I'm Back

Wow what a summer it's been. It seems like it's been a whirlwind on campus since the end of the season.

Two new coaches added to the staff: Marlin Chinn | David Adkins

Two new recruits signed on for 2010: Lauren Mincy and Natasha Cloud. Along with Alyssa Thomas, Maryland has the #1 class in the country

Marissa has dealt with an ankle injury and a crazy dog.

Crystal is beginning to show the league what we all saw for four years. Although their offense is geared too much around Lindsay Harding if you ask me.

KT and Harper are both struggling to find playing time.

Yemi played in the World University Games.

Brenda went to Peru and back.

Controversy brewed over the fact that women's basketball's budget didnn't receive the same percentage cut as football and men's basketball. Honestly, the women implemented some cuts last year before things got worse such as bus trips to Pittsburgh and Duke instead of the normal flights.

Message board fights have heated up over the disappointments the last two seasons, which leads to the new poll question.

And lastly, we learned that Shay had a Breast Cancer scare while at Maryland. Just a reminder to all my female followers - be sure to get check routinely.

Friday Update

As you can see on the left side of the page, I have put up the Twitter Feeds for Coach, Marissa, Kristi and Crystal. I will do my best to make it look cleaner in the coming weeks. (If you know of other players I need to follow, let me know)

Our Terps in the pros have done well. Harp started her last game and has led the team in rebounds in both preseason contests. KT had 17 the other night and Marissa and Lang continue to do well for the Mystics.

Marissa is also writing a blog for the WNBA and ComcastSportsNet.

The rumor I speculated last week is now true: Daron is leaving for La Tech. From the wording it sounds like Daron left for a title change (he went from Assistant Coach to Associate Head Coach), but he could have gotten that here. From my POV, he jumped ship and will take over Walz's title as Benedict Arnold (Walz - you must be so happy that Daron replaced you again). At least Jeff left for a head coaching position at a big time conference. Daron left to work for a rookie coach essentially. Some highlights from the release:
"Daron brings great experience to our program," Weatherspoon said. "He is a great X's and O's coach who is masterful with defensive schemes. Coming from the highly competitive ACC, he knows what it takes to compete at that level. "
- as I mentioned about a month ago, our scoring defense was the highest in the Frese era. I wonder where Daron was hiding the defensive schemes.
Weatherspoon said that Park will serve as the recruiting coordinator for LA Tech while also working with the Lady Techsters post-play development.
- Daron loved x's and o's and hated recruiting, I think his lone recruit last year was Yemi.
- Post-play Development? Drey rode the bench and Kizer missed a lot of lay ups and most of the time we played with 4 guards.

In short, I am not sad to see Daron go. I think he used the job as a stepping stone to get a better job (there were rumors he was looking last year too) and his stock wasn't going to get any higher next year.

According to Camille Powell at the Washington Post Dave Adkins will be hired to fill one of the two assistant coaching openings. Don't really know what to say about this hire. He's coached boys' high school ball for many years and is known as a local guru in terms of preparing players for the pros, but how is he going to help the team. In this video all I see the players work on is their offensive game. As we have seen, our offense really isn't the problem, it's our defense. Also, how will he relate to women's players and recruiting them? Hopefully the next assistant is a home run because at this point we have two assistants on the bench with limited college coaching expierence and I don't think either is an x's and o's person.

Post Season Updates

- Good news is that no other player has decided to leave since my last update.
- Bad news is that Coach Floyd is leaving. That leaves us with no African American coach on our staff, hopefully that void is filled with her replacement. Best of luck to Coach Floyd in future endeavors.
- Monique Oliver chose Rutgers. Kind of odd since her old HS teammate left after a year there. C. Viv has been pulling in a ton of recruits lately, kind of fishy for someone who complained that her arena wasn't good enough for her.
- Lang and Marissa did well for the Mystics yesterday, Harp did decent for the Monarchs.
- Yesterday was graduation at UM, but I can't find a program to see how many players graduated.
- KT's first game is tonight.
- Brenda is now twittering
- The Terps will play Minnesota next season in the ACC/Big Ten challenge.
- Lastly, rumors are flying around that Coach Floyd isn't the only coach leaving this offseason...

Monique Oliver released from NLI

According to multiple sources, Monique Oliver has been released from her NLI and her recruiting has reopened. ESPN HoopGurlz is saying Maryland is now pursuing her again. I believe Monique was the recruit last year who cancelled her recruiting visit right before she was scheduled to come to Maryland.

Updates and Thoughts

- Looks like Drey Mingo is going to Purdue and Marah may be headed to Purdue
- The latest rumor surrounds Anjale may be looking to leave.
- Delle Donne is most likely going to play basketball at Delaware.

Thanks for all your comments about Monday's post. It was great to see some of the feedback and good to have some discussion. After reading through them, just a few responses.

- While I a new fan like so many of you, it can't be taken away what Brenda has done for the program. If you would have told anyone 10 years ago that Maryland would be one of the top women's programs in a few years, people would have laughed at you. I completely understand that while the team may struggle from time to time, it's definitely better than what was on the court beforehand. In the same vein, with success comes heightened expectations and I think that's why some are disappointed with the outcome the last few years. The same is happening on the men's side. It's the price you pay for being great.

-Everyone wants us to focus on defense.

-When I said motivation, I didn't mean physical abuse Bobby Knight style. I meant it more of a way to give the player a kick in the pants. Some players need tough love to be motivated others don't. Those with kids will understand (my little bugger is under 1 so he can do no wrong). There's also a limit to push, but each kid has to be pushed to a certain degree. Remember almost every kid on the roster was a stud in high school and had their way with the opposition. This is different, you just can't show up and win.

-The recruits I was thinking of included: Chay Shegog, Sierra Brevard, Jantel Lavendar, Caroline Doty, Destiny Williams, Monique Oliver. They all had us on their short list and a few decided to go to programs with less pretige (FSU, Illinois and USC). The last few years we seem to be high on people's lists and then at the last minute they change their minds. It's like we are the trendy pick, but not one to go to the dance with.

- My point about Rodgers is while she has battled injuries, there has to be an explanation why she wallowed on the bench for most of the season. She's a key player for this team next year.

- My player leaving list was just illustrating how many players have left in the last few years. While some wanted playing time and others were injured, it's 9 players in 7 years and other coaches will use this against us. No one is going to research why they left. It's also upsetting that we are giving scholarships to transfers who haven't helped us that much.

- "Posts like this from a fan will hurt recruiting". Getting blown out by Louisville and having Doris Burke rant for two games isn't going to help recruiting either. Plus, I think I was fairly tame and this blog shows the passion that Maryland fans have about the team. 5th place isn't good enough.

A Look Back and a Look Ahead

Before I begin the evaluation, just a few quick points.
1. Marissa will be wearing #4 next year for the Mystics.
2. KT is looking for a new number to wear for the Sky.


The 2008-09 season is hard to sum up with one word. In a sense, we all expected a little bit of a down year as we lost four seniors, each of which had prominent roles on the team and were being replaced by players that hadn't played college ball. Our fears were shown in the opening game with a loss to TCU on the road. Then we won seven straight before Pittsburgh crushed us, but that could be attributed to the wacky road trip that I believe had us busing from Purdue to Pittsburgh or something along those lines. Then there was the Marah drama and an up and down start to the ACC season, loss to Duke, beat UNC, lose to UVA, beat FSU.

That FSU win was the turning point in the season. KT misses that shot and the Terps are 4-3 in the ACC and look like they are going to struggle the rest of the way as all 3 ACC losses would have been on the road. The Shot II though propelled the team the rest of the way as the Terps would win 14 straight including the ACC Regular Season and Tournament Championship. And with that there was talk that Maryland had a shot to knock off UConn.

Then the NCAA Tournament started and things didn't look as promising. The Dartmouth game, while not a struggle, took a lot more effort than I would I have liked. Ditto for Utah. Than there was the Vandy game where Marissa took over the last few minutes and the Dores had no answer. Right there was where I knew beating UConn was going to be tough. We needed a monster game to beat a team with no size. Finally, there was the Louisville game, which to be honest, scared me more than playing UConn. Walz knew the players and the players knew Walz. The stories even said that Walz still talked to some of the players from time to time. In the end, it was too emotional of a game and the 1-2 punch of KT and MC wasn't there. And with that the season was over and another Final Four was missed.

So what went wrong?
1. In all five losses here are the combined point totals for Marissa and Kristi.
TCU - 26 (KT - 11, MC - 15)
PITT - 20 (KT - 12, MC - 8)
DUKE - 26 (KT - 12, MC - 14)
UVA - 36 (KT - 17, MC - 19)
LOU - 32 (KT - 14, MC - 18)

Aside from the UVA game, where we played no defense in the second half, you can see we struggled when the Big Two didn't score. We never had a consistent third scorer and as a result if teams could hold the two in check they had a chance to win. Note that our 14-game win streak came when Marissa said enough was enough and tried to will the team to victory.
2. Adjustments Never happened. Brenda relied on MC and KT to do their things and outscore the opponent and rarely were adjustments made. Note that Sylvia Hatchell has attempted to do the same thing for years and it hasn't worked. If KT was struggling, a play was called to let KT get a good look at a 3. We rarely pounded it inside to get some points (something that happened in 2008 as well) and were strictly a three-point shooting team.
The Louisville game was a great example. The Cards decided the only way to win was to slow the tempo resulting in the clock being drained to 20-25 seconds each possession. It wasn't until 7 minutes left and down by 15 that we decided to try and pick up the pace. At that point it was too late. Did the coaching staff think that with a 15 point lead, Walz was going to play fast? Why weren't we hounding Byrd and forcing her to give up the ball? When Byrd was backing down KT, why wasn't someone sliding over to steal the ball? Why did we settle for jumpers instead of attacking the paint repeatedly? Louisville is a foul prone team yet we let them get their way defensively.
Also, we had this uncanny ability to let the other coach dictate the play. You want to go small? Sure, we will go small. I never understood why one team would play basically 4 guards and we would have to go 4 guards (if Marissa counts as a guard). Liles may be a forward by position but she's not big and slow, she has the ability to contain guards.
3. Kids were never developed throughout the year.
Kizer is 6'4 and shoots lay ups as if she's 5'4. She tried to finesse almost all her shots instead of using the glass. How many times did Lang not use the glass in 4 years?

Strickland's one job was to run to the corner of the floor and wait to shoot a 3. She rarely attacked the rim and if she did, she missed it. If she missed a 3, we were down to 4 on offense (3 if Kizer missed her first few shoots).
It took Kim Rodgers nearly 20+ games to finally show what she can do. Why did it take so long? Were we afraid Marah would leave?

Mingo sat on the bench for two years and now is leaving. She was a McDonalds and WBCA AA and yet wasn't good enough to see time over a lady that was a dancer 18 months ago? Either she was overhyped or no one took the time to work with her. Also, the fact that last year during blow outs she couldn't get playing time was awful. What were Lang, Harp, and Jade gaining by being in a 20-point game with 5 minutes to go?

KT's game regressed in the last two years. She was getting better at being a PG but as the hype got bigger and bigger she went back to being more of a scorer. Her decision making at times this year was suspect.

4. Motivation.
Watching the Championship game from 2006 last week, I would see Brenda get in player's faces. This year it was claps and smiles. KT and Marissa said they were both motivated by themselves to make the Final Four. What happened to tough love?

5. Defense
The one topic that every fan knew about the last four years, but wouldn't talk about. We don't play any D. I understand because of lack of depth we can't press all the time, but why can't we play defense? How often would we be beaten off the dribble? Why did we go under screens instead of over them? Why did our post players never try to block shots and would instead stand there with their hands straight up? Why did we give players 3 feet of shooting space? Our best defense was our rebounding and intimidation. We hoped that the other team would be scared to play us and jack up shots quick and miss so we could get the rebound and start the break. We would show flashes of it when we needed it, but never for longer than a half. our scoring defense of 67.8 was the highest in the Frese era.

In reality, the last four years ended with disappointment. After a National Title in 2006, all fans thought we would win another in the next three years. We were all defending Brenda against people calling her a one-year wonder. Three years later and we twice fell short in the Elite 8, both times because we didn't play defense and were outcoached. With three 2000 point scorers on the roster and probably 4 of the best players to play for Maryland we underachieved. If you think otherwise, your glasses are redder than mine.

And now we head into 2009-10 with a ton of questionmarks and concerns.
1. As of today, the roster is down to 7 active players:
Jackie Nared - project but needs to be kept happy because of sister
Yemi Oyefuwa - project but needed for depth in the paint
Anjale Barrett - starting PG but slow afoot and hampered by injuries
Kim Rodgers - starting SG but hampered by injuries and possibly lack of confidence.
Lynetta Kizer - starting C who needs to be more aggressive on both ends of the floor
Dee Liles - starting F. Athletic player who needs to harness that energy and become a go to scorer.
Lori Bjork - starting G. I am assuming this because to give a fifth year player a scholarship you better hope she starts or does a great job bridging the gap. great outside shooter.

Mingo is gone and Strickland left today. that's two AAs
2. We bring in 3 recruits.
Dara Taylor - McD's AA. Reading this evaluation, she sounds like KT. At the McD's game, it sounded like her defense really stood out as her offensive game was non-existent. May push for a spot right away. Matt Bracken let's you meet Dara Taylor
Tianna Hawkins - 6'3 post player, ranked the #28 center in the country. reports say she has a nice shot, but I am not impressed with what other schools looked at her.
Essence Townsend - 6'6 post player. sounds like another project but if she can develop an offensive game she will be good.

3. Recruiting. 4 years after a national title and we are missing out on top-notch kid after top-notch kid. I don't expect to get everyone of them, but Taylor is our highest rated kid but 2010 sounds promising with the kid from PA, Alyssa Thomas.

4. Kids Leaving the program. With the departure of Mingo and Strickland, which someone brought up the releases were written two different ways, and the possibly of possibly Kizer or someone else I think I count close to 10 leaving during Brenda's time:
Vanessa Ruffin
Alli Spence - personal issues with team.
Chrissy Fisher - more playing time
Kalika France - injuries/personal issues
Kat Lyons - personal issues
Christie Marrone - injuries
Sa'de Wiley-Gatewood - personal issues
Marah Strickland - no idea, but possibly personal issues
Drey Mingo - more playing time.
That's not good for the program nor for recruiting as other coaches will use that against us. Now the argument will be that only Marah was a huge loss because the others weren't playing that big of a role. It's still 9 maybe 10 kids.

5. Will this summer be spent working on defense?

6. What is the status of EDD or Elena Delle Donne? Yes, she has quit volleyball at Delaware and begun to work out with her high school basketball team, but is she a player we want? She's already shown she's a headcase and what's going to happen when the pressure of a game gets to her.

7. The Walz/Frese dynamic. I have no idea if they don't talk, I remember an article last year that hinted that they weren't best of friends. Also, for Walz to make that comment at the end of the game shows there has to be some bad blood.

8. Is it time for some coaching changes? Coach Park was supposed to be almost on par with Coach Walz as he was a rising star in the coaching world. Yet last year he seemed more focused on crushing teams, because he could and this year the defense has suffered and the offense revolved around KT. Any article about KT, mentioned Daron, but I don't recall many about Marissa and Daron. Coach Floyd is the recruiter, heck she couldn't even go to the regular season-finale because she was recruiting. I have also heard that Coach Park would rather watch game film than watch high school kids.

9. Is Walz going to take our kids? Mingo and Marah won't go to the ACC because there's a two-year rule. And I am not sure about Walz as Brenda has to approve the schools they can go to. She could easily block them. Walz did recruit them so it wouldn't be a shock.

10. Ed in Tampa and Andrea. Gail wasn't getting support from Duke and Texas threw money at her. That's why she left.

11. Under the Shell, I have no idea what happened to the first three seasons of the show and why they were removed.

12. How much longer will Brenda stay? Negative Press is growing, kids are leaving and recruits are going elsewhere. Slowly the shine is fading from her star. Will Brenda look to rebuild another program, possibly in Southern California this year or will she wait until 2010 to see how recruiting plays out?

Final Thoughts: I see 2009-2010 as a struggle year for the Terps especially if Kizer leaves. Liles and Kizer are like peas in a pod and who knows what affect it will have on her. Plus we would have 3 post players with very little polish around the rim. On the perimeter we have three slow guards and a speedy one in Taylor. Taylor is also 5'5 so she will need even more space to get her shot off. If we do focus on defense, it's going to be hard to ingrain in kids who never had to worry about it to suddenly start playing it. Also, will we make adjustments during the game? From my POV, we were outcoached in every round but the first and made it to the Elite 8 on talent. I see us making the tournament, but getting to the Sweet 16 will be an accomplishment.

Agree/Disagree let me know.

Coleman Picked 2nd, Toliver 3rd at the 2009 WNBA Draft

For those watching the WNBA Draft yesterday, it was essentially over 15 minutes into it as Marissa and Kristi were chosen with the second and third picks. Marissa gets to stay home in D.C. and play with Crystal, while KT will play in the city that her idol Michael Jordan made famous - Chicago.

Marissa and KT are the second highest teammates to be picked as Sue Bird and Swin Cash went 1 and 2 in 2002.

Marissa gets picked
Kristi gets picked

Media coverage of Coleman
Washington Times
Bleacher Report
Washington Post

Media coverage of Toliver
Chicago Tribune
Examiner
Southtown Star
Harrisonburg Daily News Record
Chicago Daily Herald


On Monday, I will give my thoughts on the season that passed and the future of the team. If you have any questions post them in the comments and I will try to answer them. I will apologize to terps25 in advance as I don't know how nice I will be, but I will try.

It's Draft Day

Today Marissa and Kristi become professional athletes and there are several links to track them.

Live Chat
Mock Draft
Breaking Down the Draft
Kara Lawson's Top 10
KT's Twitter
Marissa's Twitter
Getting to Know Marissa
Getting to Know Kristi

Kristi and Marissa Named State Farm All-Americans

For the second straight year, Maryland placed two players on the State Farm All-America Team as Kristi and Marissa made the 10 member team this year. Last year, it was KT and Lang on the team. This is the third consecutive year a Terp is on the squad after Lang made it in 2007.

Friday Facts

- Kristi was named a John Wooden All-American.
- Kristi didn't fare so well in the three-point contest last night as she didn't make the semifinals and thus only appeared on TV when cheering on other players.
- Kristi and Marissa were both invited to the WNBA Draft on Thursday.
- KT answered some questions about the WNBA Draft
- I have fixed the comments so now you can comment anonymously if you want. I am afraid a few of you don't want to comment or create an account.

Thursday's Topics

- Dara Taylor started the McDonald's All-American Game but went 0-3 from the floor and scored 0 points. Remember this game will be replayed tomorrow on ESPN2 at 3 p.m. so we can all judge for ourselves how she played.
- Kristi Toliver will participate in the State Farm Slam Dunk and Three Point Contest tonight from 9-11 on ESPN. If she beats the other ladies than she gets to take on the men's winner.
- Rick Maese wrote a scathing piece about Coach Frese's Coaching Ability yesterday and I was wondering what people thought about it. Post your comments below. I do have to say that I agree with him for the most part.

Wednesday's Words

- Marissa was named WBCA Player of the Month for March
- Kristi and Marissa were both named AP All-Americans on Tuesday. Kristi was First Team, while Marissa was Second Team. I would have switched them, but I have always thought Marissa was overshadowed for four years.
- Kristi and Marissa were also chosen finalists for the State Farm Wade Trophy. This is a 12-person list with 10 being named State Farm All-Americans. I like our chances here for back-to-back years of at two State Farm AAs.
- Dara Taylor and Tianna Hawkins are Gatorade Players of the Year for their respective states.
- Dara Taylor will play in the McDonald's All-America game today at 5:30 on ESPNU. They will replay the game on Friday at 3 p.m. on ESPN2.

Louisville Ends Maryland's Season in the Elite 8

I was hoping the season wouldn't end for at least another week, but unfortunately that didn't happen last night. Louisville played a heck of a game and the Terps let the emotion of seeing Coach Walz get to them throughout the game. Congrats to Louisville, they deserved it.

Momma always said if you don't have something nice to say then don't say anything at all. Instead let's focus on the positives.

- 3 Elite 8 appearances in four years
- 2 2000 point scorers
- Marissa is one of 5 players in ACC History to be among the Top 10 in points and rebounds.
- KT finished second all-time in the ACC in assists.

Thanks again to all my readers this year and I will post sporadically over the next several weeks as news becomes available.

Game 36: Louisville (Elite 8)

For the second straight year and third time in four years we are among the final 8 teams in the women's college basketball world. Like last year, the fate of the ACC rest in our hands. Brenda is 1-1 in these situations and today's game could be the most important game of her coaching career. Across the way from her stands former assistant Jeff Walz or as I call him Benedict Arnold. If you look at these two pictures you probably can't tell the difference:


Like Benedict Arnold, Walz is known as a great general but was disappointed that instead of being named associate head coach he wasn't named King of Assistant Coaches or Co-Head Coach and thus spent the 2006-07 season looking for work rather than helping this team win another title. And again like BA, he found solace in a team that wears red.

Louisville or the British enter today's game with a record of 32-4 with two of their losses coming to UConn, one to Nevada and one to West Virginia featuring a great Patriot Joanna Bernabei (she left the team to take care of kids). Louisville is know for defense and their relentless pressure. It will essentially be a game of shadow. Here's Kristi, here's a Card. Here's Marissa, Here's a Card. They use their defense to create their offense. One of his favorite calls is Mad Dog in which two-three players swarm the ball handler, hoping to create panic and turnovers.

Arnold is a great motivator as his rag tag bunch has really two players and the team feels that they will never lose. He also knows every nook and cranny about our players. How they react, their moves, etc. It makes them even tougher to scout.

PPG/OPP: 71.5/56.9
FG%/OPP: .433/.368
3FG%/OPP: .332/.265
FT%/OPP: .728/.649
RPG/OPP: 40.7/34.0
APG/OPP: 12.8/11.1
TOS/OPP: 18.1/21.7
STEALS/OPP: 11.0/7.6
BLOCKS/OPP: 3.2/2.9

The Starters
- #35 Angel McCoughtry. Hands down one of the top 5 players in the country and battling Marissa for possible #1 pick in the draft. She can do it all. Leads the team in points, rebounds, steals and blocks. Has made nearly more shots than the next person on the team has taken. Shoots .315 from behind the arc. When she gets hot look out. Can be a head case if things aren't going her way. Heady player who will fly across the lane to get a steal or a block. Must limit her touches and attack her on defense to get her in foul trouble. If you ever wanted to see what it would look like to against a more defensive-minded Marissa, this is your chance.
- #13 Candyce Bingham. 6'1 senior forward. Great complement to Angel. Second on the team in nearly every stat. Has taken only 24 threes all year and made nine of them. Can't leave her open as she will shoot it from there. Loves to bang on the boards and look for position. Must box her out.
- #50 Desiree Byrd. 5'9 sophomore guard. converted shooting guard now playing the point. Taken only 49 threes all year and sometimes has to be begged to shoot the ball because she will be so wide open. Not a big factor on the glass. She must be hounded to throw the system out of whack.
- #15 Tiera Stephen. 5'7 freshman guard. In there as a defensive stopper as she doesn't do much on offense. Averaging only 1.0 point per game and 0.8 rebounds per game. Has taken only 4 threes all year.
- #4 Gwen Rucker. converted volleyball player as a 6'1 freshman forward. Mainly in there to help rebound and block shots. only 68 shots all year, including four from behind the arc (made 2) and shooting .324.

The Bench
- #45 Keisha Hines. 6'2 sophomore forward. The team's main post presence when she is in there. Shoots 54.6 percent from the floor but doesn't shoot 3s. Rebounds at a 4.7 clip. Will get into foul trouble so she must be attacked.
- #33 Monique Reid. 6'1 freshman forward. Started early on the in season but now comes off the bench. Averages 5.9 points per game and grabs 3.9 rebounds. will shoot the 3 if left open, but more likely to attack around the rim.
- #11 Becky Burke. 5'11 freshman guard. The team's main shooting threat off the bench. 103 of her 137 shots have come from behind the arc and shes made 31.1% of them. Can be a streaky shooter and is a head case. Make sure she misses the first couple and she gets gun shy. Not a big help on the glass.
- #14 Janae Howard. 6'1 freshman forward. Plays about 8 minutes a game and will shoot the 3. Not a big help on the glass.
- #23 Mary Jackson. 5'10 freshman guard. Not a deep shooting threat and more likely to take oyu off the dribble than anything else. Has attempted nearly as many free throws as she has shots.
- #24 Laura Terry. 6'1 sophomore forward. Still not recovered from midseason knee injury but can shoot from deep if healthy.

Keys to the Game
- Take care of the ball. The pressure will probably come during warm ups and we need to be smart about passing the ball shorter rather than cross court.
- Attack the trap. Stay away from corners and sidelines and when the trap comes, go through it rather than stand there and accept it.
- Rebound the ball. Louisville will have almost everyone crash the glass and we need to keep them from getting rebounds and put backs as that will allow the Cards to set up their traps.
- Get the ball and go. The quicker we get down the court, the less time they can set up their defense.
- Take care of the ball.
- Someone else must step up. Marissa and KT cannot be counted on to score 50+ every game.
- Shut down either Bingham or Angel. We haven't been successful in shooting down team's dynamic duos, but hopefully today we can at least shut down one of them.
- Play cool and collected. We seemed nervous at the start of the game on Saturday. Just go out and have fun.
- Don't overthink. This one is for the coaching staff. Don't try to think what Walz is thinking. Just let the kids play. It's not about you.
- Eat Kids

In closing, this will be one of the hardest games from me to watch. While I give Walz a hard time for leaving, I know he made the right choice. Plus I learned a few years ago that the staff followed this page from time to time and hence why there are always jabs at him. If I didn't like the guy, I wouldn't have an RSS feed for Louisville on the right. I want Maryland to win with all my heart, but if they lose at least I know I have a team to root for in the Final Four.

Then again the U.S. did beat the British after Arnold switched sides.

Go Terps Continue the March to the Arch.

Marissa's Unbelievable Performance Leads Terps to Elite 8

It's been almost 18 hours since the game and I am still in awe of what I saw yesterday. The 42 points were the third most by a Maryland men's or women's player. Marissa refused to let the team lose. As Wirth was dominating us, Marissa went to the coaches and asked to cover her. She's the MVP of the team and it's about time people mention her in the same vein as Maya Moore.

For most of the game yesterday, I was having Stanford flashbacks as Vandy was making shot after shot. Every time we would come back, The Dores would sink another bucket and with the way we were playing D I figure the trip to Raleigh would be a short one. In the end, the defense clamped down when it need to and Vanderbilt didn't haven an answer for #25.

And now it's on the Elite 8 again with a match up again Benedict Arnold aka Jeff Walz. After a failure of a season in 2007, he decided to jump ship instead of help us get back to the promise land. Since then we have only lost 8 games, and Coach Park has helped fix most of our defensive issues. I hope we prove to Walz that he made a mistake.

Things I liked
- Marissa. 42 and 15? Are you kidding me?
- Kim's effort on the glass. Not the tallest player and limited by her knee injury she pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds. She gets better each time I watch her.
- The defensive lockdown. Over the last 26:28 of the game, Maryland outscored Vandy, 63-41. When we needed stops we got them.

Things I would like to see more
- Better composure. We came out at the start of both halves flat and disinterested. i was really disappointed that after we cut the gap to 3 at half, we let Vandy rebuild the lead again. Teams aren't going to roll over for us anymore.
- Production from players not named Coleman and Toliver. Kizer hasn't played like the ACC Rookie of the Year the entire postseason. Marah's picture showed up on my carton of milk this morning.
- Defense. Going under screens and getting blown past on defense, isn't good. We cannot be afraid to challenge shots. If it's middle of the second half and our posts don't at least 1 foul it means we aren't challenging shots.
- Officiating. I think we got the D crew as I couldn't tell what was a foul and what wasn't. KT's charge in the first half was terrible and then at some points the refs would let them play and then again start calling touch fouls.

Back tomorrow with a preview after scouting who we could play in the Final Four.

Game 35: Vanderbilt (NCAA Sweet 16)

It's a quick turnaround after our game on Tuesday as we play again on Saturday. Vanderbilt hasn't played since Monday. This marks the second straight season that we have played Vandy in the Sweet 16. Last year we beat them 80-66 as we swamped them with defense and a quick tempo

The Commodores have won five straight including the SEC Tournament. They sit at 26-8 and among the common opponents were Virginia Tech (W, 72-43) and Mississippi State (L, 61-66). They are known for switches defenses to try and throw teams off. Expect to see some junk defenses along with what looked like some match up zone. Since the injury to Hanna Toumi, they have had to go small as they play four guards and one post.


PPG/OPP: 71.8/58.3
FG%/OPP: .456/.404
3FG%/OPP: .359/.322
FT%/OPP: .733/.683
RPG/OPP: 34.5/33.8
ASSISTS/OPP: 15.4/11.7
TOS/OPP: 14.6/20.3
STEALS/OPP: 10.2/5.3
BLOCKS/OPP: 1/9/2.5

Starters
- #34 Christina Wirth. 6'1 senior guard/forward. At this point, the team's main presence in the paint. Leads the team in scoring and is second in rebounding. Main offensive threat having taken almost 200 more shots than the next person on the team. Will shoot the 3 and does it at a .387 clip. second on the team in steals. shoots 73.5% from the line.
- # 23 Merideth Marsh. a 5'9 junior guard. second on the team in scoring and mainly an outside shooter as 201 of her 293 shots have taken place outside the three-point line, where she shoots .393. Doesn't help rebound that much. Only missed five of 48 shots from the charity stripe.
- #2 Jennifer Resper. 5'9 senior guard. she has become the new post player with the loss of Tuomi and while small she can do a great job posting up bigger players and then using a quick move to take them to the basket. Has only taken two 3s all year and shoots 50% from the floor. Leads the team in steals and is second in assists. I think she is the heart of soul of the team. Can get into foul trouble.
- #20 Jessica Mooney. 5'8 junior guard. Averages 7.6 points per game. Will shoot the 3 if open, but only makes 25%. not a big rebounder with only 2.2 per game. Leads the team in blocked shots, meaning she comes from behind to get the ball. Third in steals.
- #22 Jence Rhodes. 5'11 sophomore guard. Averages 6.1 points per game. Only taken four 3s all year, more likely to dribble and drive to the bucket. Leads the team in assists and is second in blocked shots. Shoots 84% from the line.

The Bench
- #24 Tia Gibbs. 5'9 freshman guard. mainly stays away from the paint as she has only taken 26 free throws all year. Will shoot the 3 and makes .338 from there and has taken 48 shots inside the arc. Not a big rebounder.
- #3 Chanel Chisholm. 5'11 sophomore guard. Doesn't shoot the 3. makes 50% of her shots. will help on the glass and create steals.
- #5 Lauren Lueders. 5'8 junior guard. Averages 8 minutes per game. Mainly a 3-point shooter. Doesn't help rebound. more of a point guard.
- #12 Jordan Coleman. 5'11 freshman forward. Has taken 25 shots all year and only plays only 5.8 minutes per game. Not a three-point threat.

Keys to the Game
- Rebound. Again we have a height advantage and we need to control the boards on both ends of the floor.
- Control Wirth. The offense flows through her. Limit her touches and force her to play defense and it will limit Vandy's chances.
- Dictate the pace. We can't let Vandy set up their defense and the best way to do that is to play fast. They have given up more than 70 only five times this year.
- We need a third scorer. Just like against Utah, someone else has to step up. Last year against Vandy, Marah had a huge game and we are going to need her and Lynetta to show what made them H.S. AAs.
- Play defense and limit the turnovers.
- EAT KIDS

Before we start, we will know who we play. I hope it's not Benedict Arnold and his Cardinals.

Maryland Heads to Raleigh, Utah Heads Back Home

For the third time in four years, Maryland is headed to the Sweet 16. Unlike the previous two trips, this one was a lot easier as both wins came via double digit and neither game was in doubt with 10 minutes to go. Now it's time for the real fun to begin as each time we will play from here on it, won't be as easy as the first two. While we are playing in ACC Country, we have never played at the RBC Center so the venue will be new to us.

Utah gave us a tough game at the start seemingly making every shot. At one point they built a seven-point lead, but then Maryland buckled down on defense and grabbed neither every rebound (Marissa had more rebounds than Utah in the first half and the Utes had only 4 rebounds in the last 14 minutes of the half). Offensively the team clicked and after a few blinks the Terps were up 8 and then a few blinks later they were up double digits.

The second half seemed more like a walk-through as we only shot 22%, but our rebounding power kept Utah at bay.

It was disappointing that KT and Marissa missed their last shots at Comcast Center, then again they missed their first shots too.

Standing between us and St. Lo is a rematch with Vandy from last year and either Benedict Arnold and the Redcoats or Baylor.

What I liked
- Marissa's aggressiveness on the glass. 18 rebounds is impressive no matter who you are playing. Every time I looked up she was grabbing another board. I was hoping for 20 but that's me being selfish.
- The play of Dee Liles. Her athleticism was on full display as she grabbed 17 boards and was flying all over the place.
- the defense. We really limited Utah's looks at the basket. It didn't hurt that #1 decided not to shoot the entire game. Back-to-back games of holding opponents under 60.

What I would like to see more
- Kizer establish herself. Two NCAA games and she has been invisible. We need her to do more.
- Better execution in the second half. We shot 22% in the second half and if not for our rebounding, Utah would have made it a lot closer. KT seemed to force it a bit and we should have kept going inside.
- Less Turnovers. 16 is too much against a team that didn't force the action. We had a lot of unforced TOs.

A few days off now until the Sweet 16.

Game 34: Utah (NCAA Second Round)

After a day of rest, we are back in action this time playing Utah in what will be Kristi and Marissa's last ever home game at the Comcast Center. Four years of memories have come down to this one day. I am sure there will be very few dry eyes when the clock hits 00:00 tonight.

Before the preview just two quick points:
1. Starting tonight, every one we will play from here to the Final Four will have motivation against us. Utah, Vandy, LSU, South Dakota State and Baylor have all been beaten by Kristi and Marissa during their careers and we all know Benedict Arnold would love a crack at Maryland.
2. With Tennessee's loss to Ball State(Don't know if you had heard, ESPN barely mentions this), the Lady Vols now own the record for earliest exit by a defending champ. We previously held that mark.

Utah was the winner of the Mountain West Conference Tournament and enters the second round with a record of 23-9. Among the common opponents for them and us: South Dakota State (L, 70-58), Virginia (L, 65-57), TCU (W, 73-63; L, 53-47).

The Utes like to run a ton of screens on offense and continually attack the hoop. The scored at will against Nova on Sunday. on defense they play tight man-to-man defense and will do their best to frustrate opponents. Nova was a great three-point shooting team and Utah took that part out of their game the other day. Utah gave us fits three years ago, but then again almost the entire team had the flu and I haven't heard that we are suffering from it again.

PPG/OPP: 63.3/54.7
FG%/OPP: .443/.342
3FG%/OPP: .347/.289
FT%/OPP: .803/.720
RPG/OPP: 38.8/30.8
APG/OPP: 14.4/10.9
TOPG/OPP: 17.7/13.4
SPG/OPP: 7.0/8.5
BLOCKS/OPP: 3.3/2.8

The Starters
- #15 Morgan Warburton. a 5'11 senior guard. Leads the team in scoring at 18.6 per game. Shoots 43% from the floor and 39% from behind the arc and 90% from the line. leads the team in assists and turnovers and is second in steals. Will rebound the ball as she gets 6.3 per game. Played in the Elite 8 game.
- #2 Kalee Whipple. 6' junior forward. Second on the team in scoring (16.8), assists (99) and turnovers (109). Shoots 44% from the floor, 37.4% from 3 and 77.2% from the line. has taken more threes than Warburton. rebounds 6.2 per game. Leads the team in steals but that tends to get her in foul trouble as she has fouled out 5 times this year.
- #31 Katie King. 6'1 senior forward. Averages 11.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. Stays mainly inside the arc making 57.2% of her shots. Has shot 4 threes this season making only one. Is a 92% free throw shooter but has only taken 73 foul shots, which tells me she doens't go after contact. second on the team in blocks.
- #22 Halie Sawyer. 6'1 junior forward. Averages 7.3 points and 7.8 rebounds (leads team) per game.Shoots 42.8% from the floor and 65.1% from the line. Has taken 28 threes this season and made only 4. leads the team in blocked shots. Has fouled out of 3 games.
- #1 Janita Badon. 5'6 freshman guard. Didn't start the entire year until postseason play. Averages 3.3 points per game and has taken only 94 shots the entire year (the first four have taken 200+). Made 6 of 30 threes and is third on the team in assists. makes 60.6% of her free throws. will help rebound.


The Bench
- #5 Hannah Stephens. 5'8 freshman guard. was the starter until the postseason started. Like Baden she rarely shoots the ball, but it seems like she liked to shoot the 3 more than Badon did as 40 of her 72 shots have come from behind the arc. Doesn't really rebound.
- #23 Deanne Stevenson. 6'3 senior center. In there to help rebound. Has only taken 22 shots all year.
- #20 Sasha McKinnon. 6'0 junior guard. Three-point shooting threat.
- #10 Josi McDermott. 6'0 freshman guard. Has taken 16 shots all year, 4 of 6 from behind the arc.

Keys to the Game
- Dictate the Tempo. Utah will want to play slow to let their defense settle. Three years ago that worked because we had a short bench, this year it shouldn't. Grab the ball and beat them down the court before they can set up. Same goes for defense. Force Utah to play faster than they are used to. The Utes haven't given up more than 63 points in 2009 and haven't scored more than 79/
- Rebound the ball. Again we have a height advantage at nearly every spot. Rebounding allows us to pick up the pace and prevents second chance points.
- Switch on screens. Utah will run their players through screen after screen hoping to free up the offense. Against Nova, I saw a few players run the same the circular route over and over until they got a free look at the hoop. We either have to switch or hedge them to disrupt the passing lanes.
- Attack the inside. Kizer and Liles need to have big games to free up the middle even more.
- Don't make this about you. I hope Coach Park doesn't make it his mission to embarass the Utes. He's at a new school now and he doesn't need to prove to the old staff that he is so much better than them. Just coach the game like a normal one.
- Have Fun.
- Eat Kids


After our game you can also watch LSU-Louisville and Baylor-SDSU to see who else is in our Regional.

Terps' Speed Wilts Ivy League's Dartmouth

1 down, 3 to go in Maryland's March to the Arch or Arc as Marissa calls it. The Terps finally hit the court after nearly 14 days off and the rust showed. Luckily, Dartmouth seemed to be in awe of us and missed several shots early. Also, KT was on fire in the first half as she matched the Big Green's first half total. It was great though to see the starters on the bench laughing it up as the game entered the final minutes. I hope we can see that 5 more times this season.

Now it's on to Utah, which was the only upset in the Raleigh Regional (If you call 9 over 8 an upset). Baylor struggled with UTSA as Coack Mulkey was in the hospital, but the higher seeds rolled in the other games.

What I liked
- KT's aggressiveness. She definitely attacked the paint more than I have seen her and she knew others were struggling. We didn't need another close early game which has been our MO.
- The Rebounding. We had the height advantage and we used. an 18 board advantage is great no matter who you play.
- The Traps. The 3/4 court trap seemed to throw Dartmouth off a bit and allowed to pick up the pace on our offense.
- Everyone got involved. Mingo who has been MIA the last half of the year scored eight points and maybe will have some confidence if we need her again.

What I would like to see more
- Another scorer. We can't keep trying to win games without a viable third option. The posts definitely need to score more than 15 points combined when we have an advantage inside.
- Better defense. Dartmouth was able to drive and cut it's way to the hoop most of the game. Maybe it was rust, but not everyone is going to miss layups.


Sorry for the delay, I got caught up with the UT-BSU game and Baylor-UTSA.

Game 33: Dartmouth (NCAA Tournament First Round)

After a two-week hiatus, we are back in action and this time it's win or the season is over. Luckily for us we get to play at the Friendly Confines of the Comcast Center where we have won 34 straight games. I am hope the place is rocking.

Earlier this week, Toliver and Coleman were named Second Team ESPN.com All-Americans, which is a joke, and are still alive for the State Farm All-America Team. Somehow Toliver was the only one who made the CBS Sportsline All-America Teams.

Dartmouth won the Ivy League to earn their bid into the NCAA Tournament. This is the second time we have played an Ivy League team in the first round in recent memory as we played Harvard a few years ago. The Big Green enters the game with a record of 18-10 and 13-1 in the Ivy League. Their last game was a win over Harvard on March 10, which essentially decided the league title. Their only common opponent was BC, which they lost to by 34.

PPG/OPP: 56.8/55.1
FG%:/OPP: .376/.367
3FG%/OPP: .323/.314
FT%/OPP: .696/.709
RPG/OPP: 38.7/33.4
ASSISTS/OPP: 9.8/12.1
TOS/OPP: 18.6/16.9
STEALS/OPP: 8.2/7.6
BLOCKS/OPP: 3.3/3.5

The Starters:
-Brittney Smith: a 6'1 sophomore forward who leads the team in scoring at 14.1, rebounding at 8.2 rpg and blocks at 40. She doesn't shoot 3s and only make 60 percent of her free throws. She can get into foul trouble.
-Koren Schram: a 5'7 senior guard who is second on the team in scoring at 12.1. Like Smith she has taken 307 shots this year with more than half coming from outside the arc where she shoots 34.1%. She doesn't attack the paint that much having only taken 80 foul shots. Leads the team in assists and steals and will help on the glass.
- Darcy Rose: 6'2 senior forward/center who is third on the team in scoring and second in rebounding. Doesn't shoot 3s but shoots 74.6 from the free throw line. Can get into foul trouble. Doesn't really block shots.
- Margaret Smith: a 6'1 junior guard/forward. 4th on the team in scoring and third in rebounding. Mainly stays inside the arc but has taken 39 shots from outside this year and made a third of them. Has only attempted 51 free throws all year.
- Meghan McFee: 5'10 sophomore guard. Has started 16 games this year. Shoots 34% from 3. Very rarely attacks the bucket. Will help distribute the ball. Third on the team in steals.

The Bench
- Betsy Williams: 6'0 junior guard. Shoots 27. 3% from the floor and 30.8% from behind the arc. She basically rotates with McFree at the guard slot. Doesn't help rebound that much. shoots 65.4% from the line.
- Cassie Cooper: 6'2 sophomore forward. Plays 15 minutes per game and has taken only 95 shots all year. will take the three (has taken 20), not a big rebounder, but a better passer.
- No one else on the bench has played more than 19 games this season or more than 5 minutes per game.

Keys to the Game
- Take the ball and go. Dartmouth has scoredmore than 70 only twice in 2009. They cannot keep up with us if we play our game. We can't let them dictate the pace on either end.
- Rebound. We have a little height advantage and she be able to use it.
- Take care of the ball. Just because it is Dartmouth doesn't mean we can play bad. We need to bring it for at least 25-30 minutes and put this game away.
- Getting rest for KT and Marissa.