COLLEGE PARK, MD-Maryland senior reserve forward Antonieta Gabriel shocked herself and the entire crowd of 2,023 at Cole Field House yesterday night by scorching the nets with 21 points and nine rebounds, leading the Terrapins to a 76-71 upset over the No. 16 Virginia women's basketball team.
Before the stunning victory, Gabriel had only scored 17 points this season. She tripled her former career high of seven points by going nine for twelve from the floor and nailing all three of her free throw attempts.
"This is her day in the sun," Maryland Coach Chris Weller said.
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The spectacular win for the Terps (14-12, 5-10 ACC) looked unlikely at first as the Cavs (21-7, 12-3) soared to an 11-point lead with less than eight minutes remaining in the first half.
But Maryland roared back to even the score at 29 at halftime with solid play by Gabriel and freshman guard Renneika Razor.
When freshman forward Schuye LaRue was benched with two fouls in the first half, the Cavs lost their most effective post player. She played only nine minutes in the first half.
With LaRue on the bench, Virginia looked to the reserves for help but came up empty. Non-starters only accounted for six points in the first half and committed six turnovers.
Turnovers were a recurring theme for the Cavaliers, who tallied 16 in the first half, including four from senior guard Renee Robinson.
By the end of the first half, Gabriel already had registered six points, only one point shy of her career-high game total.
With the opening of the second half, Gabriel revealed a new side to the crowd. She scored 15 points and played the full 20 minutes - all from a player who averages 1.3 points and 10.7 minutes-per-game.
Most of Gabriel's points came from inside layups as Virginia collapsed on Terp forward DeeDee Warley in the paint. The defensive scheme drew coverage away from Gabriel and allowed her to charge towards her memory-making night.
"I was not happy with the defense at all," Cav Coach Debbie Ryan said. "No matter what we ran, we did not do a good job with it."
Maryland was able to win despite lacking its normal long-range shooting touch. The Terps average 34 percent from beyond the arc but missed on all 11 attempts yesterday.
"We've been struggling a little from outside, but we've got a good inside game and we thought we should show more balance," Weller said.
The Terrapins totaled 28 points in the paint, eight more than the Cavs. Warley contributed 12 inside points for Maryland.
Maryland's Herculean effort ends a 17-game losing streak to the Cavs that began in 1993.
"For the past years that I've been here, they've always said they haven't beaten Virginia," Gabriel said. "I wanted to do it before I left, and we got the job done."
The Maryland victory ends a four-game skid for the Terps while terminating Virginia's four-game win streak.
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