No. 6 Maryland 92, Furman 58

12/30/2005 10:07 PM

By DAVID GINSBURG
AP Sports Writer

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) - Shay Doron did a decent job of distributing the basketball to her teammates against Furman, as evidenced by her six assists.

She was even better when keeping the ball to herself.

Doron scored 18 of her 26 points in the decisive first half, and No. 6 Maryland cruised to its eighth straight victory Friday night, 92-58 in the championship game of the Terrapin Classic.

Doron moved from shooting guard to the point while the Terrapins wait for freshman guard Kristi Tolliver to return from a leg injury. During this two-day tournament, however, Doron reminded everyone that she can still put the ball in the basket.

Doron was 7-for-9 against Furman in the first half, including 2-for-3 from 3-point range. The junior made all her shots in the second half, sinking two 3-pointers and going 2-for-2 at the foul line.

``Obviously as a point guard, I want to get my teammates the ball first. But I can still score, and I had a lot of opportunities last night and tonight to do that,'' said Doron, voted the tournament's most valuable player after her second straight 26-point performance.

Furman tried everything to negate Doron. Nothing worked.

``She's a great player. Really skilled,'' Furman coach Sam Dixon said. ``We tried to stop her from driving, and she would pull up and knock them down.''

Crystal Langhorne scored 17 and Marissa Coleman added 16 for the Terrapins (12-1), who limited the Lady Paladins to 8-for-28 shooting while building a 44-20 halftime lead.

Five players scored in double figures for the Terrapins, whose lone loss this season was against No. 1 Tennessee on Nov. 26. Since then, Maryland hasn't won by fewer than 25 points during its eight-game winning streak.

``I'm really proud of this team. It's tremendous to see the depth and unselfishness,'' coach Brenda Frese said. ``I really feel like in December we've gained a lot as a team. A year ago, we wouldn't have had these convincing wins.''

Chrissy Phelps scored 10 points for Furman (5-6).

``They're a very, very good defensive team,'' Dixon said of Maryland. ``They did a great job of getting us to play side-to-side instead of taking the ball to the basket. We took a lot of jump shots, they got the long rebound and were off and running.''

The Lady Paladins closed to 51-31 early in the second half before Doron scored five points in an 11-0 spree that assured the Terrapins another title in their own holiday tournament. Maryland has won the Terrapin Classic seven times in eight tries.

Furman had three shot-clock violations, seven turnovers and was outrebounded 33-17 in the first half.

Maryland made five of its first six shots, opening with a 10-0 run while Furman went 0-for-4 from the floor with two turnovers. After the Lady Paladins closed to 12-4, layups by Langhorne, Jade Perry and Doron put the Terrapins up by 14 with six minutes elapsed.

It was 20-11 before a layup by Laura Harper and a 3-pointer by Coleman sparked a 17-2 run that made it 37-13. Ashleigh Newman contributed a 3-pointer and a layup, and Doron capped the surge with a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired.