Feb. 9, 2009
Box Score |
Game Action 
CHESTNUT, HILL, Mass. - The University of Maryland women's basketball team held off a feisty Boston College squad Monday night at Silvio O. Conte Forum, using the late-game composure and skill of the senior duo of Kristi Toliver and Marissa Coleman, to post an 85-81 win over the Eagles.
Toliver scored 19 points with seven assists, picking up a loose ball and hitting a 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down in the final minute, to lead No. 11 Maryland to its third straight win. Coleman scored a season-high 23 points and added seven rebounds, five assists and four steals as Maryland (19-4, 7-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) won its eighth straight over Boston College (17-7, 5-4).
Boston College trailed 76-73, with the ball and just under three minutes left, when Mickel Picco pulled up for a foul-line jumper that could have made it a one-point game. The shot hit the rim, Demauria Liles grabbed the rebound and at the other end took a Toliver bullet-pass under the basket for a layup that made it 78-73.
Toliver then forced an Eagle turnover on their ensuing possession, but Maryland failed to add to its lead on its next trip down the floor.
A pair of Corey Rusin free throws cut it to two points with 1:11 left before Maryland worked the clock, but then almost coughed it up. The loose ball rolled toward the top of the key, where Toliver grabbed it and, like she has her entire career, drilled a clutch 3-pointer to put Maryland comfortably ahead by six points, 81-75.
The nail-in-the-coffin trey gave her 268 for her career to move her past Wake Forest's Cotelia Bond-Young for fourth place on the ACC's all-time 3-pointers list. She also scored her 1,800th career point on a 3-pointer at 17:42 of the first half, making her just the fifth player in Maryland history to reach 1,800 points.
One of the all-time Terps with over 1,800 points (now at 1,903), Coleman calmly went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line with under 30 seconds left to cap a 10-for-10 night at the stripe. She became just the sixth Terp in history to post a 1.000 shooting percentage from the free-throw line with at least 10 attempts. She also recorded seven rebounds on the night to give her exactly 1,000 for her career - just the second Maryland player (Crystal Langhorne) to reach 1,000 career rebounds.
Rusin scored 21 for BC, Carolyn Swords added 19, and Jaclyn Thoman had 13 points and 10 assists. The Eagles, who hadn't lost consecutive games all season, have now dropped three in a row - all of them to ranked teams.
The first half was a back-and-fourth affair through the first 14 minutes. Boston College grabbed a five-point lead several times during the game's opening stages, including a 34-29 edge at 6:05 on a Mickel Picco 3-pointer. The Terps, however, responded with 11 unanswered points and a half-ending 17-7 run.
Toliver ignited the Terps' run with a trey, followed by a Lynetta Kizer three-point play. Sa'de Wiley-Gatewood fed Liles off a pick and roll before Liles dished to Kizer with a wrap-around feed down low. Kizer, fouled by BC's Ayla Brown on the play, converted her free throw to give the Terps a 35-34 lead with 4:17 left in the half.
Toliver hit a jumper and then added another 3-pointer to give Maryland a 40-34 lead with 3:17 to play in the half, and the Terps made it eight points before Rusin's 3-pointer made it 46-41 at the break.
Maryland turned the ball over a season-low 10 times and converted 15 Eagle miscues into 22 points.
Kizer and Liles tied Coleman for game-high rebounding honors at seven apiece. Kizer (16 points) and Liles (12) joined sophomore guard Marah Strickland (10) in double-digits. Wiley-Gatewood dished out five assists.
Maryland will be in action next on Thursday when it plays host to Virginia at Comcast Center at 7 p.m.
The Associated Press contributed material to this story.
