Terps Blank Lancers in First Meeting Ever at Willett Hall
Billups continues hot streak with second straight game in double figures
Nathan Epstein
Issue date: 2/3/10 Section: Sports
With 12:02 remaining in the first half, a glimmer of hope shined through that just maybe the Lancers would take the Maryland Terrapins to the brink of an upset. Sophomore Brittany Billups stepped to the free throw line, nailed both attempts, and what was once a 22-7 Lancer deficit was now an 8-2 Lancer run.
At that point, the Lancers found themselves only down by nine with a score of 24-15 to the visiting Maryland Terrapins from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). "When we started out we weren't guarding shooters, and then we started playing defense a lot better, and we were attacking them on offense," said senior point guard Becky Fernandes, "Brittany [Billups] was playing well and we were just capitalizing on our opportunities."
But that was as close as they would get. "Going into the game," said Head Coach Kristin Caruso, "we were looking to take away their post to where obviously their two leading scorers are, and unfortunately you have to give up something so we were kind of hoping that they didn't shoot the ball from the perimeter as well as they did, and they did."
A 17-6 Maryland run capped by a Dara Taylor 3-pointer would widen the deficit to 41-23, and a 16-0 run to start the second half for the Terps would all but doom the home Lancers.
Longwood fell to the Terps 85-40 in front of a supportive home crowd of 831.
The Terps managed to get on the scoreboard early, as guard Kim Rodgers scored the first nine points of the contest. She managed to start five of five from beyond the arch to acquire all 15 of her points.
"You know its funny," recalled Caruso, "because I was talking to Brenda Frese [Maryland head coach] after the game, and apparently she had a bad game the game before.
"So its just one of those things where she was looking to redeem herself and it happened to be against us." Out of nine three-point attempts, the Terrapins only missed two heading into the locker room.
Facing a 24-44 half-time deficit, the Lancers would need stops and buckets to get back into things, but they got neither to start the second half. "I think we just came out a little sluggish," said Billups, "and you can't come out sluggish against a team of that caliber.
At that point, the Lancers found themselves only down by nine with a score of 24-15 to the visiting Maryland Terrapins from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). "When we started out we weren't guarding shooters, and then we started playing defense a lot better, and we were attacking them on offense," said senior point guard Becky Fernandes, "Brittany [Billups] was playing well and we were just capitalizing on our opportunities."
But that was as close as they would get. "Going into the game," said Head Coach Kristin Caruso, "we were looking to take away their post to where obviously their two leading scorers are, and unfortunately you have to give up something so we were kind of hoping that they didn't shoot the ball from the perimeter as well as they did, and they did."
A 17-6 Maryland run capped by a Dara Taylor 3-pointer would widen the deficit to 41-23, and a 16-0 run to start the second half for the Terps would all but doom the home Lancers.
Longwood fell to the Terps 85-40 in front of a supportive home crowd of 831.
The Terps managed to get on the scoreboard early, as guard Kim Rodgers scored the first nine points of the contest. She managed to start five of five from beyond the arch to acquire all 15 of her points.
"You know its funny," recalled Caruso, "because I was talking to Brenda Frese [Maryland head coach] after the game, and apparently she had a bad game the game before.
"So its just one of those things where she was looking to redeem herself and it happened to be against us." Out of nine three-point attempts, the Terrapins only missed two heading into the locker room.
Facing a 24-44 half-time deficit, the Lancers would need stops and buckets to get back into things, but they got neither to start the second half. "I think we just came out a little sluggish," said Billups, "and you can't come out sluggish against a team of that caliber.
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