Cavaliers Wright torches Terps

Virginia star Monica Wright has made a habit of breaking records against the Terrapin women's basketball team.

The last time Wright etched her name in Cavaliers' history, the explosive senior scored 20 points to pass Dawn Staley in becoming the program’s all-time leading scorer in the two teams’ first matchup in Charlottesville, Va.

On Monday night, she moved her way up another record book. This time, though, Wright escaped her road date against the Terps with something that had eluded her and her teammates for so long - a win in College Park.

Wright scored 34 points to give the Cavaliers their first win, 82-68, at Comcast Center since their inaugural game at the venue in the 2002-03 season. Wright’s 2,327 career points moved her in front of N.C. State great Linda Page for fourth all-time in ACC history.

“Tonight, they had Monica,” said guard Lori Bjork, whose Terps (17-7, 3-6 ACC) have lost four straight at home, “and we didn’t.”

Then again, few teams have ever had a player like the Cavaliers’ senior preseason All-American.

Bjork, the Terps’ leading active scorer - including her three seasons at Illinois - has almost 1,000 fewer points than Wright.

Wright has had five games of 30 or more points this season. The Terps, meantime, have not yet had one player reach that plateau.

The Terps’ complement of go-to players that had led the way in their first meeting of the season, a 61-60 win at Virginia (17-6, 6-3), was all but invisible Monday. In that contest, center Lynetta Kizer had 19 points and 14 rebounds, guard Dara Taylor had 10 points and 11 assists and Bjork had a game-high 20 points on 6-for-10 three-point shooting.

Monday, Bjork still got her points - notching 15 points on nine shots - but the team’s youthful foundation faltered. After not starting Friday against Georgia Tech for an undisclosed violation of team rules, Kizer mustered just nine points in 17 minutes in another appearance off the bench. Taylor struggled equally, accounting for five turnovers with four assists.

“We’re just not clicking together,” coach Brenda Frese said.

After an up-and-down first half, Wright became her old self early in the second. After the Terps clawed back from an early deficit to take a three-point lead at halftime and a six-point lead only minutes after intermission, Wright took over, scoring the Cavaliers’ first 12 points with ease.

And in so many ways. For her 22 second-half points, Wright slashed to the basket, stroked it from deep and stole whatever loose change she could find. Her interception of an errant outlet pass she turned into an old-fashioned three-point play keyed a 24-4 run that had the Cavaliers up safely, 56-42, midway through the second half. The Terps only got as close as 11 thereafter.

“It was the ‘Monica Wright Show’ in the second half,” Frese said. “Obviously, she was unstoppable, really putting her team on her back… We couldn’t find a way to be able to stop her.”

It seemed the only thing Wright didn’t know about scoring was just how proficient she’d been.

When informed that she’d passed the Wolfpack’s Page on the all-time scoring list, Wright balked.

“I actually didn’t know that,” Wright said. “But once again, I’m honored to be in that category. It’s just not that big a deal to me.”

She was just about as big as one there could be to the Terps last night.

shaffer@umdbk.com