Clemson Women’s Hoops Falls at Maryland on Sunday

Feb. 14, 2010

COLLEGE PARK, MD – Lele Hardy had 17 points and had five steals to move into 25th in NCAA Division-I history, but it wasn’t enough to lead Clemson past Maryland at the Comcast Center on Sunday. The Terrapins (18-8, 5-6 ACC) downed the Lady Tigers (11-16, 2-9 ACC) by a final of 71-51. Clemson returns home on Thursday as they take on Miami in their Pink Zone contest at 7:00 pm in Littlejohn Coliseum.

Hardy entered the game needing four steals to enter the top-25 in career takeaways, and registered five in the contest, giving her 383 in her career. She is ranked sixth in ACC history in steals after entering the game ranked fourth nationally in steals per game. She also had 17 points, moving her to within five points of the 1500 plateau for her career.

Clemson grabbed a quick 4-0 advantage in the game on a pair of Hardy buckets, but a 20-4 run from Maryland gave them the 20-8 lead with 11:17 remaining in the first half. Clemson cut the lead to seven at 24-17, but a missed layup and a three at the other end by Dara Taylor stretched the lead to ten points, and stretching the lead as far as 20 at 37-17 just before halftime. They took a 37-19 lead into the break.

Clemson picked up play in the the second half, but couldn’t complete a large enough run to take a significant chunk out of the lead, and Maryland hit 15-20 form the line in the second half to keep them afloat, knocking in only nine field goals in the half.

Maryland entered the game shooting below 61%, but hit 24-29 (82.8%) in the game, outscoring Clemson 24-13 form the line. Clemson has been shooting the ball well form the line of late as well, as the Tigers hit 13 of their 15 attempts. Shaniqua Pauldo was 4-4 and Hardy was 4-5 in the contest. Pauldo leads all ACC players in free throw percentage in ACC play with a 92.9% mark.

Maryland took advantage of Clemson’s errors, scoring 22 second-chance points, 12 points off turnovers, and making 24 free throws, accounting for 58 of their 71 points. The Terps used their size to outrebound the Tigers, 48-33. Lynetta Kizer had 18 points to lead Maryland, including 10-10 at the line. Dara Taylor had 17 points in 38 minutes to go along with five assists.

Clemson, by comparison, forced 22 turnovers, converting them for 16 points.

Clemson returns to action on Thursday against the University of Miami in a 7:00 pm tip-off. The game will be televised live on CSS. All fans wearing pink will receive free admission to the game.