Terps Win 87-75

The game wasn't as close as the score indicates. Maryland had a double-digit lead for most of the game and the only time EA got close the Terps went on a mini-run to extend the lead back to double-digits. Here are the links to the story, box score and quotes from Brenda.

Story | Box Score | Quotes

First for the positives

We scored 87 points and both Shay and Lang were held under 10 points each

Toliver can shoot the ball (5-of-9 from 3pt land) meaning the days of sagging off our point guard are over.

When we want to, we can play solid defense. EA Sports had only two points until about the 15-minute mark. We also had quick hands with a bunch of deflections.

Shay has become a lot less selfish. Don't know if it had to do with the bandage on her hand, but she seemed to be looking for her teammates more resulting in a game-high 6 assists.

Harper is definitely going to make a huge difference this year if she and Lang can play together. She grabbed 16 boards and had 4 blocks (which I think was the most we had all year). She may have been rusty, it was her first game in 11 months, but she attacked the glass which will help Langhorne.

Langhorne still has that killer first step and looks like she developed a mid-range jumper.

We have depth. I liked that Harper and Coleman came off the bench as it added some spark and gives a different look to teams. Also when we got into foul trouble, we had more bodies on the bench to go to who can score.

Coleman is going to create match up problems for the opposing teams. She's tall and can handle the ball (She had 5 assists). She's not afraid to look for her shot, although she was short with it tonight (I think it could be nerves) if she gets hot, look out. Plus, Brenda can play her at the 2 and Shay at the point with Lang and Harper downlow to give teams fits.

The Negatives

Free Throw shooting was awful. We shot 38.9% from the line with our post players going 4-for-12. That's not going to fly if we want to win the ACC.

The rebounding. It was tied 47-47, but we should have easily grabbed 55. People forgot to box out and were sometimes out of position. Our guards need to be more active on the glass.

Conditioning. I realize this was the first game real action, but we look gassed at the end of the game. EA Sports looked to be outhustling us and that allowed them to get back in the game.

Overall, I thought we played well and could be a major force if our free throw shooting and rebounding gets better. This team wasn't that tall and we all know Duke has those giants underneath. The defense looked better and now that we have scoring options at every spot on the floor, it's going to be hard to double Shay or Lang.