WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) -- Winning games in overtime has become
common for No. 6 Maryland.
The Terrapins got a career-high 34 points from Crystal
Langhorne, including 10 in the extra period, to beat pesky Wake
Forest 79-70 on Sunday.
Maryland (19-2, 6-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) improved to 3-0
in overtime games this season, with all three victories coming on
the road during the month of January. The Terrapins beat Boston
College 67-64 on Jan. 5, then defeated Virginia 84-74 on Jan. 20.
"It was a heck of a game on both ends," Maryland coach Brenda
Frese said. "Not that they need to keep putting our coaches
through this, but we really believe in ourselves. Obviously, both
teams hate to lose, but we were able to stay focused and remain
inspired."
A lot of that was thanks to Langhorne, who also pulled down 14
rebounds to help the Terrapins win their fifth straight league
game, equaling a team record set during the 2000-2001 season.
The sophomore -- whose previous career best was 33 points, set
Feb. 28, 2005, in a win over Northern Colorado -- hit 14-of-22 from
the field, including 4-of-7 in overtime. She also went 6-of-8 from
the free-throw line.
"My teammates were just getting me the ball in the right
places," Langhorne said. "Sometimes they were doubling up on me,
but we worked on that in practice. We were really spread out, so
that gave me a lot of room to work."
Maryland needed its inside game as it struggled to put away the
Demon Deacons (10-9, 2-5), who suffered their third straight loss
and second against a ranked team in the last three days. No. 3
North Carolina beat them 91-57 on Friday night.
The Terrapins, who lead the ACC in 3-point percentage at 45.5
percent, hit just 1-of-9 (11.1 percent) against Wake Forest. They
made up for that with a 52-34 rebounding advantage, including a
20-11 margin in offensive rebounds and a 46-24 edge in scoring in
the paint.
"You can't get outrebounded like that and win a college
basketball game," Demon Deacons coach Mike Petersen said.
"I think we played really hard. I've got no beef with our
effort, with our competitiveness, with anything. However, when a
team gets 20 offensive rebounds, that means we weren't physical
enough."
Wake Forest made up for its lack of inside play with its outside
shooting. Cotelia Bond-Young scored 29 points, hitting six
3-pointers as the Demon Deacons went 9-of-23 from beyond the arc.
Deirdre Naughton added 15 points and Corinne Groves 11.
The Terrapins led 30-27 at the half and were up by nine points
with less than 8 minutes to play, but Wake Forest rallied to lead
twice in the closing minutes of regulation. The Demon Deacons' last
lead came when Groves made a pair of free throws to make it 64-62
with 1:08 left.
But Langhorne followed with a layup with 54 seconds left to tie
the score and send the game into overtime.
In the extra period, the two sides swapped the lead three times
and tied the game three more times before Langhorne converted a
pair of 3-point plays over a 40-second span late in the period to
put Maryland in the lead to stay.
Laura Harper added 13 points and Marissa Coleman had 11 for the
Terrapins.