March 23, 2004
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By MARY FOSTER
AP Sports Writer
BATON ROUGE, La. - Seimone Augustus scored 26 points to help rally LSU
to a 76-61 victory Tuesday night over Maryland in the second round of the NCAA
West tournament.
The victory sends LSU (25-7) to the West Regional semifinal game in Seattle
on Saturday. It also ended Maryland's best postseason run since 1992.
Doneeka Hodges scored 15 points for LSU, Temeka Johnson had 12 points and 12
assists, Wendlyn Jones had 10 points and Tillie Willis had 10 points and 11
rebounds.
Maryland was led by Shay Doron with 23 points, including 11 of 12 free
throws. Delvona Oliver added 15 points.
No. 12 seed Maryland looked as if it might pull off its second upset of the
tournament. The Terrapins upset fifth-seeded Miami in the first round and held
a 28-27 halftime lead against fourth-seeded LSU.
Maryland owned the paint in the first half, using a tight zone LSU struggled
against. The Tigers scored 44 points in the paint against Austin Peay in the
first-round game. They had just six in the first half against the Terrapins and
finished with 28.
Maryland staked out the area under the basket with Oliver (6-foot-3),
Aurelie Noirez (6-2), Crystal Washington (6-2) and Chrissy Fisher (6-0) to good
effect. The Terrapins outrebounded LSU 37-31.
LSU started penetrating the Maryland zone in the second half and outscored
the Terps 27-16 to take a 54-44 lead with 8:05 remaining.
The tenacious Terrapins cut the Tigers' lead to 60-55 on a pair of free
throws by Doron with 5:27 remaining. But a 16-6 run down the stretch sealed the
victory for LSU.
LSU advanced to the round of 16 for the eighth time, the fourth since 1999.
LSU ran off a 10-2 lead to start the game. The Terrapins came back with a
14-4 run, with a 3-point basket by Doron with 8:12 remaining to tie it at 16.
The Tigers went 5:44 without a field goal and Maryland pulled ahead 22-18.
Doron's basket with 53 seconds remaining gave the Terps a 28-24 lead. Then
Hodges tossed in a 3-pointer with one second remaining to cut the Maryland lead
to 28-27 at halftime.
