created trouble. The pitch was helpful for sure, but still th

LAS VEGAS -- Maryland trailed for much of the game, grew frustrated by its miscues and needed to make key plays down the stretch under pressure.Just what the No. 6 Terrapins were craving.Brionna Jones had 20 points and a career-high 20 rebounds and Maryland pulled away late to beat Washington State 79-69 on Saturday.Maryland (6-0) entered having won each game by at least 32 points. The Terrapins largest deficit was 2-0 and it had trailed for less than 2 minutes total in five games.This team is really, really competitive, so I think theyd much rather play in games like this where youre tested to be able to see how to work through a game, coach Brenda Frese said. We really enjoyed it.The Cougars led by six in the first half and for much of the third quarter. With game tied at 61, Jones hit two free throws and Destiny Slocum added a 3-pointer and two free throws in a 10-2 run to put Maryland ahead 71-63 with 1:39 left at the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout.I think this just shows how hard we have to compete going forward, Jones said.The senior centers offensive rebounds helped keep her teammates in it in the first half. She delivered clutch plays down the stretch as her teammates found a rhythm.She was huge, Frese said. We knew we were going to be able to go inside, but her presence, they had no answer for her on both ends of the floor.Kaila Charles scored 19 points, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough had 15 and Slocum 11 for Maryland in its final tuneup before its showdown at No. 4 Louisville on Thursday.Borislava Hristova scored 25 points on 11-of-19 shooting for Washington State (4-2). The Cougars were 7 of 21 from the foul line.Im really proud of our team. I thought we had a good tournament here, Washington State coach June Daugherty said. We played very well the other night against Nebraska and I thought for about three and a half quarters, we played pretty well against the No. (6) team in the country.BIG PICTUREMaryland: Winning games by 56, 45 and 64 points before routing No. 23 Arizona State by 41 Friday may have led to a lack of intensity. There were plenty of missed layups and poor passes allowing the Cougars to gain confidence in a physical game.Washington State: The Cougars, picked to finish 10th in the Pac-12, have plenty of contributors. For the sixth straight game, 12 players saw action. Daugherty, in her 10th season, had her players diving for loose balls and drawing charges in an inspired performance.POLL IMPLICATIONS:Maryland could move up a spot by jumping over the loser of Sundays game between No. 3 South Carolina and No. 4 Louisville. Thursdays matchup with the Cardinals in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge figures to be the top game of the week.JONES DOMINANCEJones said she maybe had a 20-20 game in high school, but not recently. Her previous career high was 19 rebounds.HRISTOVA SHINESHristova, the Pac-12s second-leading freshman scorer last season, was held to nine points against Nebraska and previously suffered through 4-of-13 and 5-of-14 shooting games.She has not been happy with her play on both ends of the floor, Daugherty said. To her credit, she just relaxed a little bit and let the game come to her for a while. Then she got some confidence and she tried to take over the game, which is great to see.FREE THROW WOESDaugherty looked at the stats sheet and the 14 missed free throws and declared, Thats ballgame.Caila Hailey went 2 for 8 from the line.UP NEXTThursday will be Marylands first trip to Louisville since beating the Cardinals to advance to the 2014 Final Four.Washington State returns home to face San Diego on Friday, its fourth West Coast Conference opponent of the season. The Pac-12 opener is Dec. 27 at No. 15 Washington. Wholesale Adidas Stan Smith . "Four now," Carl Gunnarsson told the Leaf Report proudly following a 5-2 victory over New York on Tuesday night, the clubs fifth straight at home. Stan Smith Canada Sale . It says Pocklingtons lawyer filed the appeal Friday in a California court. CTV Edmonton also says Pocklington gave a $100,000 cash deposit as part of the conditions of his bail, and that he will be out on bail until his appeal is heard. http://www.wholesalestansmithcanada.com/ . "Trying to breathe," he said with a grin. Bernier stopped 42 of 43 shots on Monday night, including all 22 in a hectic middle frame, his heroic performance propelling the Leafs toward an undue point in their final game before the Christmas break. Stan Smith Canada Outlet . The Oilers come in having lost five in a row (0-4-1) and 16 of their last 20 games, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. Wholesale Stan Smith Canada .com) - Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Roger Federer were easy first-round winners Tuesday at the Australian Open. The crowd at Mirpur usually doesnt make a lot of noise when England takes a wicket but the silence after Mahmudullahs reckless dismissal was more like a shock. It rang through the stadium, and most of those present would have probably wished for a more mundane end to such a theatrical day.Exactly why Mahmudullah went for a slog sweep against Zafar Ansari off the last ball of the day is hard to know given how well the Bangladesh players are protected from having to give public explanations these days.Shakib Al Hasan still hasnt said why he ran out of the crease on the third morning of the first Test, which was such a crucial point in Bangladeshs fortunes in Chittagong. Courtney Walsh, Chandika Hathurusingha and Mushfiqur Rahim gave their views on the shot in the interim. Mahmudullah spent 2013 and 2014, his most difficult period as an international cricketer, avoiding the media.Mahmudullahs urgency at the end of the second day seemed wholly out of place. He was possibly trying to reach his fifty before stumps, however ridiculous it may sound. There cannot be too many reasons for an experienced batsman to play that shot.Meanwhile, two old problems came back for Mushfiqur. He dropped two catches (Root on 19 and Ansari on 0), although Bangladesh recovered from both but it was his wary mindset as a captain that prevented Bangladesh from dominating England.Wicketkeeping blemishes dogged him in the ODI series against Afghanistan but the captaincy issue has been there for a while now. In 2014 and 2015, there were moments when Bangladesh had oppositions on the mat but Mushfiqur wouldnt go for the tap-down.With England staring at a 70-run first innings deficit, letting Adil Rashid continue to play lofted shots over cover or giving him room to take singles on the legside may have been a tactical ploy but when Mushfiqur removed the silly mid-off from under Woakes nose midway through their partnership, he released the pressure too early on a batting line-up that, as Mushfiqur remarked before the game, bats deep. Reducing England to 144 for 8 is similar to reaching 171 for 1 while batting against them. On both occasions, Bangladesh squandered the chance to run away with the game.While it is acceptable for a captain to wait for the second new ball by letting a few part-timers bowl, the manner in which Rashid and Woakes were allowed to walk through Bangladeshs first innings score was alarming. Throughout their 99-run ninth wicket stand, the England Nos. 9 and 10 took advantage of a suddenly insipid Bangladesh.Mushfiqurs captaincy is part of the wider apathy that the tenth Test-playing nation suffers from, but thankfully Bangladesh now play with enough cricketers who have developed the ability to stamp down on any difficult situation. Imrul Kayes unbeaten 59 went beyond giving him confidence for the critical third morning. It showedd to the rest of the Bangladesh batting line-up that they could succeed applying their own technique even on an iffy pitch.ddddddddddddBut like Imrul, they have to back themselves fully. He heartily swept for boundaries and was decisive when going for the block, even if it meant he had to adjust the bearing of the bat at the last minute. He was guilty of planting a Chris Woakes half-tracker down points throat on the first day, so ensured that he took a firmer stride in his second chance. He was keen on the sweep, timing five of them for boundaries between fine-leg and in front of midwicket.There was method in his approach, as he only went down for the sweep when he seemed absolutely sure. There were moments towards the end of the day when he looked to be too keen on the shot, but that was also when he started playing the reverse sweeps, one of which also went for four. There was risk involved but this is the new Imrul who has developed a more aggressive approach and it helped Bangladesh get out of a tricky situation rapidly.Like Imrul, Taijul Islam has developed into a strong enough character for tough situations. He was Mehedi Hasans perfect foil. In nearly every over from the start of the second day, he created doubt in the England batsmens mind.Seen casually, it wasnt much more than the typical left-arm spinners fare that is sampled by visitors to Mirpur. But Taijul uses his high-arm action after the jump to good effect. He is also invariably quite accurate when not looking to stop runs. With the English batsmen taking short forward steps to meet his deliveries, his near-perfect spot created trouble. The pitch was helpful for sure, but still the spinners have to extract help out of it.He removed Ben Stokes with one that popped on him but there was no build up to that dismissal as it was his first ball to the left-hander. Contrastingly, he had worked hard on Joe Root all morning, eventually trapping him leg-before with one that skidded after pitching. Taijul had been trying that delivery continuously but Root was sneaking past him by forcing the ball towards the leg-side. But that tactic didnt last long: Taijul, too, was building the pressure, which was useful for Mehedi who picked up wickets regularly to finish with 6 for 82.Both Imrul and Taijul will have bigger roles to play on the third day. The expectation on Imrul will be to steer Bangladesh out of their collapsing zone in the first session. If he can do it successfully, the bowlers, including Taijul, will be delighted by a bigger cushion in the fourth innings.Lucky for Taijul, these days he doesnt always have to wait for the bigger stars in the dressing room to provide such help. Even some less feted, such as Imrul, can deliver. ' ' '