March 4, 2005

Box Score | Post Game Quotes

GREENSBORO - It's not supposed to be this easy for freshmen in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.

Someone forgot to tell Maryland center Crystal Langhorne.

The ACC rookie of the year was one rebound short of a double-double in the first half alone and finished with 24 points and 16 rebounds in her tourney debut as the sixth-seeded Terrapins (20-8) advanced to the quarterfinals with a 66-55 win over Clemson on Friday night.

Maryland, who will play No. 3 seed North Carolina State on Saturday, built a 32-20 halftime lead and was never really threatened in the second period to win 20 games for the first time in 12 seasons.

The 6-foot-3 Langhorne had 16 points and nine rebounds at the break.

"All the good post players in this league are real aggressive and want the ball," Clemson's Amanda White said of Langhorne. "But as a post player you have to depend on people to get you the ball, so I commend her teammates for getting her the ball in the right spots. She also did a good job of finishing."

Langhorne had just 12 points in the season's first meeting against Clemson.

"It's never easy," Langhorne said of this time around against the Tigers. "We were just running some plays for me and things were just happening."

In addition to Langhorne's play, the Terrapins held Clemson to 31 percent from the field and 1-for-13 from 3-point range.

"Our guards got out and put a ton of ball pressure on them," said Maryland coach Brenda Frese. "And our post players did a tremendous job down low. We played a complete game on the defensive end."

But no game was more complete than Langhorne's, who was coming off a season-high 33-point game against Northern Colorado.

"The greatest thing about Crystal is she's never satisfied," Frese said. "That's what makes her a great player. When she came here she could score and rebound, but she's really making herself a better defender and into a complete player."

Clemson, the No. 11 seed, finished at 8-20 - the school's first 20-loss season since 1987.

"I can't ever remember coaching a basketball team where we had five assists in a game," said Clemson coach Jim Davis. "That's not very good team play. I haven't done a very good job bringing this team along and getting them to play as a team."

Davis' previous worst season in 17 years was 14-15 in 2002-03. He's won 20 or more games 10 times in his Clemson career.

"We're better than what our record indicates and we're better than what we played tonight," Davis said. "But I've done a horrible job of nurturing this team. I wish I could start all over again, but they don't give do-overs in the ACC."