No. 6 Maryland 76, Boston College 60

2/25/2007 5:27 PM

BOSTON (AP) -Crystal Langhorne helped Maryland get things rolling in the city where last year ended so memorably.

Langhorne scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and No. 6 Maryland rebounded from a loss to top-ranked Duke to clinch third place in the Atlantic Coast Conference by beating Boston College 76-60 on Sunday.

The Terrapins, playing in Boston for the first time since capturing their first NCAA title last April about five miles away at the Boston Garden, will get a first-round bye in the conference tourney, which begins Thursday in Greensboro, N.C.

``We talked a lot about it in the locker room before the game, the perspective of being here to finish the season where we finished the season last year,'' Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. ``Obviously, we love Boston.''

Kristi Toliver and Marissa Coleman each scored 12 points, and Shay Doron had 11 for Maryland (26-4, 10-4 ACC). The Terrapins will open their ACC tourney play on Friday.

For one weekend, they were able to briefly reflect on their NCAA title run last year before playing the Eagles.

``As a team we talked about in before the game,'' Langhorne said. ``We were excited about coming back here. We knew a lot of good things happened in Boston.''

Kathrin Ress led BC (13-15, 3-11) with 26 points, but the Eagles couldn't stop Langhorne down the stretch.

Maryland, which led 34-27 at halftime, relied on its inside strength to gradually wear down the smaller Eagles midway into the second half.

BC had some success in the first half, double-teaming inside, but Langhorne scored 13 of her points in the final 12:12.

``A kid like that is tough to stop,'' Eagles coach Cathy Inglese said. ``Why weren't we double-teaming her in the second half? I don't know. We kept mentioning it (to our players). That was the key part in the second half. She went to town and had a good game.''

The Terrapins lost to top-ranked Duke, which it beat in last year's NCAA title game, 69-57 last Sunday.

``That Duke loss made us more excited to get back on the floor,'' Toliver said.

Behind Ress, BC kept its deficit in single digits until Jade Perry, Toliver and Coleman had baskets during a 6-0 spree that helped Maryland open its first double-digit lead of the game, 48-36, with 12:56 to play.

``Being in close games and having success, they have that feeling they can get stops or make shots when they need to,'' BC point guard Sarah Marshall said.

BC closed it to five points twice, the last 56-51 on Ress' free throw with 5:03 left, but Langhorne converted a 3-point play and Doron hit a 3-pointer to open it to 62-51 with 3:44 to play. The Eagles never moved closer than 11 points the rest of the way.

In the opening half, the Eagles led 20-19 before the Terps scored 15 of the half's final 22 points, taking a seven-point lead into the break on Toliver's 3-pointer over two defenders at the buzzer.

Maryland came out with a hot hand from the outside early, hitting its first five jumpers to open a 10-5 edge before BC got on track offensively, mostly behind Ress' play.

BC's Ayla Brown, an American Idol final 13 contestant last year, sang the National Anthem.