Women’s College Basketball | Maryland earns praise
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Louisiana State coach Van Chancellor said he thinks Maryland can win it all.
It is hard to argue with the Hall of Fame coach after the third-ranked Terrapins beat his fourth-ranked Tigers 75-62 to win the Preseason WNIT championship Sunday.
“That team is capable of winning a national championship,” Chancellor said. “I don’t want to put that much pressure on their coach, but they definitely could win it all.”
The title was the first Preseason WNIT championship for Maryland.
“It’s a special win for us,” Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. “I’m so proud of the champions we have in this locker room.”
Kristi Toliver scored 23 points and had seven assists to lead the Terrapins (5-0), who beat three Top 25 teams in a span of eight days. Toliver was voted the tournament’s most valuable player.
Laura Harper scored 16 points and Jade Perry added 14 points and 11 rebounds for Maryland, which was missing All-American center Crystal Langhorne for the third consecutive game. She has been sidelined with an ankle injury.
“It shows we have a team of All-Americans,” Frese said. “How we’re stepping up as a team.”
Sylvia Fowles contributed 24 points and 13 rebounds for LSU (3-1).
Quianna Chaney added 23 points.
Trailing 40-38 early in the second half, Maryland went on a 16-1 run to take a 54-41 lead with 12:23 left in the game. Harper scored six points during the spurt. The only point LSU scored during the run came when Marissa Coleman was called for a technical foul after completing a three-point play.
LSU, which hadn’t given up more than 54 points in its three victories, saw Maryland pass that mark midway through the second half.
“We shot too many threes,” Chancellor said. “We weren’t patient enough to get the ball in to [Fowles].”
Other Top 10 games
At No. 1 Tennessee 92,
No. 21 Texas 67
Junior Candace Parker scored 21 points, including Tennessee’s first 11, and grabbed six rebounds to help the Vols (3-0) defeat the Longhorns (2-1).
The win came on the same day the Vols celebrated their 2006-07 national championship by hoisting a banner honoring their seventh title to the rafters of Thompson-Boling Arena.
Parker said she was excited to see the banner honoring her first national championship.
“Our class came in wanting to win a national championship, and to see the banner raised was an amazing feeling,” she said.
No. 6 Rutgers 67,
at No. 14 Geo. Washington 42
Matee Ajavon made 4 of 5 three-pointers and finished with 19 points and Kia Vaughn had 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Scarlet Knights (2-1), who ended the home winning streak of the Colonials (3-1) at 15 games.
The loss was George Washington’s worst at home since an 88-57 setback to Tennessee in November 2001.
At No. 7 North Carolina 97,
Syracuse 72
Rashanda McCants collected career highs of 27 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Tar Heels (5-0) over the Orange (1-1).
McCants had 20 points by the half as North Carolina ran up a 54-29 lead at the break.
At No. 10 Duke 84,
N.C.-Greensboro 39
Freshman Krystal Thomas had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and the Blue Devils (3-0) routed the Spartans (0-3). It was Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie’s debut at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
McCallie, previously at Michigan State, replaced Gail Goestenkors, who left the program in April to take the Texas job.
Duke forced 38 turnovers.