Published: February 29, 2008 11:32 pm         

Allegany beats Southern Maryland 97-44

FREDERICK — Allegany College of Maryland stormed out of the gates to take a 34-point lead by halftime in a win over the College of Southern Maryland Friday in the opening round of the Region XX Division II Tournament at Frederick Community College.

The Trojans scored 58 points in the opening half, while holding the Hawks to 24 points. ACM “cruised” in the second half, outscoring Southern Maryland 39-20.

“The great thing about this evening was that we were able to jump out so quick on them,” said Trojan head coach Jerry Rice. “We were hitting our shots from the beginning, and our defense still played great, but we were doing so well on offense that we had the game in hand after the first eight or nine minutes.”

Allegany finished with 41 total field goals, and had a good mix of inside and outside shots with 10 three-point buckets.

“Southern Maryland played hard all evening,” added Rice, “but the girls did such a good job of balancing the inside and outside shots that we made them spread their defense out and took advantage of it.”

The win gives the top-seeded Trojans another meeting with Garrett College today at 5 p.m. in the semifinals. Allegany has played Garrett twice this season, and won both times, with the latest coming last Saturday in the championship of the Maryland JUCO Tournament. The Trojans won 55-41 for the title, and beat the Lakers 77-58 on Jan. 28.

Kacey Kahl led four players in double figures with 19 points, and also had six rebounds and three steals. Lindsey Holliday and Jasmine Blanks each scored 16 points, with Blanks adding seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. Melissa Ford finished with 12 points. Rashuan Wright and Lisa Byer each scored eight points, with Byer also grabbing seven rebounds and passing out four assists.

Allegany moves to 28-1 with its 24th consecutive win, and was ranked 13th nationally in Division II. The Trojans also sport the No. 1 ranked defense in the country.