Game 37: Stanford (Elite 8)

After our best performance in over month, it's time to see if the play continues tonight. Tonight's opponent will be one of the best we have played all year and are nearly mirror images of us as they have an athletic wing, and two posts. The game is at 9:30 on ESPN2 and a win sends us to Tampa and the Final Four for the second time in three years. A win means another morning of extra coffee to make it through the day for the fans, but it will be worth it.

Stanford is 33-3 and the common opponents are Rutgers (W, 60-58), Temple (W, 63-54), UCLA (L, 69-56; W, 75-62; W, 78-45), Pittsburgh, (72-53)

Stanford scores 75 points per game, while only allowing 54.9. Since the back to back losses to start 2008, Stanford has only given up more than 60 points, three times and has yet to lose. They have only broken 80 three times, six times during the 21-game winning streak and they were all against subpar opponents. They are one of the best rebounding teams in the country and rank 10th in the country in rebounding margin (41.7 to 33.6). They also shoot well at 45.8 percent from the floor and .321 from behind the arc. Opponents shoot 34.8 and 29.1. They are steady with the ball, averaging only 13.3 turnovers a game. They also block 5.1 shots per game.

Stanford is led by All-American Candice Wiggins. For four years, she has tried to make the final four and has yet to do it, she is driven and does it all for Stanford. She leads the team in points at 19.6. She rebounds at 4.6 per game, is first in assists and steals and shoots 43.1 from the floor and 33% from behind the arc. She is a clone of Marissa and needs to be stopped. The first of the twin towers is Jayne Appel. She is 6'4 and scores 15.1 ppg and grabs 8.9 rebounds. She also leads the team with 89 blocks. Appel shoots 59.7 from the floor and doesn't take 3s. She has only fouled out once. The other twin tower is Kayla Pederson, a 6'4 freshman, who shoots more outside the box than Appel. She averages 12.6 points and grabs 8.5 rebounds. She will stroke the three, but is not much of a shot blocker. She also rarely picks up fouls. JJ Hones is a 5'10 guard and scores only 6.0 points per game. Hones is a three-point shooter, barely rebounds and is a distributor as she is second on the team in assists. Rosalyn Gold-Onwude is the fifth starter and averages 5.2 ppg at 5'10. She also barely rebounds and shoots 48% from the free throw line. She will shoot the three. Off the bench they have 6'1 forward Jillian Harmon, who scores 6.3 points, grabs 5.0 rebounds and has missed all nine threes this year. Next is Jeannette Pohlen, a 6'0 guard, averaging 4.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and shooting 26.6% from three. Cissy Pierce is a 5'10 guard who may also play and averages 2.8 points per game and is a shooter. Lastly, there is Morgan Clayburn, a 6'4 center, who goes to to spell the towers and that's it.

The Cardinal have experience against two great post players as they have done an effective job shutting down California's dynamic duo. Harper will have to bring her A game.

Keys on offense

Attacking the post. Stanford relies a lot on Pederson and Appel and if would could get them in foul trouble, it would help a lot.

Taking care of the ball. Stanford forces 16.5 turnovers a game and wants to get inside your head Rutgers style.

Attack Wiggins on defense. Make her work on defense and possibly saddle her with foul trouble or at least tire her out.

Rebound the ball. They have two main rebounders so the guards will have to help.

Harper must come up big with a double-double and stay out of the foul trouble that has plagued her most of the tournament.

Strickland has to continue to play the way she did on Saturday. She plays that way and we won't lose.

Keys on Defense

Don't let Wiggins get hot. She is pumped for this game and she can score 30 with no problem if we don't defend her. Either switch on screens or go under to limit the three-point shots.

Keep the ball away from Appel and Pedersen. Pedersen is more of the shooter where Appel goes for the layups. Probably front Appel.

Guards must help rebound. Since their guards don't we need Kristi and Marah to go after rebounds and limit second chance points.

Hands up to prevent threes.

Wiggins is the only main upperclassmen on this team so who knows how the young players will handle the pressure of the game. They could be like our kids or they could be nervous.

If we play man, I see Laura on Appel, Crystal on Pedersen, Marissa on Wiggins, Toliver on Hones and Strickland on Gold-Onwude.

We must force the tempo like we did on Saturday and see if Stanford has the fire power to do it.

I see us winning because Stanford can't keep up, but we must control Wiggins.

Lastly, as far I have read, no one is sick. (knock on wood)

Terps Defensive Effort Puts them in Elite Company

What a game last night. For the first time in over a month, the team we fell in love with in November - January reared it's head and said not so fast to those that were predicting an early demise. I guess the pressure of last year's loss we really getting to the team as I didn't recognize the team on the floor. The ball was fed into the post repeatedly, we weren't settling for jump shots and Marah or Big Strick as the kids call her made a triumph return (she needs another game like last night to completely come off the milk carton). Oh and we showed Vandy we can play a little defense too.

As an FYI, Vandy hadn't given up more than 47 in the tournament, they gave up 44 in the first half last night.

Like Terps25 said, how can you pick only one person for Player of the Game? My vote has to be Marah as we weren't a 4 on 5 team and our five can beat anyone's five.

I am having a really good feeling about Monday night. We still need to bring our A game, but when Kristi is a distributor first and scorer second most teams will have their hands full. I also think Monday will be Harper's breakout game of the tournament.

Articles

ESPN.com

Baltimore Sun

Baltimore Sun

Washington Post

Washington Times

Tampa Tribune

Game 36: Vanderbilt (Sweet 16)

Now that we have gotten over the hump it's time to make it to Tampa. Before I get to the the preview here are some things to read to kill time before our game at 9.

The Examiner writes about the senior class

The Burlington County Times talks about Crystal getting another week with her teammates

Milton Kent writes about Marissa Coleman

Mike Wise writes about Under the Shell

The Philly Inquirer remarks about how Harper and Langhorne spruned the traditional powers

The Diamondback's Greg Schimmel writes a wonderful article about Crystal

Kristi and Crystal were named finalists for the State Farm Wade Trophy

Graham wrote about my favorite turncoat

Mechelle Voepel previews the game

Now onto the preview.

I seriously hope the tightness we saw on Sunday and Tuesday was due to stress over not losing. From now on, we need to play to win not to not lose. I am sure most of you know what that means, but for those that don't it means we step on the gas and keep going until the game and don't let up for a second. We are the best team in the country and it's time to prove it.

Vanderbilt is 25-8 and 4-1 on neutral courts. Among the common opponents: Clemson (W, 74-56), Duke (W, 68-55), Princeton (W, 81-48), LSU (L, 51-62). They have only lost four games since Jan. 1, 2008. Problem is those losses have come to Tennessee three times and LSU once.

The Commodores average 71.2 points per game, but only allow 55.9 points per game. They have given up more than 60 four times, all to UT and LSU. Tennessee is the only team to break 70 on them since Jan. 1. Hence they are a defensive team. They only outrebound opponents by 3.7 per game. VU shoots .468 from the floor and .387 from three. They force 20.4 turnovers a game and get 10 steals. Opponents only shoot .363 percent from the floor and .292 from 3.

Vanderbilt is led by 6'1 guard/forward Christina Wirth. She can do it all, she's Kristi and Marissa combined as she shoots a ton of 3s (and makes them), rebounds, gets steals and distributes the ball. She averages 13.1 points per game and 4.9 rebounds. Next on the team in scoring is Liz Sherwood, a 6'4 center who comes off the bench. She averages 11.0 points per game and shoots 62 percent. She only averages 4.4 rebounds per game and leads the team with 39 blocks. From the little bit I saw it seems like she likes to go over her left shoulder in the post. Jennifer Risper is a 5'9 guard, who likes to take people off the dribble instead of shooting the three. She is a distributor and the team's leading rebounder and stealer. Meredith Marsh is another three-point shooter on the team. She's not that much of a rebounder. Jessica Mooney is a slashing guard, who will occasionally take a 3. While she doesn't rebound the ball, she does block shots and get steals. Hannah Tuomi is a post player, but doesn't see as many touches as Sherwood. She shoots 50% and is foul prone. Lauren Lueders is another three-point shooter and very rarely drives the lane. She is like Marah. Jence Rhoads is the starting point guard and is more likely to drive to the bucket than shoot the 3 as she has taken only 13 long-range shots all year. Amber Norton is a post player off the bench. She has taken only 80 shots all year and grabbed 38 rebounds.

Keys on offense

Attacking the post and getting Sherwood and their post players in foul trouble.

Getting Harper and Marah involved in the offense. If they are clicking, no one is stopping us.

Marissa playing hard and doing what she does best.

Toliver playing smart and not forcing the offense.

Taking care of the ball, by not telegraphing passes.

Rebounding the ball.

Keys on Defense

Limiting Wirth's touches, Marissa will have to lock her down and not let her get good looks.

Rebounding the ball. VU doesn't do that well and we must keep the off the glass.

Control Sherwood, either by fronting or forcing her away from the basket.

Hands up and preventing VU from having open looks from 3.

stopping penetration by Mooney and other guards.

Going under on screens.

Vandy will try to slow things down on O and try to milk the clock. We need to speed up the tempo. Chances are they will press like everyone else so we must be quick and smart with decisions. Also if we force the action on Vandy they will make dumb passes.

I am guessing we play zone or a gimmick defense, given the four-guard line up by Vandy.

I don't envision us losing, but then again, I never do.

Terps Victory Wasn't Pretty, but it was Sweet

That sound you heard tonight as the clock ticked down to zero was a huge sigh of relief from the ladies after finally putting last year's second round collapse behind them and knowing it is time to win a title. For the last two games it seemed as if the weight of the world was on their shoulders and that they didn't want to choke again. Instead of playing loose and free as we did early in the season, we played tight. In both games, we went on a huge run figuring that our opponent would give up the fight and quit. Unfortunately, that didn't happen and we let both Coppin State and Nebraska back in the game. Over the course of the next four games, we can't let that happen.

For 15 minutes, I thought this would be blow out city and then we got complacent and routinely let Nebraska back in the game. Our rebounding sucked in the first half and I wish I was a fly on the wall in the locker room. In the second half we outrebounded them by 15 and gave them only four offensive rebounds. We also saw the Marissa Coleman we have been waiting for all year, the one who takes over games. For five minutes, she put the team on her back and made sure we weren't losing. We need more of that. Crystal also didn't miss in the final 10 minutes of the game and grabbed every rebound she could.

My issues at this point
1. Maybe it is me or Kristi looks exhausted. She's back to last year Kristi where she forces her shot to get in rhythm instead of passing the ball around and getting a good look. She's leaning on her shots and even missing lay ups.
2. We need to make free throws down the stretch.
3. I want to see more out of Harper, she was a main reason we won in 06.
4. Marah is close to appearing on my milk carton.
5. We need our hands up on defense. I told you Turner was a three-point shooter and we routinely never put a hand in her face.
6. Time to clamp down on defense.


Now it's time for some sleep and then off to Spokane.

Before I go, I saw something on TerrapinTimes that Jackie Nared, daughter of former Terp Greg Nared was here this weekend on an official visit - looks like we aren't done recruiting yet. Click here to read more about her.

Game 34: Nebraska (NCAA Tournament - Second Round)

Now that round one is behind us and move on to round two which takes place later tonight against Nebraska. In the past four years, the second round game has been our bugaboo. In 04, we lost to LSU, in 05 to OSU, in 06 we needed a late run to get past St. Johns and last year was the debacle to Ole Miss. Let's hope the Coppin State game is our close game for this two-game session.

Nebraska is coming off a win over Xavier in which they led big early and then held on at the end. Overall, they are 21-11 and have lost to Ohio State and Oklahoma both of which we beat. They average 70.1 points per game and allow 62.8. They have only cracked 80 seven times this year and allowed 80 or more three times, which translates them to being a defensive minded team. The Huskers shoot 44.6% from the floor and 31.3% from three. They allow opponents to shoot 40.5% from the floor and 34.7% from behind the arc. NU shoots 68% from the line. They outrebounded opponents 38.5 to 35.3 and turn the ball over 17.8 times per game.

The Huskers are led by 6'2 forward Kelsey Griffin. She is averaging 15.5 points and 7.2 rebounds (leading the team in both categories), blocked 25 shots and has 37 steals (second on the team in both). She doesn't shoot 3s, but will use a variety of moves in the paint to get her shot off. Danielle Page (6'2) is second on the team in scoring at 12.2 per game and grabs 6.6 rebounds, while leading the team in blocking shots. She will shoot the three if left open and has taken the most shots on the team. Next is Cory Montgomery (6'2), who comes off the bench and averages 9.4 points and 4.5 rebounds. Her game is more away from the basket as she likes to run off a screen for a three. Yvonne Turner (5'8) is one of their starting guards and averages 7.9 points per game. She leads the teams in steals and assists. She is also one of the team's main three-point shooters knocking down 30.5% of her attempts. Tay Hester (5'10) is another starting guard and more of the slasher and streaker that gives us fits. She's taken 26 threes all year and 165 other shots. Dominique Kelley (5'7) is their last starting guard and she is more of a combination of Turner and Hester. Kaitlin Burke (5'7) is their main three-point shooting threat off the bench. Nicole Neals (5'6 guard) will also come off the bench as well as Kala Kuhlman (5'8 guard) and Nikki Bober (6'4 center). Neals will shoot the three, the other two not so much.

After watching Nebraska on Sunday, I noticed the following:
they press off made baskets
will sub liberally.
I didn't see them trapping much, but if we make quick smart passes we should be able to beat them down the floor.
They like to pop out their forwards and post players for long range shots.
They don't rebound the ball well as Xavier outrebounded them.
We have to watch the double down by their guards and Griffin in the post in an attempt to steal the ball from our post players.
Their guards will help rebound.

Keys to winning the game

Give the ball to the post players

Give the ball to the post players

Take care of the ball

Take care of the ball

Go over on screens and not under them

Rebound the ball.

Play with emotion.

Defensively, we may either play a box and one or triangle and two that way Coleman can guard Griffin and Harper possibly on Page/Montgomery. If we go man, Coleman on Turner, Strickland on Hester, Toliver on Kelley, Langhorne on Page, Harper on Griffin.

A win has us against Vanderbilt on Saturday in Spokane. A big thanks goes to the NCAA for giving us the late game so we have no time to prepare for Vandy, who will probably have practiced three times before we get there.

Lastly, Coach P didn't like our booing last night so I think tomorrow would be a great time to show her that Sunday was tame. Come early, be loud and remember that ASU's colors are variations of Maryland's red (maroon) and yellow (gold).

Lackluster Terps Get By Coppin State

I figured two weeks would be enough to get rested and ready for the NCAA Tournament. It turns out that was not the case as the team sleptwalked through their first round game against Coppin State yesterday. Every other 1 seed won by 30 and we needed second half runs to put the game away. Give Coppin credit, they made their first couple shots and had more confidence as the game went on. We pouted with every turnover and every missed shot. This is not the same team I saw earlier in the season.

I am wondering when our obsession with the outside shot will stop as Coppin's post players couldn't stop Langhorne yet there were several possessions where Crystal never touched the ball. Coppin's post players all had four fouls and we never attacked them enough to get them out of the game.

Our man defense was awful as we continually let Coppin drive past us and it seemed like we were often reluctant to change to zone until later.

I expect to see better tomorrow against Nebraska who will press the entire game, but aren't as quick as the Coppin guards. We should dominate the paint the way Xavier did.

Lastly, Marah needs to step out of the funk she is in. If she's not going to score than she needs to play defense and rebound.

Can someone find a bubble for Toliver to live in so she stops getting sick?

Game 34: Coppin State (NCAA First Round)

For the first time in nearly two weeks, the Maryland Terrapins take to the floor and this time it’s put up or shut up time. A loss and we never see Crystal, Laura, Jade, Ashleigh or Christie in a Terps uniform again. Six more wins and we are national champions for the second time in three years. Luckily for us, the first two rounds go through Comcast where we are 19-0 this year.

The run to the National Championship begins tomorrow at 2:30 against local-foe Coppin State.

Coppin State is 22-11 on the season and won the MEAC. The only common opponent they played all year was North Carolina and they lost 92-63. The Eagles have won 17 of their last 19 games all agains the MEAC.

Coppin averages 67.6 points per game, while allowing 71.0. They haven’t given up more than 70 in nearly three months and have only scored more than 80 four times all year. The Eagles are outrebounded 44.2 to 40.7. The shoot 43.6 from the field and 30.8 percent from behind the arc. CSU has made 85 threes all year, while Kristi has made 73. Coppin holds opponents to 35.7 percent from the floor and 26.2 percent from three. They turn the ball over 18.5 times per game and average 9.1 steals.

They are led by 5’8 senior guard Rashida Suber, who is averaging 17.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. She leads the team in steals at 101 and shoots 27.3 percent from three. She is their main three-point shooter as she has taken 176 and the next person on the team has taken 51. Next on the team in scoring is 5’6 guard Shalamar Oakley, who averages 17.4 points and 4.7 rebounds. She is the team’s main ball handler and leads the team with 133 assists. She is second on the team in steals. Danielle Anders is a 5’11 swing forward and averages 11.5 points and is second on the team in rebounding at 5.7 per game. She’s taken three 3s all year and blocked 21 shots. Anders has hit 64 of 74 free throws. Whitney Cunningham is a 6’3 center averaging 10 points a game and 8 rebounds. She shoots 59.1% from the floor and 66.1% from the line. She is the team’s leading shot blocker. The last starter is 6’0 power forward Jennifer Martin. Like Oakley she is foul prone and only averages 6.4 points per game but grabs 7.7 rebounds. Martin shoots 40.9% from the floor, only blocked 10 shots and has 30 steals. Their two main bench players are 5’6 point guard Sesalie Johnson and 5’11 shooting guard Chanelle Downing. Neither scores more than 3.5 ppg.

I saw Coppin play once and it’s a guard-oriented offense where they basically pass the ball around the perimeter trying to create shots for their guards. They will press and try to create transition opportunities.

This should be a game we win handily as long as we play our game. We need to stop dribble penetration and force the ball down low for easy buckets. Also, run the ball as I doubt Coppin can keep up with our speed. I will be disappointed if we give up more than 55. Lastly, I don’t want us settling for long jumpers, I would much rather we attack and get to the free throw line.

Friday Factoids

Here are some links to articles and predictions regarding the NCAA Tournament

Charlie Creme talks about the bracket process

CSTV.com

CSTV.com

Stanford is mad

Maryland gets money from the NCAA to promote the sport

SI.com

SI's SI's Traci Schultz Bracket

SI's Kelli Anderson's Bracket

SI's Richard Deitsch's Bracket

CSTV's Jeff Lippman's Final Four

ESPN.com Experts' picks

Tuesday's Thoughts

First let's get some team news out of the way

incoming junior college player Dee Liles was named Player of the Year

Crystal was named first team All-American by CBS Sportsline, while Kristi was named second team AA.

Crystal and Kristi were second team All-Americans by ESPN.com

And now onto a quick look at the first two games of our run to our second national title.

Coppin State

Record: 22-11

Common Opponents: North Carolina (L, 92-63)

Most points scored: 101

Most points allowed: 92

Roster Size: 4 players over 6'0

Nebraska

Record: 20-11

Common Opponents: Ohio State (L, 86-74), Oklahoma (L, 80-72)

Most points scored: 90

Most points allowed: 92

Roster Size: 6 players over 6'0

Xavier

Record: 24-8

Common Opponents: North Carolina State(W, 51-49); Temple (W, 64-55; W, 47-42)

Most points scored: 97

Most points allowed: 82 (first game of the year)

Roster Size: 6 players over 6'0

More breakdown as the game gets closer. We shouldn't lose the first two games unless we beat ourselves like we did last year.

Terps Get 1 Seed for 2008 Dance

I have to say I was shocked when I saw the Terps received a one seed in the tournament after the poor effort in the ACC Tournament. I figured we would get Stanford in Spokane which is great as I think we won't see Eric Brewton or any of the ACC refs for a while, but the Cardinal may play with a chip on their shoulder.

I really like our bracket at first glance and will study it more tonight and post more thoughts tomorrow. Vote in the new poll and for Crystal. Also, the opponent links have been updated for the postseason.

Monday Musings

Amazingly, we stayed at fifth in the AP Poll

Charlie Creme dropped us to a two seed in his latest bracketology with us going to Spokane. I really like this draw, but coach Park may have to check his emotions if we play Utah in the third round.

On the drive back I thought more about Saturday's game and I still couldn't believe we lost and how sick it made me feel. I hope this serves as a wake up call for the team as we have slept walked through the last few games. What disappointed me the most was that we didn't attack the basket. Yes, the refs weren't calling everything, but we helped their cause by not going inside against the zone. We all know that Joy Cheek and Crystal Thomas can't stop Laura and Crystal, so why didn't we dribble penetrate? Why did we settle for jumpers instead of creating contact and going to the line? Marah needs refind her game or maybe it's time to let Ashleigh start. Marah helps us when she can score from the outside, but her defense was not very good this weekend and if she isn't helping on defense then she needs to score. Yes, lack of bench preparation did hurt us, but Duke's energy is what killed us. The Crystal Langhorne and Laura Harper era at Maryland has six more games to go, if we plan on playing in all those games, the two of them should get touches in the paint 95% of the time we are on offense. Unless we find two other players who shoot nearly 65% from the floor.

Congrats is order for two Former Terps today. First, Kalika France and her teammates at Purdue won the Big Ten Title last night at the buzzer to make the tournament. And then, my favorite Benedict Arnold, Jeff Walz upset Rutgers in the Big East Tournament. Hopefully if we play Rutgers again, Coach Park will give Jeff a call for some pointers.

Duke Bedevils Maryland in ACC Semifinals

Well that was not fun to watch as our run to our first ACC title in quite sometime was ended early thanks to our nemesis Duke. I have to give full credit to Duke as their zone defense confused and rattled us all game long. After an early spurt where we built a 10-point lead, Duke creeped its way back into the game and from that point forward we looked shocked and not into the game. This game reminded me a lot of the Rutgers game, as we let Duke dictate the tempo of the game and got more and more frustrated as our offense wasn't clicking. For the first five minutes we attacked the paint and drew fouls, yet after that we decided that if we couldn't get it into Crystal or Laura we would jack up shots instead of penetrating and going to the rim.

Things we need to work on before the NCAA Tournament:
1. Three-point shooting. Where has it gone the last few games?
2. Disregarding physical play. Duke muscled us and we wilted in the pressure instead of giving it right back. I don't know why this team shies from contact so much. The practice players should hit the girls on every pla the next two weeks.
3. Not worrying about the referees. Yes, they were awful yesterday, but we can't let affect us.
4. Defense. It was missing all weekend long and we consistently left shooters wide open for threes.
5. Penetrating the lane instead of taking long shots.
6. Marah or someone else needs to score. We can't play 4 on 5 in the tournament or we won't be making it out of the second round.

This was a game we should have won and we had our chances to win the game, but instead of reaching down deep and not letting Duke take control, we wilted and took bad shots.

Now that we are a two seed, we just have to wait until March 17 to see what regional we will be put in.

Game 33: Ekud

Another day, another game and this time it's Ekud for the third time this year. We are 2-0 against Ekud this year and will look to win our third straight against them for the first time since 1994. Two years ago, Ekud was in the same position as us and captured the third meeting, let's hope that doesn't happen again.

The two previous match ups were complete opposites as we rallied to put them away at Comcast, while we led essentially the whole game in Cameron and never let them make a game of it. To read the previews of those games click here and here. The recaps can be read here and here.

The keys to winning today as as follows:
1. Play defense - hopefully they found it in the hotel last night.
2. Rebound - Need to keep Black and Cheek off the glass
3. Don't leave Waner open - if Picco can score 33, she can score 40.
4. Attack the post - Let's get Black out of there and Cheek is foul prone.
5. Take care of the ball - Ekud is going to trap and try to force turnovers.
6. Don't let Ekud muscle Kristi all over the court.
7. Don't let up on the gas until Ekud's starters go to the bench - against UNC they gave up with 7 minutes to go and we need to rest some players for Sunday.

A win today and it's another match up against Virginia or a revenge game against North Carolina.

Terps Out Pace Eagles in ACC Quarterfinals

For the fifth straight year, Maryland advanced to the ACC Semifinals after today's win over Boston College. Unfortunately, it seemed like we left our defense in College Park as BC essentially had it's way on offense. The only problem was that we have more offense than they do. There are two ways to look at it: 1. We rested the starters midway through the second half and BC took advantage or 2: Picco just happened to be hotter than the sun and nothing we could do to stop her.

Overall, I really liked our offensive game today and thought we did a great job of working the ball around and finding the open person. In the post, Crystal and Laura were not going to be denied as they combined for 19 of 21 from the floor. Defensively, I think we overrated and left their shooters open for three.

We took decent care of the ball but did try to force a few things which allowed BC to get back in the game.

The huge lead allowed us to rest some of the starters although I would have liked to see Kristi play less than 30 minutes.

We seemed to struggle holding onto the ball, which hopefully changes for tomorrow.

The win gives us 30 and marks our best start after 32 games in school history.

Tomorrow its our third go-round with Ekud, preview should be up by the time everyone wakes up.

Game 33: Boston College (ACC Tournament)

We are now on to tournament time where it's one loss and your done and you have to bring your A game at all times. Our road to the ACC Championship begins today against Boston College, which defeated Virginia Tech yesterday in a snoozefest of a game. For us it will be the third time this year we have played against them.

In both match ups we dominated them, to read the previous previews click here and here. For the recaps click here and here.

We need to put this game away at halftime and here is the way to do it.
1. Take care of the ball
2. Grab the rebounds and go, force BC to play uptempo.
3. Force the ball into the paint and get Swords and Murphy in foul trouble.
4. Have the shooters in position to receive the ball from the post as BC will likely double team the post like last time.
5. Control the glass.
6. Limit Swords and Murphy's touches.

A win today has us playing either Duke or Florida State on Saturday.

Thursday's Talking Points

Congrats to Crystal who was named ACC PLAYER OF THE YEAR. She won by 13 votes even though people on message boards felt Larkins was the hands down winner. The Maryland release details her the significance of her selection.

Marah Strickland earned Honorable Mention All-Rookie Team. I am a little shocked as Marah was the fifth option at times and near the end of the season she was a little non-existent.

According to a release on the Oklahoma Sooners website Kristi, Marissa and Crystal were selected as All-Americans by Sports Illustrated

Charlie Creme moved us up to a 1 seed in his latest bracketology

Tuesday Tidbits

Maryland sets another school record as Four, yes Four, players were named All-ACC with Crystal and Kristi leading the way with 144 points. Marissa made second team again and Laura earned third-team honors for the first time.

Still Fifth in the AP Poll as one guy keeps voting us seventh, but moved up to 4th in the Coaches Poll after Rutgers loss to Connecticut last night.

The Baltimore Sun recaps future Terp Dara Taylor's junior season

Jerry Palm and Charlie Creme each have us as a two seed, but Creme thinks we could be a one seed now.

Wonderful AP article on Crystal Langhorne

Terps Ruin Whittington's Senior Day

Another trip down to the Tar Heel State and another win. A solid Terps effort and a few timely runs gave Maryland their 13th win the conference and 29th overall. Their 13-1 mark in the ACC matches their best ever and the 29 wins are the second most in program history. Now our one chance to get a share of the ACC title is to root for Ekud in their game against UNC. Either way we are a two seed, but it would be nice to put up a banner (Not as nice as an ACC Championship banner).

We play on Friday night at 6 in Greensboro and it looks like we are playing either BC or VT/Wake (winner of the coin toss). Either way that works in our favor as all three teams like to slow down the pace. A win gets us probably Ekud again and then hopefully a rematch with UNC. The key to Friday night's game is to put it away early as to rest the starters.

As for today's game, I think we played good but not great game. We took care of the ball and pounded it inside (I would have liked to see more, but that's me), but none of the guards shot the ball well and Marah and Kristi were missing wide open threes. I knew our perimeter defense would struggle and we have to be better against penetration. The zone helps us a little, but someone needs to fill the lane when they get by Kristi. Also, when we went up 19, I don't understand why the bench wasn't cleared. A win's a win, whether it's by 19 or by 7. At least the starters get some rest.

Congrats to Crystal who passed Monique Currie for 11th on the ACC scoring list as well as to Ashleigh for playing in the most games in Maryland history. I think she needs to play in 8 more to have the ACC record.

Game #31: NC State

Today marks the final regular season game of Crystal, Jade, Laura and Ashleigh (Christie is not going to play) and from here on out losses mean that much more. While our seeding is all set for the ACC Tournament, it's not set for the NCAA Tournament and a loss would hurt our chances of a #1 seed. A win gives us our second best record ever in the ACC as well as the second most wins in program history.

NC State is 18-10 on the season and 6-7 in the ACC. Our only non-conference opponent was Temple and they won by 5. After starting the ACC season with a 2-6 mark, they have won four of their last five with their lone loss coming against North Carolina.

The Wolfpack averages 66.6 points per game and only allows 55.3. The most they have given up is 89 all year and only 85 to North Carolina. They shoot 42.0 from the floor and .326 from 3, while opponents shoot 36.3 and 28.3 respectively. NCS outrebounds teams 40.5 to 37.1. And they do block 5 shots per game.

NC State is led by Khadijah Whittington a 6-1 senior who leads the team in scoring (17.2) and rebounding (11.3). She shoots 52.1 from the floor and 59.9 from the free throw line. She doesn't take threes. Shayla Fields is second on the team in scoring at 13.2. She shoots 42% from the floor and 36% from behind the arc. Fields leads the team in assists and steals. She will take us off the dribble as well as spot up and must be contained. Third on the team in scoring is Nikitta Gartrell at 9.2 ppg. She mainly shoots from inside, but will take a three if left open. Gartrell helps distribute the ball and also helps on the traps. Sharnise Beal is next in scoring at 6.9 and like Gartrell she mainly stays inside the arc. Chanita Jordan is their other starting post player, but is the fifth option. She only shoots 50% from the floor and a little better from the line. She is 6'4. Their last starter is Amber White. She's another in the mold of driving to the hoop first and shooting from deep second. Megan Zullo is their shooter off the bench and essentially spots up from deep as she has only taken 30 shots inside the arc. Lucy Ellison is their replacement in the post. At 6'1, she's mainly in there to give Whittington and Jordan rest. She is foul prone as well.

Keys to the Game
1. Play uptempo and force NCS out of its game. They will want to slow it down and try to set up their trap.
2. Attack the paint. Whittington is the heart and soul of their team. Get her in foul trouble and the Pack will struggle. There is no reason why the ball shouldn't be fed into the post repeatedly to get her out of the game.
3. Take care of the ball. Don't force things.
4. Rebound the ball.
5. Put the game away early as we have three games possibly next weekend.

To win the rebounding title, Laura and Crystal need to outrebound Whittington by 5 and 6, respectively. Crystal needs nine rebounds to finish the ACC season averaging 10 rebounds a game in conference play and 27 points for averaging 20 points in conference play.

Defensively, we will probably play man with Kristi on Gartrell, Marissa on Fields, Marah on White, Laura on Whittington and Crystal on Jordan.

Don't forget to vote for Crystal.