Temple University Athletics
Upset-Minded Owls Fall Late in 77-66 Loss to Top-Ranked Maryland
12.10.06 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 10, 2006
PHILADELPHIA - Sophomore forward Marissa Coleman posted her third double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds) this season while forwards Laura Harper and Crystal Langhorne tallied 17 and 16 points, respectively, as top-ranked Maryland extended the nation's longest winning streak to 18 games following a 77-66 win over Temple. Senior Kamesha Hairston poured in a game-high 28 points and fellow classmate Fatima Maddox added 22 for the upset-minded Owls.
"They played like seniors," Staley said of her top two scorers. "They'll make mistakes, but they always are there for us."
After the Cherry and White stormed to their first lead of the game with just over seven minutes remaining, Maryland finished the contest on a 19-4 run in improving to 12-0 this season. With the loss, the Owls fall to .500 at 4-4 overall.
As the first half was winding down, a half in which the Owls were faced with two different 10-point deficits, Maddox ripped off eight of the team's final 10 points, including two triples and a solo lay-in, in cutting the Maryland advantage to two, 30-28, at the intermission. Maddox's 10 points, on four-of-10 shooting, was a team-best while Hairston and sophomore forward Shenita Landry each chipped in with eight. The Owls, playing without the services of junior center Lady Comfort and her six rebounds per game average, were beaten on the glass to the tune of 19-16 in the first half, and 45-24 for the game.
"We just needed a stop," Maddox said. "My offense just came."
The Terrapins raced to a 15-5 advantage just seven minutes into the contest behind the sharp-shooting of Coleman, the ACC's reigning Player of the Week. After a Hairston lay-in, a 9-2 Maryland run, sparked by the low-post play of local products Langhorne and Harper, pushed the lead back to 10 at 28-18. Langhorne, a Willingboro, N.J. native, was held to just four points in the first 20 minutes while Harper, hailing from Elkins, Pa., dropped a team-best eight.
The nation's fourth-ranked offense flexed its muscle in the opening minutes of the second stanza as the Terrapins jumped out on a 15-4 run behind seven points from Langhorne and four from Coleman. The lead would grow to 51-36 with just over 13 minutes remaining before the Cherry and White made their run.
After both teams traded baskets on three consecutive trips and an Ashleigh Newman lay-in extended the Maryland lead to 13, two free throws from Maddox ignited a 14-0 Cherry and White run that supplied the hosts with a four-point advantage at 62-58 with just over five and a half minutes left. Over that span, the guard duo of Hairston and Maddox combined for 16 points as the defending national champions would go scoreless for more than four minutes. Additionally, the Owls high-pressure full-court defense induced Maryland into 21 turnovers on the afternoon which resulted in a season-high 12 steals and 28 points down the other end.
After weathering the storm, sophomore guard Kristi Toliver, posting 10 points, eight assists and six rebounds for the game, scored four of the next seven for the Terrapins as the lead was regained and never relinquished. While the Cherry and White shot an impressive 16-of-17 (.941) from the charity stripe, including 16 consecutive, Maryland was equally efficient in making 16-of-18 (.889) attempts and six key foul shots down the stretch.
Hairston, the Atlantic 10's reigning Player of the Week, ran the entire 40 minutes for seventh-year head coach Dawn Staley and swiped a team-best six rebounds.
"We can walk away with our heads up high and know that we put up such a good fight," said Temple coach Dawn Staley.
Following a seven-day lay-off, the Cherry and White return to the Liacouras Center's hardwood next Saturday, December 17, against Miami (OH) for a 2:00 p.m. start.
