Women's Basketball ACCtion: Thursday, January 31
Maryland and Georgia Tech win at home; North Carolina wins on the road.
Maryland's Crystal Langhorne, left, looks to shoot as Miami's LaToya Drake defends during the second half of college women's basketball game Thursday Jan. 31, 2008 in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)

Maryland's Crystal Langhorne, left, looks to shoot as Miami's LaToya Drake defends during the second half of college women's basketball game Thursday Jan. 31, 2008 in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)

Jan. 31, 2008

No. 5 Maryland Tops Miami

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) -Crystal Langhorne scored 19 points to become the first Maryland female to reach 2,000, and the fifth-ranked Terrapins beat Miami 90-50 Thursday night for their school-record 16th home win of the season.

Langhorne, a 6-foot-2 senior center, started the game needing only 2 points to reach 2,000. She got it on her first shot, a 16-footer behind the foul line with 25 seconds elapsed.

Langhorne already owns the school rebounding record, male or female, with 1,111. Juan Dixon is the school leader in scoring with 2,269, one of five men with at least 2,000 points.

Kristi Toliver had 10 assists, giving her 508 for her career, and Marah Strickland scored 14 to help Maryland improve to 16-0 at home. The Terps (23-2, 7-1 ACC) had an easy time of it after playing two straight double-overtime games, a win over Georgia Tech and a loss at North Carolina.

Maurita Reid led Miami (8-13, 1-5) with 15 points. The Hurricanes have lost four straight, and this was by far their most lopsided defeat of the season. But it wasn't nearly as bad as the 111-53 thrashing they absorbed against Maryland in January 2007.

No. 3 Tar Heels Blow Out Wake Forest, 76-55

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) - LaToya Pringle scored 23 points as No. 3 North Carolina pulled away in the second half to beat Wake Forest 76-56 on Thursday night.

Cetera DeGraffenreid added 15 points, Rashanda McCants 14 and Jessica Breland 10 for the Tar Heels (19-2, 6-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who led by as many as 23 points in the second half.

Corinne Groves scored 16 points, Alex Tchangoue 14 and Christen Brown 10 for the Demon Deacons (13-10, 0-8), who shot less than 39 percent and committed 22 turnovers in losing their 25th consecutive league game.

North Carolina had its problems in the first half with the pesky Demon Deacons, who have not won an ACC game in nearly three years.

Wake Forest scored seven of the game's first eight points in the first 3 minutes and led three other times during the half, the last at 24-23 on Groves' layup with 7:37 left.

But 17 seconds later, the Tar Heels went ahead for good, with DeGraffenreid's breakaway steal and layup putting them up 25-24. North Carolina then closed the half with a 13-6 run - capped by Pringle's tip-in with 1 second remaining - to go ahead 38-30 at the break.

Tech Topples Tigers, 77-59

ATLANTA - Chioma Nnamaka scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Georgia Tech women's basketball team (17-4, 4-3 ACC) to a 77-59 win over Clemson (9-13, 2-5) Thursday night at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.

The Yellow Jackets used a 28-5 run over the first 10:29 of the second half to turn an eight-point halftime lead into a rout. Seniors Janie Mitchell and Nnamaka led the charge as Tech put the game away. The Jackets led by as much as 29 points with 6:38 remaining before the coaches emptied the bench.

Tech forced 28 turnovers and finished with 16 steals on the evening.

Mitchell scored 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Jackets and Alex Montgomery added 17 points and a career-high five steals in the win.

The Tigers were led by Lele Hardy, who finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season. Kirstyn Wright, a Stone Mountain, Ga. native, scored a career-high 16 points in a losing effort.