Early surge powers Terps over Owls

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Unable to get early footing in another mountain climb involving a top women's basketball team, Temple lost to No. 3 Maryland, 64-46, yesterday in a nonconference game at the Comcast Center.

The Owls (4-6), who had been in contention late in games with top-10 opponents Georgia, Duke and Stanford, fell behind by 19-4 against the Terrapins and could not recover.

Temple coach Dawn Staley was not happy with the officiating.

"We're a physical team," Staley said. "We're not a team that plays dirty, that's No. 1. And I thought it was officiated like we were playing dirty and I don't appreciate that. . . .

"We play hard. We have to outwork our opponents in order for us to be pretty darn good in what we do. Dirty? No! I would never teach anybody to play dirty."

The referees called 25 fouls on Temple and 14 on Maryland. The Terrapins (13-1) made 24 of 32 free-throw attempts, while Temple hit 6 of 9.

Ashley Morris scored 13 points for the Owls and Shenita Landry added 10. Kristi Toliver scored 15 points and dealt 11 assists for Maryland.

"She kills people every time," Staley said. "When we played them last year [at Temple], we had her in check for most of the game and then I think she beat us in the last three minutes."

Crystal Langhorne of Willingboro High added 14 points and Marissa Coleman scored 12 for the winners. Cheltenham High's Laura Harper added nine points and seven rebounds.

Maryland's triumph completed a stretch of 14 games in 31 days.

"We've played 12 different conferences in that time," Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. "We've seen everything, we're prepared, and we're really coming out of this stretch with a lot of confidence."

Colorado 62, Vanderbilt 51 - Bianca Smith scored 22 points to help the Buffaloes upset No. 20 Vanderbilt (8-3) in Nashville.

The Buffaloes led, 52-32, with 7 minutes, 7 seconds to play before the Commodores went on a 17-0 run to cut the lead to 52-49 with 3:01 remaining. Colorado (6-2) made 10 consecutive free throws in the final 1:47 to secure the victory.

North Carolina 102, Wofford 42 - Cetera DeGraffenreid scored 17 points to lead five players in double figures, and the No. 5 Tar Heels (10-1) easily beat the Terriers (3-4) for the third straight season in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Georgia 79, Davidson 65 - Angel Robinson scored 17 points to lead the No. 7 Bulldogs (9-0), who had five players in double figures and held on to a big early lead down the stretch against the Wildcats (5-3) in Athens, Ga.

Texas A&M 73, New Orleans 44 - Danielle Gant scored a career-high 28 points and pulled down 14 rebounds for the No. 12 Aggies (8-1) against the Privateers (5-4) in College Station, Texas.

Arizona State 77, UC Davis 56 -

Kirsten Thompson scored 16 points, grabbed five rebounds and added three assists off the bench to help the No. 18 Sun Devils (5-3) beat the Aggies (5-2) in Tempe, Ariz.

Wyoming 54, Iowa 50 - Aubrey Vandiver and Justyna Podziemska each scored 14 points to lead the No. 21 Cowgirls (8-1) over the Hawkeyes (6-4) in the championship game of the Hawkeye Challenge.

In the third-place game, St. Joseph's (5-5) fell to Northern Illinois (3-6), 90-82.

West Chester 73, Columbia Union 53 -

Tournament MVP Janelle Garber scored 15 points to lead the host Rams (7-1) to the win over the Pioneers (1-8) in the final of the WCU Alumni Classic in West Chester.

Millersville 59, Lincoln 31 - Gladine St. Julien posted 12 points to lead the Marauders (8-1) past the Lions (0-7) in the consolation of the WCU Alumni Classic in West Chester. DeJuanna Mosley led the Lions with 10 points.