No. 1 Maryland 77, Northern Iowa 33

12/6/2006 8:59 PM

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) -Kristi Toliver scored 15 points, Laura Harper had 13 and No. 1 Maryland closed the first half with a 20-0 run in a 77-33 romp of Northern Iowa on Wednesday night.

Crystal Langhorne added 12 points in limited playing time for the Terrapins (11-0), off to their best start since winning their first 16 games of the 1982-83 season.

Northern Iowa (2-5), playing a No. 1-ranked team for the first time, kept it somewhat close for a while. But the Panthers shot 20.6 percent and never threatened after Maryland charged to a 35-8 halftime lead.

The game was a homecoming for Maryland coach Brenda Frese, who grew up in Cedar Rapids, about an hour south of the Northern Iowa campus.

Before the game, Northern Iowa athletic director Rick Hartzell read a proclamation from Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack recognizing Frese for her achievements and ``her service to her sport and to Iowa.'' UNI coach Tony DiCecco presented the proclamation to Frese while the crowd stood and applauded.

The Terrapins made it a pleasant return for Frese, forcing the Panthers into 4-for-35 shooting in the first half and keeping up the defensive pressure in the final 20 minutes. They intimidated the Northern Iowa players inside, deflected passes and generally made life miserable for their overmatched Missouri Valley Conference opponent.

When the Panthers had open shots on the perimeter, they couldn't knock them down.

Still, they hung with the Terrapins for the first 14 minutes. After Tara King and Kristyn Ferris scored on layups to draw UNI to 15-8, Frese called a timeout.

Her team responded by scoring the next 20 points and looking more like the defending national champions.

Langhorne had eight points during the burst, including a pair of 3-point plays, and Toliver added seven.

Toliver closed out the half with a 3-pointer, and the run grew to 22-0 when Harper scored inside to start the second half.

A 13-0 run stretched the lead to 52-13 and by then, it was only a question of whether the Panthers would reach 30. They did when Megan Keefe scored with 3:20 left, making it 73-30.

King led Northern Iowa with 10 points on 4-of-19 shooting.

Frese substituted liberally to avoid running up the score, but her options were limited with just nine players. Langhorne didn't play half the game and the other starters saw plenty of bench time.