Box Score
SAN DIEGO - Freshman Kalika France's career-high 18 points was not enough as the Maryland women's basketball team fell to No. 3/3 Texas Tech, 65-53, in the first round of the Surf-N-Slam Tournament at Jenny Craig Pavilion on the campus of San Diego University on Sunday night. The Lady Raiders went on an 8-2 run over the final 1:17 to seal the victory.
The Terps drop to 7-3 on the season with all of their losses coming to ranked squads. TTU improved to 12-0 to improve their school record for consecutive wins to start the season.
The Terps limited the Lady Raiders to a season-low 32.8 percent shooting from the field, but TTU was 23-of-25 from the free throw line to aid its winning cause. Maryland shot 37.7 percent, but made just nine trips to the charity stripe, connecting on five.
Texas Tech sophomore forward Jametra Clark scored seven points to key an 11-0 run which turned a 16-12 Maryland lead into a 23-16 TTU first-half advantage. The Terps responded and cut their deficit to 25-21 on a France (Forestville, Md./Bishop McNamara) trey at 2:47. But the Lady Raiders pushed their lead back up to eight points and took a 33-25 lead at the break.
In the second half, freshman Aurelie Noirez (Vandoeuvre, France/Lycee Francois Arago) hit two free throws to bring the Terps to within 37-34 with 13:24 left in the game but it was the closest Maryland would get.
The Terps stayed within reach trimming the Texas Tech lead to four points on two more occasions. The Lady Raiders slowly pulled away, pushing its lead up to 11 with less than four minutes to play, 57-46.
Maryland would not go away, however. Junior Anesia Smith (Alexandria, Va./Hayfield) scored four of the Terps' next six points, bringing the to deficit to single digits, 57-51, with 1:17 remaining in the game, but Texas Tech scored five of its final eight points from the free throw line to ward off the Terps' bid for an upset.
The Terps play cross town-rival Georgetown in the consolation game of the Surf-N-Slam Tournament on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2003, at 6 p.m. PST.
