CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - - Few arenas have been more inhospitable to Maryland than Carmichael Auditorium. Even though the Terrapins are 5-4 against North Carolina in their past nine meetings with the Tar Heels, they have lost nine of their past 10 games in Chapel Hill. Their only win on North Carolina's home court since 1996 came Feb. 9, 2006, a 98-95 double-overtime victory that propelled them to a national championship later that year.
Given Maryland's youth, it would have been optimistic to expect the inexperienced Terrapins to succeed where more veteran teams had failed - especially since 10th-ranked North Carolina was coming off back-to-back losses and desperate for a win.
Once again, the Tar Heels proved too much for Maryland, winning 75-64, on Sunday, though in this case, the Terrapins' loss had less to do with the hostile environment than with their own miscues.
Maryland turned the ball over 23 times, which led to 18 points for North Carolina. The Terrapins also shot just 35.5 percent from the field and missed 12 of 25 free throws (shooting 52 percent) - the fourth consecutive game their foul shooting has been under 55 percent.
"Really proud of the fact of how hard we played," Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. "Obviously from our end, we've got to play smarter. You come on the road and turn the ball over 23 times and shoot the ball from the free-throw line like we did, we've got to improve. We've got to get better."
Though Maryland (14-4, 2-2 ACC) isn't the only team to struggle at Carmichael Auditorium - North Carolina (14-3, 2-1) is 95-3 on its home court since the 2004-05 season and has won 18 consecutive home conference games - the Terrapins do seem to play differently here.
Maryland did not start off well. The Terrapins' defense was lax, allowing North Carolina to score on five of its first six possessions. And their offense was out of sorts. Maryland missed nine of its first 11 shots and turned the ball over six times in the first 8 1/2 minutes to fall behind 18-7.
Then, about midway through the first half, the Terrapins righted themselves and started chipping away at North Carolina's lead. What made their comeback so impressive was that they had their starting point guard and center on the bench in foul trouble. Dara Taylor picked up her second foul with eight minutes remaining and Maryland trailing, 22-16. Lynetta Kizer played just seven minutes in the first half.
Lori Bjork's 3-pointer gave the Terrapins a 30-29 lead, but North Carolina went back in front, 33-30. The Tar Heels' lead didn't last long either, though. Kim Rodgers made her third 3-pointer of the half to tie the score going into halftime.
After Yemi Oyefuwa put back a missed shot to pull Maryland to within 45-42, the Terps turned the ball over six times and didn't even attempt a shot for nearly four minutes. Meanwhile, North Carolina went on a 9-0 run to build a 12-point lead.
MARYLAND-Hawkins 3-8 0-1 6, Tchatchouang 3-12 2-9 8, Kizer 2-2 2-2 6, Bjork 7-18 0-0 18, Taylor 1-2 0-1 2, Rodgers 3-12 2-2 11, Oyefuwa 2-3 0-2 4, Barrett 1-4 7-8 9, Nared 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-62 13-25 64.
NORTH CAROLINA-Broomfield 4-10 1-2 9, Shegog 6-10 5-6 17, Gross 0-0 2-2 2, Lucas 4-10 3-4 12, White 2-5 3-4 7, DeGraffenreid 3-10 2-4 8, Robertson-Warren 1-5 2-2 4, Ruffin-Pratt 4-11 0-0 9, Rolle 2-5 0-2 4, M.Wood 0-0 0-0 0, Bursey 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 27-68 18-26 75.
Halftime-Tied 33-33. 3-point goals-Maryland 7-28 (Bjork 4-14, Rodgers 3-9, Nared 0-1, Barrett 0-1, Tchatchouang 0-3), North Carolina 3-8 (Bursey 1-1, Lucas 1-2, Ruffin-Pratt 1-4, White 0-1). Fouled out-Robertson-Warren. Rebounds-Maryland 46 (Rodgers 9), North Carolina 45 (Broomfield 10). Assists-Maryland 15 (Taylor 6), North Carolina 12 (DeGraffenreid, Lucas, White 3). Total fouls-Maryland 23, North Carolina 20. A-4,509.
MIAMI@ MARYLAND
Thursday, 7 p.m.