Dec. 30, 2004
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) -
By DAVID GINSBURG
AP Sports Writer
For 20 minutes, Shay Doron and the Maryland women's basketball team looked lost on their home court.
Doron missed seven of eight shots, and the 17th-ranked Terrapins reached halftime Thursday night with a two-point lead over Marshall.
"I definitely was not happy at halftime. We just didn't come out and play inspired, and I don't understand that when you're hosting your own tournament in the championship round," Maryland coach Brenda Frese said.
Doron and her teammates turned things around in the second half, however, and won the Terrapin Classic with an 83-68 victory.
Doron scored 21 of her 26 season-high points after halftime to lead Maryland to its eighth straight win. Tournament MVP Crystal Langhorne scored 20 points for the Terrapins (10-1), who are off to their best start since the 1991-92 season.
"I'm extremely proud of this team," Frese said. "We had set a lot of goals for ourselves, most recently to win this tournament and go into the ACC at 10-1."
Doron finished 9-for-17 from the floor. The sophomore guard made two 3-pointers and went 6-for-8 at the line.
"At halftime I composed myself a little bit," she said. "I got some reassurance from a couple of my teammates and got some easy looks, which gave me a lot of confidence. That's all you really need, one or two quick buckets, and it gets you going again."
Doron scored 10 points in the opening five minutes of the second half to help Maryland take a 49-36 lead. Then, after the Thundering Herd closed to 49-43, Doron made short jumpers and a 3-pointer in an 11-2 run that put Maryland up by 15.
Crystal Champion had 20 points and 11 rebounds for Marshall (5-5), and Kim Griffin contributed 14 points.
Maryland was playing its second game without leading rebounder Laura Harper, who will miss the remainder of the season after tearing her Achilles' tendon during practice Monday. The 6-foot-4 freshman forward was averaging 13 points and 10 rebounds.
She underwent surgery on Thursday afternoon.
Langhorne, the Terrapins' second-leading rebounder, picked up her third foul with 17:33 left and finished with only six rebounds. Anesia Smith had a career-high 14 assists for the Terrapins, and Kalika France had 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Langhorne scored the game's first five points to help Maryland race to a 15-5 lead, but Griffin hit successive 3-pointers to cap a 15-3 spurt that put Marshall ahead for the first time.
Neither team led by more than three points the rest of the half, which ended with the Terrapins up 32-30.
Massachusetts beat Elon 57-50 in the consolation game.
2004 TERRAPIN CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Shay Doron, Maryland
Anesia Smith, Maryland
Brooke Campbell, Massachusetts
Katie Nelson, Massachusetts
Kim Griffin, Marshall
Crystal Champion, Marshall
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Crystal Langhorne, Maryland
