Game 15: Marist (Terrapin Classic)

For the fifth time this year, the Terps will play on back-to-back days (The ACC Tournament would be the next time this can happen). Thus far, we are 4-0 in those games and today's game features Marist fresh off a win over Liberty yesterday.

Marist is 9-3 and the reigning MAAC champions losing to Georgia in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. There three loses this year have come to Duke (by 21), Villanova (in OT) and Yale (by 15). Our only common opponent has been Loyola, which they beat by 10 (We won by 55 for those that drank too much egg nog over the holidays).

They run a motion offense with a lot of cuts and picks. They also play pretty solid defense as opponents are only scoring 53.3 ppg. In fact, Duke only scored 71 points against them this year. Much of this is as a result of Marist slowing down their offense and then running plays with 15 seconds or less on the shot clock. Our recent three-point shooting prowess will be put to the test as Marist is allowing others to shoot only 20.6 percent from behind the arc.

They are led by 6' forward Rachele Fitz, who until yesterday, came off the bench in every game. She is averaging 14 ppg and shoots 56.4 from the floor while grabbing 5.4 rebounds per game. Meg Dahlman is their other low-post threat with 11.7 ppg (15 yesterday) and shooting 50.9 percent from the floor. She grabs 6+ rebounds per game and leads the team in blocks. She also likes to step out and shoot the 3 at 6'3. Julianne Viani likes to shoot the 3 and is often interchangable with #22 Nikki Flores. Neither one is all that tall, but they can shoot. Their point guard Alisa Kresge doesn't look to score, but rebounds and passes the ball great. She almost had a triple-double yesterday had she looked to score.

Keys to the Game

Marist knows they can play with most teams so they need to be put away early. I can't see them keeping up with us point-wise if it's high-scoring, but a defensive contest will help them out. Pressure the ball every time down the floor to speed up the pace of the game.

Attack the glass - they are getting outrebounded and they aren't using their height to their advantage.

Langhorne and Harper - Both need to be more effective than they were yesterday.