The Terrapin women’s basketball team was hoping last night’s game against Northern Colorado would be more of a tune-up, a night they could honor their seniors and give much-needed rest to ailing starters before the ACC tournament next week.
The Terps did not get what they expected. Northern Colorado’s barrage of three-pointers buoyed the small program, which led by as much as four late in the second half. But the Terps’ key players elevated their performance in the final minutes, and the No. 25-ranked Terps held on for an 87-79 win in front of 2,437 at Comcast Center.
“A little bit closer than to be expected,” coach Brenda Frese said. “But I thought our intensity definitely was where it needed to be in the last three minutes of the game.”
Their defense at the start, however, was not. The Bears hit eight first-half 3-pointers, near their season average, and finished with 16, two shy of a school record.
“The disappointing thing is we’re still trying to find ourselves defensively,” Frese said.
Crystal Langhorne led the Terps (19-8) with a career-high 33 points and 11 rebounds. Ashleigh Newman added 10 off the bench.
The Terps overcame a startling opening from Northern Colorado shooters, who entered the game making only 29 percent of their 3-pointers. The Bears hit four threes in the first five minutes of the game — three from guard Jena Fosdick — to build a 14-10 lead.
Northern Colorado remained close even when the Terps took their first lead, 19-18, on a jump shot from Anesia Smith with 14:02 left. Fosdick’s fourth 3-pointer of the half cut the lead to 31-29.
But an 8-2 Terp run, including two of Smith’s 11 assists, put the Terps up 41-32. Fosdick brought the Bears back, only to see Langhorne and Smith key a 6-2 run to enter halftime ahead 49-40.
“I was disappointed that we let the game stay that close,” said Smith, who, with Liz Gilchrest, played her last regular season game in Comcast Center.
Any presumption that the Terps would only build on that lead — or that the Bears’ 3-pointers would stop falling — was soon proved wrong. Six Bear 3-pointers, including four by Melani Drangmeister, put Northern Colorado up 62-61 with 11:46 remaining.
And as the Terps could already tell, the Bears (10-15) — who do not belong to a conference — would not shrink against one from the ACC, the highest-rated conference in the nation.
Northern Colorado continued to fire, pulling ahead 72-68 on another Fosdick 3 with 5:35 left. Kalika France, who was resting her knees and did not enter the game until eight minutes remained, hit a jump shot to start a 9-3 Terp run, capped by a France 3-pointer that put them up 77-75.
After another Bear 3 tied the game at 77, Langhorne’s 3-point play put the Terps up 80-77. A Bear jump shot cut the lead to one, but Langhorne scored on consecutive moves inside and the Terps made free throws in the final seconds to end the regular season with a victory, albeit one too close.
“I’m definitely disappointed,” France said. “This should have been a rest game for me. We just have to come back and get things together.”
