Jan. 5, 2003
COLLEGE PARK, MD – Despite 17 points from senior center Sonja Mallory, the Georgia Tech women’s basketball team was unable to overcome an 11-point halftime deficit and dropped a 71-63 decision on the road to Maryland on Sunday afternoon at the Comcast Center in College Park, Md.
“I give all the credit in the world to Maryland on getting the win tonight,” said Tech head coach Agnus Berenato. “We came out a little flat tonight and fell behind, but they did a great job of hitting their shots. Obviously I’m very disappointed with the loss, but now we go back to the drawing board.”
The Yellow Jackets (11-3, 0-2 ACC) started slowly as the Terrapins (7-6, 1-1 ACC) came out of the gates firing on all cylinders, hitting on 64.5 percent of their field goal attempts in the opening half. Maryland jumped out to a 13-5 lead with 15:34 to play on the strength of four points from junior center Delvonna Oliver. The Terps led by as many as 13 at 34-21 with 5:37 to play. Tech was able to close the gap later in the half, getting within four at 34-30 with 2:48 remaining in the period on a layup by Mallory. Maryland then pulled away at the end of the half to take a 42-31 lead into the intermission. Angel Ross led the late rally with four points of her own. Jacket senior Mallory led all scorers in the period with 12 points, while Renneika Razor and Delvona Oliver added eight apiece.
In the second half, Tech got a decent run going five minutes into the period, closing the margin to 52-49 with 11:21 to play, but staging an 8-0 run, led by four points from junior forward Fallon Stokes. The Jackets were unable to get any closer down the stretch, as Maryland got a three-pointer by Razor with 47 seconds remaining to take a 68-60 lead. The Terps then made three of their final four free throws to ensure the final 71-63 margin.
“I thought Sonja had a great game for us,” said Berenato. “She had 17 points and a new career high with 19 rebounds, so she played well tonight.”
Mallory, who was saddled with foul trouble for much of the second half, led all scorers in the contest with 17 points, to go along with a career-high 19 rebounds and two steals. Mallory also eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau in the game Fallon Stokes joined her in double figures with 12 points, while Alex Stewart and Megan Isom added 11 and 10 respectively.
Terri Danies was the leader for the Terrapins, finishing with 16 points on the strength of a 4-for-7 performance from behind the three-point arc.
Tech will now have eight days off before returning to action when it hosts top-ranked Duke on Jan. 13 in a game that will tip off at 7 p.m. at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. The contest will also be televised on the ACC’s regional television network.
