Nov. 24, 2005

Box Score

ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands - The 10th-ranked University of Maryland (3-) women's basketball team gobbled up 26 offensive rebounds on Thursday night as the Terrapins spoiled the Thanksgiving Holiday for the Gonzaga University Bulldogs (1-2) with a 88-50 win at the Paradise Jam.

The Terrapins used their dominance on the offensive glass to open the game with a 9-0 run. All-American Crystal Langhorne grabbed three of her four offensive rebounds in the opening minutes scoring four of her 13 points during the opening run.

Gonzaga was finally able to land on the scoreboard when Dominique Harris hit a runner at the 17:10 mark making it 9-2 Maryland. The Terps responded with a few more offensive rebounds as Langhorne dropped in four more points and Maryland put away the game early. After Gonzaga trimmed the lead to 20 on a jumper by Elaina Renius, Maryland scored the final nine points of half holding the Bulldogs scoreless over the last 4:10 of the half.

Maryland picked up 30 first half rebounds with 17 coming on the offensive glass. Langhorne had 12 points in the first half while freshman Marissa Coleman added 12. Gonzaga was led by Anne Bailey's six points as the Bulldogs shot just 33 percent from the field.

A more composed Gonzaga team came out in the second half and played a closer half against the Terps as Maryland only outscored the Bulldogs by nine points in the second 20 minutes. Gonzaga was able to stay in the game with some solid outside shooting as they hit 50 percent from 3-point range. Katy Ridenour drained 3-of-4 from outside the arc to finish with a team-high 13 points. Stephanie Hawk contributed 11 from the low post.

The Terps dominated in all phases of the game as they scored 44 points in the paint to Gonzaga's 20. Scored 31 points on turnovers compared to 16 for Gonzaga. The Terps also received 42 points on the bench while GU had only 16. Jami Bjorklund was the high scorer for GU off the bench with 4.

"They were a lot better than us tonight," said GU head coach Kelly Graves following the loss. "We were not able to get position in the low box and allowed Maryland to get too many second chance opportunities. You can not do that against good teams or they will beat you."

Coleman added 9 second half points to finish with a game-high 21 for Maryland. The Terps finished the game shooting 46 percent while GU finished shooting 34 percent.

The Zags will face No. 1 Tennessee on Friday night before closing out tournament play on Saturday against No. 9 Michigan State.