terps an 11-point advantage four minutes into the second half. NC State would pull as close as eight at the 9:42 mark, but Maryland went on a 14-4 run to build a 16-point lead they would never relinquish.
Terrapin juniors Strickland and Warley were honored previous to Sunday's game for reached 1,000 career points this season, and both showed they had more to prove this season. The duo scored a combined 49 of the Terps' 75 points, with Strickland pouring in 26 and Warley tallying 23, including 19 second-half points. Freshman point guard Kiki Wimbush (Suitland, Md.) and sophomore forward Renneika Razor (New York, N.Y.) each had six assists for Maryland.
NC State was led by three players in double-figures: Ivy Gardner had 13, Carisse Moody totaled 11 for the day, and Tynesha Lewis scored 10 and added a game-high nine rebounds.
Both Maryland and NC State next head to Greensboro, N.C. for the ACC Tournament, which begins March 2 and concludes March 5 with the championship game. Two ACC games remain, with both games having potential impact on where teams will be seeded for the tournament. Florida State is at Virginia tonight, while league-leader Duke hosts arch-rival North Carolina on Monday night to round out conference action.
