No. 6 Maryland Rolls Past Wake Forest 76-49
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) -- The telling numbers, located in the bottom right hand corner of the score sheet, did not go unnoticed by Maryland coach Brenda Frese.
In a 76-49 rout of Wake Forest on Thursday night, the sixth-ranked Terrapins' reserves outscored the Demon Deacons' bench 45-14.
"I love that stat," Frese said. "We're constantly saying, `On any given night, be ready.' Our bench was fantastic."
Freshman Shatori Walker-Kimbrough scored a team-high 15 points in a reserve role and backup guard Chloe Pavlech added 10 to help the Terrapins roll to their 13th consecutive victory.
Alyssa Thomas had 11 points, five rebounds and six assists for Maryland, ending her run of 13 successive double-doubles. Alicia DeVaughn contributed 11 points, and the Terrapins had assists on 23 of their 31 baskets.
"I thought our guard play really moved the ball, shared the ball," Frese said. "I thought we had a really nice inside-outside game."
The Terrapins (14-1, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) led by 15 at halftime and stretched the margin to 21 with 14 minutes left en route to their 16th consecutive win over the Demon Deacons (9-6, 0-2).
Eleven Maryland players were on the court for at least 12 minutes, and nine players scored.
"We're sharing the basketball, making really easy looks for one another," Frese said.
Dearica Hamby had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Demon Deacons, who have dropped two in a row following a five-game winning streak. Chelsea Douglas, who scored 48 two games earlier against Florida International, went 1 for 12 from the floor and finished with seven points.
But it was Maryland's depth on the offensive end that made the difference.
"They've got a lot of different weapons," Demon Deacons coach Jen Hoover said. "I thought they did a great job moving the ball around and exploiting a few things, and we struggled to recover."
Wake Forest closed to within 13 early in the second half before Walker-Kimbrough scored on a follow, Thomas hit a jumper and DeVaughn made a layup for a 51-32 lead.
That effectively ended any hope the Demon Deacons had of pulling off an upset. This is the only scheduled meeting between the teams, and with Maryland headed to the Big Ten next season, this series could go on a hiatus for a long time.
Wake Forest probably won't complain. The Demon Deacons trail 57-12 and haven't defeated the Terrapins since Feb. 13, 2003.
"Our kids truly believed coming in we could win the game," Hoover said. "It's going to be sad not to make the trip anymore, but that's kind of way the conference goes.
Who knows? Maybe we'll see them again in Greensboro (for the ACC tournament) and will be able to provide some excitement again. We're sure going to try."
Hamby had 14 points and seven rebounds before halftime, but the Terrapins used 6-for-12 shooting from beyond the arc and had assists on 13 of their 17 baskets in taking a 43-28 lead at the break.
Wake Forest led 10-9 before Malina Howard made two straight layups to ignite a 19-11 run that put the Terrapins up 28-21. Five different players scored in the surge, led by DeVaughn and Pavlech with five points apiece.
Hamby kept it close, scoring 14 of the Demon Deacons' first 27 points on 7-for-10 shooting. Only one other Wake Forest player had more than two points in the first half.
(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
