COLLEGE PARK, Md.
Maryland opened ACC play with seven minutes of exceptional basketball, and that was more than enough to take the spirit out of Wake Forest.
Kristi Toliver scored 22 points, Lynetta Kizer had 17 and the No. 14 Terrapins bolted to a 20-0 lead before cruising to a 92-65 victory last night.
"It's great to be able to see the statement that we made in our first ACC game," Maryland coach Brenda Frese said.
"What I was really pleased with was our defense. That really just got us clicking on all cylinders."
Wake Forest, coming off a 45-33 loss at Richmond, extended its offensive funk against Maryland, missing its first 11 shots and committing five turnovers while Maryland took control.
"The biggest thing at the start was our offense," Wake Forest coach Mike Petersen said. "You're not going to stop Maryland from scoring. But the problem was we had zero push at the offensive end, and that's not us. When we play well, we have good push. The last two games, our push has not been good enough."
Dee Liles grabbed 13 rebounds for the Terrapins (13-2, 1-0), who have won six straight. Maryland is 48-12 against the Deacons, 7-0 since February 2003.
Five players scored in double figures for the Terps, including Marah Strickland with 12. The most significant points, of course, came at the outset.
"You're excited. For a lot of the players, this is their first ACC game," Toliver said. "The fact that we started off extremely focused, excecuted really well, ran the floor, got back in transition, had defensive stops, I think we set the tone for this ACC run we're about to have."
Corrine Groves led Wake Forest with 17 points. The Deacons (12-2, 0-1) have dropped two in a row after opening the season 12-0.
By the time Brittany Waters got Wake Forest on the board with a 3-pointer with 12:59 left in the half, six players had scored for the Terrapins and Liles had eight rebounds. Waters' basket sparked a 12-4 run, but Maryland answered with a layup by Liles and a 3-pointer by Strickland to boost the margin to 17.
Minutes later, Toliver sank a 3-pointer to make it 42-21.
It was 46-28 at halftime. By then, Kizer had 13 points, and Toliver and Strickland each had 10.
Wake Forest stayed within 20 in the second half until Toliver hit successive jumpers to start a 21-6 run that made it 84-49.
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