Langhorne

Freshman Crystal Langhorne joined the Maryland women's basketball team as the top-ranked power forward in the nation and a first-team McDonald's, Parade, and Street & Smith's selection. Those accolades, however, didn't mean much during the Terps' second game of the season. Langhorne, a 6-foot-3 center from Willingboro, N.J., was starting her first home game against Siena at Comcast Center . But she was faring badly on the defensive end of the court. Maryland coach Brenda Frese, displeased with what she would later call Langhorne's "matador defense," pulled the freshman and played her for just 20 minutes in the Terps' 73-52 win. "I wasn't playing defense, and she took me out," recalled Langhorne, who posted six points, three rebounds and three turnovers in one of her shortest outings of the year.

Olympics Stettinius to be honored at Capitol before Olympics Suzanne Stettinius of Parkton, a top-ranked U.S. pentathlete, will be sent off to the London Games as part of the "Capitol Fourth" celebration on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. The ceremony will air nationally on PBS from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Stettinius is part of a contingent of American athletes who will be honored before departing for the Olympics. The segment featuring Stettinius will be hosted by eight-time Olympic medal-winning speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno . WNBA Mystics beat Mercury, end five-game losing streak The Washington Mystics held off the Phoenix Mercury, 90-77, on Sunday to end a five-game losing streak and win for the first time since June 15. The win came with a price, however.

Boston-- --Someone asked a few players from the Maryland women's basketball team whether they felt a connection to the George Mason men, who were also making a surprising Final Four appearance this weekend. The answer, of course, was no. In fact, these Terps expected a No. 1 seed when the NCAA tournament brackets were announced March 13. And truth be told, while George Mason is getting lauded all across the nation, Maryland just suffered a major slap to the face. Entering the biggest game of the season, the Terps' biggest player was denied one of the game's biggest honors.

WNBA Langhorne's 25 not enough as Mystics lose to Sun Crystal Langhorne (Maryland) scored 25 points and Jasmine Thomas added 17 points off the bench, but the Washington Mystics lost their third straight game Sunday, falling to the Connecticut Sun, 94-86. Monique Currie had a team-high eight rebounds. The Mystics rallied to pull within three points with just over two minutes remaining but were unable to contain Sun center Tina Charles , who thwarted Washington's comeback attempt with a 30-point performance.

Having passed Vicky Bullett on the Maryland women's basketball all-time scoring and rebounding lists this season, forward Crystal Langhorne joined her yesterday as the only Terps women to be named Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year. Langhorne, a 6-foot-2 senior from Willingboro, N.J., was named the league's top player in balloting conducted by the Atlantic Coast Conference Sports Media Association, receiving 23 of 49 first-place votes. North Carolina senior forward Erlana Larkins finished second in the voting and Terps junior guard Kristi Toliver placed third.

For four years, Crystal Langhorne and Laura Harper were inseparable on the Maryland women's basketball team's front line, not to mention their time together on a Philadelphia-area Amateur Athletic Union team before that. The pair, integral pieces of the Terps' 2006 national championship effort, were sent to opposite coasts yesterday in the WNBA draft. Langhorne, Maryland's all-time leading scorer and rebounder, was taken sixth overall by the Washington Mystics. Harper, the Terps' career leader in blocked shots, went four picks later to the Sacramento Monarchs.

WASHINGTON -- When Laura Harper finished practice Monday with the WNBA's Sacramento Monarchs, Crystal Langhorne dropped by Verizon Center to pick her up, and the two former Maryland frontcourt mates hit the town. And when the Washington Mystics go west in a couple of weeks, Harper expects to meet Langhorne at the airport, if need be, and they'll take in the sights of Northern California together. But when the Mystics and Monarchs met here Wednesday night - the first time the pair had faced each other professionally - friendship went right out the window.

COLLEGE PARK - Maryland freshman center Crystal Langhorne put on a dominating performance last night against Massachusetts. Langhorne nearly outscored the Minutewomen by herself in the first half and finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds. But No. 17 Maryland needed some key last-minute free throws from Shay Doron and Anesia Smith to hold off a late UMass run and escape with a 67-63 victory in the first round of the Terrapin Classic at Comcast Center. Maryland (9-1) ended UMass' six-game winning streak, stretching its run to seven.

COLLEGE PARK -- The Mount St. Mary's women's basketball team had no answers for Crystal Langhorne. Then again, few opponents have. Langhorne, a 6-foot-2 sophomore center for Maryland, hit her first 10 shots en route to a season-high 30 points to power the No. 9 Terrapins to a 102-53 demolition of the visiting Mountaineers before 2,712 at Comcast Center yesterday. Jade Perry chipped in with a career-high 23 points and 13 rebounds, Shay Doron had 18 points and a game-high six assists and Ashleigh Newman added 10 points as Maryland improved to 6-1. Freshman Brianna Gauthier scored 14 points for Mount St. Mary's (2-3)

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- In the week leading up to the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, Maryland women's basketball coach Brenda Frese had emphasized the necessity of better defense. Her team responded last night. The No. 25 Terps played aggressive defense and prevented Clemson from getting into any kind of a rhythm as they registered a 66-55 victory in the first round of the ACC tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum. The sixth-seeded Terps (20-8), who reached the 20-win total for the first time in 12 years, advanced to a quarterfinal tonight at 8 against third-seeded North Carolina State (21-6)

Et cetera Ex-Terp Langhorne stays with Mystics WNBA All-Star forward Crystal Langhorne (Maryland) re-signed with the Washington Mystics. Langhorne led the team with 18.2points and 7.6 rebounds per game last season. NFL: The Ravens hired Chris Hewitt on Thursday to be their assistant special teams coach and promoted Matt Weiss to defensive assistant. Hewitt, 37, a Cincinnati alumnus, spent the past eight years at Rutgers, including the past two as running backs coach.

WNBA Ex-Terp Langhorne an All-Star reserve Washington Mystics forward Crystal Langhorne (Maryland) has been selected as an Eastern Conference reserve for the All-Star Game. It will be Langhorne's second consecutive All-Star appearance. The team's leading scorer, she is averaging a career-high 17.3 points per game and grabbing 7.9 rebounds per game. All-Star reserves were selected by the WNBA coaches. The game will be broadcast on ABC on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. from San Antonio.

Golf Hurley finishes second in Nationwide event Billy Hurley III , a former All-American at Navy, shot 8-under-par 64 Sunday and finished a career-best second in the Nationwide Chiquita Classic at TPC River's Bend in Maineville, Ohio. Russell Knox , a rookie from Scotland, earned his first tour win by posting a 6-under 66 for a 25-under 263, three strokes better than Hurley. Knox led by five strokes before Hurley got hot on the back nine, birdieing the par-five 11th and adding birdies at 13, 14, 16, 17 and 18. "My game has been close to firing on all cylinders for a while now," Hurley said.

WNBA Langhorne helps Mystics clinch 1st regular-season crown Crystal Langhorne (Maryland) had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Monique Currie scored a team-high 20 points to lead the visiting Washington Mystics to a 90-81 victory over the Atlanta Dream on Sunday afternoon, clinching the Mystics' first regular-season Eastern Conference title on the season's final day. The Mystics (22-12), who have won six games in a row, will face the fourth-seeded Dream (19-15)

WNBA Langhorne's career-best 31 points lift Mystics, 95-85 Crystal Langhorne (Maryland) scored a career-high 31points and added 10 rebounds and the Washington Mystics (9-5) won their fourth straight home game with a 95-85 win over the Phoenix Mercury (5-9) on Sunday. Lindsey Harding added 24 points for the Mystics (9-5), who have won five of their past six. Langhorne scored 27 points Thursday and has averaged 27.6 points and 13 rebounds in her past three games. Elsewhere: Iziane Castros Marques had 25points and Angel McCoughtry (St. Frances)

WASHINGTON -- When Laura Harper finished practice Monday with the WNBA's Sacramento Monarchs, Crystal Langhorne dropped by Verizon Center to pick her up, and the two former Maryland frontcourt mates hit the town. And when the Washington Mystics go west in a couple of weeks, Harper expects to meet Langhorne at the airport, if need be, and they'll take in the sights of Northern California together. But when the Mystics and Monarchs met here Wednesday night - the first time the pair had faced each other professionally - friendship went right out the window.

SPOKANE, Wash.-- --Flourishing with offense and sinking with defense, the Maryland Terps came and the Maryland Terps went. One of their better performances of a promising season came when they needed it most. Despite their efforts, the best player the program has ever known went into the locker room at night's end to pack away her career, to pack away her team's national championship hopes. In a game that just as easily could have been played next week in Tampa, Fla., site of this year's Final Four, the top-seeded Terps were ousted from this year's NCAA tournament, 98-87, by Stanford, a No. 2 seed that is as capable as anyone of hoisting a trophy next week.

SPOKANE, Wash. -- From the start of preseason in October, it was clear that the Maryland women's basketball team had learned lessons from its disastrous second-round loss to Mississippi in last year's NCAA tournament. The Terps valued the ball more, their execution was crisper and they remembered to get the ball inside to All-America second-team center Crystal Langhorne. In the end, however, their deepest flaw from the 2006-07 season, occasionally porous perimeter defense, doomed them in Monday's regional final.

For four years, Crystal Langhorne and Laura Harper were inseparable on the Maryland women's basketball team's front line, not to mention their time together on a Philadelphia-area Amateur Athletic Union team before that. The pair, integral pieces of the Terps' 2006 national championship effort, were sent to opposite coasts yesterday in the WNBA draft. Langhorne, Maryland's all-time leading scorer and rebounder, was taken sixth overall by the Washington Mystics. Harper, the Terps' career leader in blocked shots, went four picks later to the Sacramento Monarchs.