Nov. 18, 1997

Maryland Looks for First Victory Against Loyola

(0-1, 0-0)
N15 at Rutgers                  L,67-44
N19 LOYOLA (MD.)                7:30 PM
N22 GEORGIA TECH                2:00 PM
N29 ECAC Holiday Tournament **
Maryland vs. Harvard            1:00 PM
Mt. St. Mary's vs. Holy Cross   3:30 PM
N30 Consolation Game            1:00 PM
Championship Game               3:30 PM
D4 HAMPTON                      7:30 PM
D7 PENN STATE                   7:00 PM
D13 DIAL CLASSIC %%
MVSU vs. Howard                 1:00 PM
Maryland vs. Hartford           3:00 PM
D14 Consolation Game            2:00 PM
Championship Game               4:00 PM
D22 at Duke                     7:00 PM
D29 at St. Peter's Tournament ## 
Maryland vs. South Carolina     5:30 PM
New Hampshire vs. St. Peter's   7:30 PM
D30 Consolation Game            5:30 PM
Championship Game               7:30 PM
J4 WAKE FOREST                  2:00 PM
J8 at Virginia                  7:30 PM
J11 at Clemson                  2:00 PM
J15 N.C. STATE                  7:30 PM
J18 NORTH CAROLINA              4:00 PM (TV)
J23 at Florida State            7:00 PM
J26 at Georgia Tech             7:00 PM (TV)
J30 DUKE                        7:30 PM
F4 at Wake Forest               7:00 PM
F9 VIRGINIA                     7:00 PM (TV)
F12 CLEMSON                     7:30 PM
F16 at N.C. State               7:00 PM (TV)
F20 at North Carolina           7:00 PM
F22 FLORIDA STATE               2:00 PM
F26-M 1  ACC Tournament $$
** at Holy Cross, Worcester, Mass.
%% at College Park, Md.
## at Jersey City, N.J.
$$Independence Arena, Charlotte, N.C.

MARYLAND:
Tonight's game is the home opener for the Terps in the 1997-98 season. Maryland is 24-2 all-time in home opening games and 21-1 under Coach Weller. The Terps' first home opening loss came against Immaculata on Jan. 24, 1974 and their second was against Virginia Tech in the Preseason WNIT on November 15, 1994. Maryland defeated Morgan State 67-36 in its home opener last season. The Terps' all-time winning percentage in home openers is 92.3. Loyola has been Maryland's home opening opponent once, a Terp 84-51 win on Nov. 26, 1990.

LOYOLA:
Tonight's game is the season opener for the Greyhounds. Loyola returns eight players from last season, including four starters. In two exhibition games this preseason, Loyola defeated Slovenia, 78-42, and lost to Legacy, 60-54. The Greyhounds' leading scorer from the 1996-97 season is junior guard/forward Jina Mosley, who averaged 12.6 points per game.

Tonight's game is the eighth meeting between the Terps and the Greyhounds.
The Series  Maryland leads 6-1
Maryland at Home    Maryland on the Road    Maryland at Neutral Site
Md. leads 4-0       Tied 1-1        Md. leads 1-0
Last Maryland win   Dec. 10, 1996; 63-36
Last Loyola win Dec. 22, 1994; 73-68
Maryland vs. Loyola win streak  Maryland has won two

Pos.    #   Player              Cl.     Ht.     1996-97 Statistics
F       00  Stephanie Cross     Sr.     6-1     11.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg
F       33  Sonia Chase         Sr.     5-11    10.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg
C       55  Branka Bogunovic    So.     6-8     2.4 ppg, 2.0 rpg
G       45  Kelley Gibson       Jr.R    5-11    9.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg
G       3   Tiffany Brown       So.     5-6     8.6 ppg, 2.4 apg

RECAP:
Maryland was defeated by the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers, 67-44, last Saturday in its season opening game. Sonia Chase scored a game-high 20 points and freshman Meghan McIntyre collected a game-high 12 rebounds. Senior Stephanie Cross scored seven points to become the 16th Terp in school history to reach the 1,000 point plateau. Cross has scored 1,004 career points.

4 Stephanie Cross recorded four double-double performances last season to lead the Terps.

4 Tiffany Brown's selection to the ACC Freshman Team last season was the fourth consecutive year that a Maryland freshman was selected.

8 Maryland has captured an unprecedented eight Atlantic Coast Conference Championships.

9 Maryland's scoring defense was the ninth-best in the nation last season. The Terps allowed an average of 56.3 points per game.

11 Sonia Chase ranks 11th all-time in the ACC in steals per game. She averages 2.6 steals per game.

16 Maryland has played in the postseason 16 of the last 21 years.

17 Maryland is one of 17 teams in women's basketball to be ranked No. 1 by the Associated Press.

19 Chris Weller's 432 victories ranks 19th among active coaches in Division I women's basketball.

48 Sophomore Tiffany Brown sank 48 three-point shots last season to establish the Maryland season-high mark.

71.3 Maryland's all-time winning percentage against non-conference opponents.

92.3 Maryland's all-time winning percentage in home opening games.

LAST TIME:
Maryland defeated Loyola, 63-36, at Reitz Arena on Dec. 10, 1996. Kelley Gibson scored 13 of her 19 points in the second half. The Terrapin defense held the Greyhounds to nine points in the first period and led 29-9 at the half. Stephanie Cross scored 10 of her 12 points in the opening period and Sonia Chase added nine points in the second period.

TERPS VERSUS TEAMS FROM THE STATE OF MARYLAND:
The Terps own an all-time record of 52-7 against 11 teams from the state of Maryland.

Under Chris Weller, the Terps are 30-1 aganist state opponents.

MARYLAND IN NON-CONFERENCE GAMES:
Tonight's game is the second of 10 non-conference games the Terps will play this season. Maryland's record against non-conference opponents since the 1977-78 season (when conference play began in the ACC) is 241-97. Since the 1991-92 season, when nine teams began conference play (16 games), the Terps' best non-conference season record is 12-3 in 1991-92. Maryland recorded a 22-3 non-conference mark (27-4 overall) in the 1977-78 season when six conference games were played.

UPCOMING MILESTONES:
Several Terps are moving up the all-time list in career statistics. Listed below is the player and category and where they stand all-time.

Category    Place       Player                  Number
Points      14th        Debbie Lytle (1979-83)  1,189
            15th        Jane Zivalich (1975-79) 1,113
            16th        Stephanie Cross (1994 - 1,004
Rebounds    12th        Jane Zivalich (1975-79)   574
            13th        Angie Scott (1974-77)     568
            14th        Stephanie Cross (1994-    540
3PT Field Goals Made    
            1st         Carla Holmes (1988-91)     75
            2nd         Tiffany Brown (1996-       50
            3rd         Lillian Purvis (1994-97)   39
            4th         Limor Mizarachi (1991-92)  32
            5th         Kelley Gibson (1994-       31
3PT Field Goal Attempts 
            1st         Carla Holmes (1988-91)    199
            2nd         Tiffany Brown (1996-      155
            3rd         Lillian Purvis (1994-97)  130
            4th         Kelley Gibson (1994-      125
Assists     8th         Jasmina Perazic (1979-83) 342
            9th         Karon Ferguson (1991-95)  294
            10th        Sonia Chase (1994-        275
Steals      3rd         Myra Waters (1978-82)     241
            4th         Chequita Wood (1982-86)   236
            5th         Sonia Chase (1994-        224
Games Started   
            12th        3 players tied             79
            15th        Sonia Chase (1994-         78

P/R/A -Points/Rebounds/Assists

P: 27 vs. Southern Cal., 12/29/95
R: 17 vs. Southern Cal., 12/29/95
A: 5 (2 times) last vs. Mt. St. Mary's,     12/8/95

P: 24 vs. Georgia Tech, 2/19/97
R: 10 vs. Morgan State, 11/25/96
A: 7 vs. Duke, 1/12/97

P: 0
R:0
A:0

P: 1 vs. Rutgers, 11/15/97
R: 0
A: 0

P: 21 vs. Florida State, 1/14/95
R: 22 vs. Mt. St. Mary's, 11/23/94
A: 9 (2 times) last vs. Georgia Tech,   1/4/96

P: 22 vs. Clemson, 2/22/97
R: 11 (3 times) last vs. Towson,  12/21/96
A: 4 vs. Howard, 12/5/95

P: 22 vs. UCLA, 12/30/95
R: 10 vs. Coppin State, 12/7/94
A: 4 vs. NC State, 1/27/96

P: 6 vs. Rutgers, 11/15/97
R: 12 vs. Rutgers, 11/15/97
A:0

P: 28 vs. Clemson, 2/10/96
R: 10 vs. NC State, 1/18/97
A: 8 vs. Wake Forest, 1/31/96

P: 8 vs. Towson, 12/21/96
R: 5 vs. Radford, 12/28/96 
A: 0

ALL-ACC MEDIA PRESEASON SELECTIONS:
As voted by media attending Operation Basketball in Greensboro, N.C., seniors Stephanie Cross and Sonia Chase were all-conference second-team selections. Cross has led Maryland in scoring the last three seasons and rebounding the last two. Chase has led Maryland in steals for three consecutive seasons and assists as a sophomore and junior.

ACC PRESEASON PICK:
The Terps were picked to finish sixth this season in the ACC by voting media at Operation Basketball. Maryland was picked to finish sixth last season, as well, and finished with a 9-7 mark to tie for third-place in the conference.

EXHIBITION GAME:
In its only exhibition game of the preseason, Maryland was defeated by the Hungarian National Team 82-74. Senior co-captain Sonia Chase scored 26 points and collected 10 rebounds, while fellow co-captain Stephanie Cross added 23 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Branka Bogunovic, starting her first game as a Terp, scored 12 points and recorded 10 rebounds. The Terps led 39-35 at the half but the Hungarian team shot 63 percent in the second half, coverting 19 of 30 field goals, for the victory.

MARYLAND SIGNS THREE PLAYERS:
Three players have signed national letters of intent in the early signing period. The players are Gingi Perry, Marche Strickland and Rosita Melbourne.

Perry, the Washington Post All-Met Player of the Year in 1996-97, averaged 17.2 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game as she led Elizabeth Seton to a 29-2 record and the area's No. 2 ranking. The 5-11, Hyattsville, Md., native was a three-time Washington Catholic Area Conference selection.

Strickland, a native of Kingston, Mass., led the state of Massachusetts in scoring in 1996 and 1997. The 5-9 guard averaged 31 points per game at Silver Lake High School.

Melbourne, a 6-3 forward, averaged 15 points and 14 rebounds and led H.D. Woodson High School to the DCIAA Championship and City Title game last season. The Washington, DC, native was a Nike All-America selection.

UP NEXT:
Maryland begins conference play on Saturday, Nov. 22, against Georgia Tech at Cole Field House. Game time is 2:00 p.m. The earliest conference game the Terps have ever played was against the Yellow Jackets on Nov. 18, 1980, a Maryland 82-64 victory.

Overall Record  0-1
ACC Record  0-0
Home Record Overall 0-0
Road Record Overall 0-1
Neutral Site Record 0-0
ACC Home Record 0-0
ACC Road Record 0-0
Led at half-time    0-0
Trailed at half-time    0-1
Tied at half-time   0-0
Shot 50% of better  0-0
Shot less than 50%  0-0
Shot less than 45%  0-0
Shot less than 40%  0-1
Had higher FG% than opponent    0-0
Had lower FG% than opponent 0-1
More rebounds than opponent 0-0
Fewer rebounds than opponent    0-1
Rebounds equal  0-0
Had fewer turnovers than opponent   0-1
Had more turnovers than opponent    0-0
Turnovers equal 0-0
Shot more FTs than opponent 0-0
Shot fewer FTs than opponent    0-1
Scored between 40-50 points 0-1
Scored between 50-60 points 0-0
Scored between 60-70 points 0-0
Scored between 70-80 points 0-0
Scored between 80-90 points 0-0
Scored between 90-100 points    0-0
Record in November  0-1
Record on Sunday    0-0
Record on Monday    0-0
Record on Tuesday   0-0
Record on Wednesday 0-0
Record on Thursday  0-0
Record on Friday    0-0
Record on Saturday  0-1

Chris Weller begins her 23rd season at the helm of the Maryland basketball program. She has registered a 432-208 career-mark at her alma mater while accomplishing a myriad of astounding goals. She became only the fifth coach to earn at least 400 victories at a single institution as the Terrapins defeated a tough NC State team 83-80 on January 28, 1995. The nationally respected coach has directed her squads to an unprecedented eight Atlantic Coast Championships. In addition to her achievements in the conference, Weller has also led her teams to 15 National Tournament appearances, advancing to 10 Sweet 16's, eight Final Eight's and three Final Fours.

Weller has been honored many times by the press and coaching fraternity including Naismith National Coach of the Year and Basketball Writer's Association of America Coach of the Year, both in 1992. Along with being recognized as the American Sports Foundation's Coach of the Year in 1989, she has twice been selected ACC Coach of the Year (1989, 1992) by her peers. Weller has been head coach of the U.S. Select Team in 1986, 1992 and 1994.

A 1966 Maryland graduate, Weller was a four-year varsity letterwinner in basketball and also participated on the swimming and lacrosse teams. Following graduation, she taught and coached at John F. Kennedy High School in nearby Silver Spring, Md.

A popular speaker and teacher of the game, Weller returned to Maryland for her master's degree in 1973 and became an assistant for two seasons under Dottie McKnight. In 1975, Weller was elevated to head coach at her alma mater.

Begining January 8, the weekly ACC teleconference with begin at 11:00 a.m. Each coach will have eight minutes to answer questions from the media. The schedule is as follows:

11:00 a.m.  Jim Davis, Clemson
11:08 a.m.  Gail Goestenkors, Duke
11:16 a.m.  Sue Semrau, Florida State
11:24 a.m.  Agnus Berenato, Georgia Tech
11:32 a.m.  Chris Weller, Maryland
11:40 a.m.  Sylvia Hatchell, North Carolina
11:48 a.m.  Kay Yow, NC State
11:56 a.m.  Debbie Ryan, Virginia
12:04 p.m.  Charlene Curtis, Wake Forest

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