COLLEGE PARK -- Maryland women's basketball coach Chris Weller has been telling anyone who will listen that she still hasn't settled on a player rotation one month into the season.
If the past two games, including last night's 88-40 win over Towson State, are any indication, Weller may have found something to build on.
Sophomore guard Kwana Williams and freshman forward Stephanie Cross led five Maryland players in double figures and followed fine performances in Saturday's 76-73 win over Rutgers with equally impressive efforts last night.
Williams, who has moved into the starting point guard slot, had 13 points and eight assists, and Cross, who has taken over at power forward, had 16 points and five rebounds.
Lillian Purvis, who lost her starting shooting guard post after leading the team in minutes last year as a freshman, had 18 points off the bench to help the Terps (5-2) continue to rebound from last week's 66-point thumping by No. 1 Tennessee.
"Being on the other end of a 40-point game is good," said Williams. "We're coming together now and everything is clicking."
Said Weller: "It [the loss to Tennessee] is one game out of 27. It's a single game and we're looking at what it takes to get to the nationals. Every win we can scratch out gets us a little closer to being competitive on the national level."
Meanwhile, the Tigers (0-5) -- the second Towson State team to get blown out at Cole Field House in as many nights -- fell victim to Maryland's superior height and quickness.
Towson State's starting lineup averaged 5 feet 6, and had no player 6 feet, and the Terps averaged 5-10 across, with two players over 6 feet.
The taller, quicker Terps pressed and trapped the Tigers into 29 turnovers, then turned the miscues into points.
"I thought we'd do a little bit better," said Towson State coach Ellen Fitzkee. "Normally, we'd use our size to pick up the tempo, but Maryland is quicker than us and we didn't want to play to their strength."
The Terps ripped off a 12-3 run midway through the first half to open a 15-point lead with 10 minutes gone.
Then, already leading by 22 at intermission, Maryland scored the first 18 points of the second half, holding Towson State scoreless for the first 7:50 of the period.
The lone Towson bright spot was junior forward Tanya Belair, who had 13 points and 10 rebounds.
"We need more players to be that aggressive," said Fitzkee, referring to Belair. "She's a good role model. If our personality can match hers, we'll be OK."
Meanwhile, the Terps, who until last Saturday were shooting 33 percent from the floor, had their second consecutive excellent shooting performance, connecting on 56 percent of their shots.
Only starting forward Kesha Camper shot below 50 percent, but she contributed a game-high 10 rebounds.
"We have good shooters. We've just struggled to get some level of consistency," said Weller. "The comfort level has a lot to do with your shooting, and I think we're more comfortable now."
TOWSON STATE -- Belair 5-8 3-4 13, Keiner 1-9 0-0 3, Norman 0-5 3-4 3, Joyner 2-10 2-6 6, Eberhart 0-1 0-0 0, Schaffrick 0-2 0-0 0, Castaldi 0-2 1-2 1, Jensen 2-2 1-1 5, Baugh 3-8 0-0 9, Herzog 0-1 0-0 0, Bishop 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-48 10-17 40.
MARYLAND -- Cross 8-13 0-0 16, Camper 4-12 0-0 8, Ohman 2-4 0-0 4, Williams 6-7 1-1 13, Chase 5-8 0-0 10, Ferguson 1-2 0-0 2, Cimmier 3-5 1-2 7, Purvis 8-16 2-2 18, Davis 3-5 4-4 10. Totals 40-72 8-9 88.
Halftime--Maryland, 45-23. 3-point goals--TS 4-13 (Baugh 3-7, Keiner 1-3, Eberhart 0-1, Joyner 0-2); M 0-0. Fouled out--None. Rebounds--TS 30 (Belair 10); M 42 (Camper 10). Assists--TS 7 (Eberhart 3); M 29 (Williams 8.) Total fouls--TS 10, M 17. Technical fouls--None. A--338.