Well, the Maryland women’s basketball team took a step backward last night in their 88-43 win over in state foe Towson. After beating UVA by 25, last Thursday, then doubling that margin of victory by taking down George Mason by 50, last night’s margin failed to double that of the previous game in fact losing five points dropping to forty-five. It seems the coaching staff will have something to work on in practice this week.

Seriously, Maryland took to the road and came out and once again completely dominated a lesser opponent – this time on Towson’s home court. The Tigers took their only lead of the game at 2-0 when they scored the first bucket. The Terps promptly rolled off 13 of the next 15 points with Alyssa Thomas continuing her hot play by dropping in seven of those points including a rare three point jumper against Towson’s zone. The home team seemed determined to apply the same strategy employed by SC State in last Saturday’s men’s game – running 15-20 seconds off the shot clock on every possession before getting into any semblance of an offense. The tactic worked a bit as the Tigers were twice able to close within 6 with the last of those coming at 17-11 with about 14 minutes left in the half. However, Maryland turned up the defensive pressure and went on a 16-2 run to stretch the lead to twenty. The Terps managed this despite a slow start from Tianna Hawkins who got in early foul trouble picking up her second foul with about nine and a half minutes remaining and taking to the bench for the remainder of the half. Maryland led by as many as 25 but Towson closed the half with a three-point shot to narrow the gap to twenty-two as the Terrapins took a 43-21 lead into the locker room a far cry from their 2009-10 season visit to Towson where they trailed 34-27 in a game they would eventually drop 67-55.

The teams traded baskets for the first few minutes of the second half with Towson continuing their deliberate style of play but the Terps again turned up the heat on both ends of the floor running off twenty-one consecutive points over a five minute stretchto take their lead from 47-25 to 68-25 with just under ten minutes remaining. T-Hawk would help the Terps maintain their comfortable margin. After scoring only two points and pulling down a single rebound in the first half, she would finish the game with 14 points and 7 boards despite playing only 18 minutes. Thomas led the Terps in scoring with 23 and added 13 rebounds to follow up Saturday’s triple-double with a double-double. Reigning ACC freshman of the week, Tierney Pfirman led Maryland with 8 assists. The Terps again shared the ball well with 20 assists on 32 baskets. Katie Rutan and Alicia DeVaughn joined Thomas and Hawkins in double figures with 16 and 12 respectively. The 16 points was a season high for Rutan. Maryland out rebounded Towson 47-29 and held the Tigers to 29% shooting allowing 16 baskets while forcing 19 turnovers. The Terps break for exams before traveling to Delaware to face the Blue Hens a week from Thursday.