Jan. 15, 2004
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The Maryland women's basketball team used a balanced attack and solid free throw shooting to top Georgia Tech in ACC action on Thursday night, 91-87, at Comcast Center. With the win, the Terps improved to 12-4, 4-1 in the ACC, equaling their conference win total from a season ago. The Jackets dropped to 10-6, 1-3 in ACC play.
Five Terps scored in double figures, as sophomore Chrissy Fisher (Rumson, N.J./Rumson-Fair Haven) led the team with 17 points. Freshmen Kalika France (Forestville, Md./Bishop McNamara) and Shay Doron (Great Neck, N.Y./Christ the King) chipped in 16 and 15 points, respectively, while senior Delvona Oliver (Euclid, Ohio/Euclid) (15 points) and junior Alli Spence (Lafayette, Colo./Chatfield) (14 points) were in double figures as well.
"It's nice to be able to see us keep our composure down the wire. We got a lot of contributions from a lot of players on the offensive end and we stepped up and made our free throws," said Maryland head coach Brenda Frese. "I thought Georgia Tech did a tremendous job and really hurt us on the defensive end; they were very aggressive off the dribble penetration. This is what the ACC is like; every game is a war and you have to be ready to play."
Maryland jumped ahead 5-1 early on and stayed in front until a Megan Harpring lay up at 12:18, which gave Georgia Tech a 12-11 lead. Although the Terps lost the lead briefly, they quickly reclaimed it on a Doron jumper, 15-14.
The Jackets tied the score twice at 19 and then again at 21, but the Terrapins went on a 21-5 tear to pull away. With just under four minutes left in the half, Fisher drained a three-pointer to give Maryland its biggest lead of the contest, 42-26. Keyed by seven points from Fallon Stokes, Georgia Tech chipped away in the remaining minutes, but the Terps knocked down a couple of jumpers down the stretch and took a nine-point lead into the locker room at halftime, 46-37.
The Terps battled to keep its lead, pushing it up to 13 at 54-41 with 15:15 remaining in the game. But Georgia Tech eventually cut into the Maryland advantage and was down by five points, 68-63, on back-to-back April Johnson layups with just under eight minutes left. After the Yellow Jackets came to within 78-72, from there, Fisher and Spence kept the Terrapins composed by hitting free throws down the stretch.
"I have to give a lot of credit to Maryland. That is a much improved Maryland team," said Georgia Tech head coach MaChelle Joseph. "In my three years in the league, that's the best Maryland team I've seen... I think [Maryland] has two of the best guards [in Kalika France and Shay Doron]- not just freshmen guards- but two of the best guards in the ACC."
Senior Crystal Washington (Clinton, Md./Bishop McNamara) had a game-high eight rebounds and added eight points. Georgia Tech's Stokes led all scorers with 18 while grabbing six boards. Five Yellow Jackets also reached double-digit scoring as the team shot 46.7 percent from the field. The Terps shot at a 49.2 percent clip, including a 45.5 percent outing from behind the three-point line.
The 91 points scored by the Terps is their most in an ACC game since defeating Georgia Tech, 92-79, on Feb. 21, 1999.
Maryland fifth-year senior Vicki Brick (Timonium, Md./McDonogh) also played in her 100th-career game tonight.
Maryland returns to the court on Monday, Jan. 19, for a match up with No. 13 North Carolina at Comcast Center. That game will tip off at 7 p.m. and be televised live on Comcast SportsNet, Fox Sports South, and the Sunshine Network. The game can also be heard on the Maryland Sports Radio Network.
-- TERPS --
