Harper eclipses 1,000-point mark as Maryland rolls Pitt

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Coming off a two-game swing to the West Coast, No. 3 Maryland toyed with Pittsburgh for a half.

Then jet lag caught up to the weary Terrapins.

Crystal Langhorne had 15 points and 13 rebounds, Laura Harper scored 21 to eclipse the 1,000-point mark, and Maryland held on for a 90-77 victory Tuesday night.

Kristi Toliver scored 20 for the Terrapins (9-0) and Marissa Coleman added 16. Coming off a holiday weekend in which it played UC Santa Barbara and UCLA in a three-day span, Maryland tired as the game wore on.

"I thought we looked like we're pretty much on a WNBA whirlwind tour right now with the schedule we're playing," coach Brenda Frese said. "I thought we let the fatigue factor play into our hands tonight."

The Terrapins led by 16 at halftime, then let the margin dwindle to 8 and won despite being outscored in the second half.

"Being able to grit this one out was nice," Frese said.

"It was definitely challenging," Toliver said. "We came out really strong and didn't focus too much on the fatigue that we had, but I think it showed down the stretch."

Playing in her second game since returning from a five-game layoff with an ankle injury, Langhorne went 6-for-8 from the floor and finished with her 45th career double-double.

"I think I did OK," she said, "but it's going to be a while until I really get back in the flow, get my wind back."

Harper, a senior forward, became the 24th women's player in school history to reach the 1,000-point mark. She has 1,013 points in 88 games.

Shavonte Zellous led the Panthers (3-2) with 30 points, one short of her career high. She scored 26 in the second half.

"I don't think Maryland had an answer for Shavonte today," Pitt coach Agnus Berenato said.

Coming off a narrow win over UCLA in which they trailed by 16 points, the Terrapins built an 18-point lead with nine minutes elapsed. Pittsburgh closed to 52-44 with 13:55 left, but could not complete the comeback.

After Harper reached the 1,000-point mark with a layup that made it 52-35, Zellous made four straight baskets to spark a 9-0 run that got the Panthers within 8.

"It kind of happened," Harper said of reaching the milestone, "and now I'm like, 'Dang, we've got to play defense.'"

Minutes later, Harper sank two free throws and added a layup to give the Terps a 14-point cushion with 8:49 to go.

The Terrapins limited Pittsburgh to 10-for-33 shooting and forced 10 turnovers in taking a 44-28 halftime lead.

Coleman scored off the opening tap, Langhorne made two straight baskets and Marah Strickland followed with a 3-pointer for a 9-0 lead. It was 13-2 before Jade Perry sandwiched four free throws around a fadeaway by jumper by Toliver to put the Terps up 19-4.

Pittsburgh started 2-for-10 from the field with four turnovers.

"We could have folded up our tent and gone home," Berenato said. "I was really proud of my team. We just competed and competed."

After the Panthers closed to 21-8, Langhorne made a driving layup and Strickland connected from beyond the arc to push the margin to 18.