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.

Terps Receive Tough Draw on Their March to the Arch

ESPN finally had some mercy on us as they announced Maryland in the first bracket instead of waiting until the end as they normally do.

Here's a quick look at our bracket.
1st round - Dartmouth: Ivy League team. Should be able to defeat them with our skill and size.
2nd round - Villanova/Utah: One's a rematch with Daron's former team which had a surprising run to the Mountain West Tournament title, the other is against a team that runs its offense slower than a snail walks.
Sweet 16 - Kansas State/Vandy: K-State has one of the top PGs in the country and Vandy will look for revenge from last year.
Elite 8 - Louisville/LSU/South Dakota State/Baylor: We could face Benedict Arnold, a defensive-minded LSU team which is surging, a mid-major which we beat earlier this year and a Big 12 team that saw it's star go down with injury a few weeks ago.

Overall I think it's a tough bracket that is going to force us to play different ways. Nova will slow us down and Louisville will press us all over the place.

We have to bring our A game every night to make it to St. Louis.

First game is Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

See the bracket here.

It's Selection Monday!

For the first time in a long, long time the terps head into selection Monday knowing where they will play each of their six games in the tournament. First two are at Comcast Center, then we head to Raleigh and finally to St. Louis.

The only questions that remain:
1. Who will we play?
2. When do we get our crack at UConn? Another shot at Stanford would be nice too.

Check back here after the announcement for a quick analysis of our March to the Arch.

I know you have all missed it

The song from our recent title run:



And the song from our NCAA title run:

Love and Memories

Today's Front Page of the Post

Terps Use Overtime Again to Take Title Away From Duke

Duke really has to be sick and tired of playing us in Championship games. First there was April 2006 where they were hoping to take home their first-ever National Title and then there was March 2009 where they were looking to win the ACC title again. Unfortunately, both games went to overtime and to quote the title of Brenda's book "Overtime is Our Time." Both games wouldn't have went to OT if not for some amazing game-tying shots. We all know about KT's shot and if Duke won, we would have all known about Black's tip in.

In the end, we withstood the Duke pressure and some key three-point misses by Abby Waner and Joy Cheek (yes, Joy Cheek) and who is standing on the line with the Terps leading by 1? Only a player who coming into this weekend had played 56 minutes and scored 43 points all year, but she was wearing #22 and Shay's spirit must have shown through as Kim Rodgers calmy sank both free throws. After a long 3 and a jump ball, Maryland was ACC Champions for the first time since 1989.

While Marissa deserved MVP honors, Kim should get a share of it as she played 56 minutes and scored 30 points this weekend, most of which was needed as Marah slumped until a five-minute stretch in the middle of the second half.

We played fantastic and made stops when we had to. Plus, we didn't let the refs affect us as much as it normally would.

Enjoy the win while I make a manicure appointment and try to get She Can Play out of my head.

Game 32: Ekud (ACC Tournament)

Another day, another game. While we have had two nailbiting games, Ekud has coasted to two victories and has only trailed by 40 seconds the entire tournament. It seems as if loss to us has sparked Ekud's offense as they have scored more than 75 in their last four games.

A win today gives us our first ACC title since 1989 and also prevents a team named Ekud or UNC from winning the crown in the last 11 years.

Keys to the Game
- Rebound. We did a great job yesterday and need to do the same day. Duke has the height like UNC did.
- Defend. Ekud plays better defense than UNC and we can't expect to win by not making key stops.
- Pick up the tempo. Ekud wants to slow the game down and wear you out with their defense. The quicker we get the ball down the floor and score will disrupt their chance of setting up their defense.
- Attack Black. She's the key to their offense. Get her in foul trouble and the lane opens up more.
- Handle the pressure. I expect to see more pressure D from Ekud as their recent plan has been to blitz their opponents and then let their D do the work. KT will be held and grabbed, etc.
- Don't let Waner or Thomas get hot. If they start feeling it, it could be a long day.

Terps Run Past Heels into ACC Title Game

Like a great boxing match this game went back and forth. Everytime we had Carolina on the ropes, the Tar Heels stormed back and would take a lead. But Marissa wasn't going home early for the third time in her career. A bucket here, a pass there and then a huge 3 and Maryland was back in control. UNC took one last swing and who was standing at the free throw line with the team only up 3? Marissa who sank both free throws to put us up 5.

It's now onto the ACC Championship game tomorrow at 1 with both teams looking for revenge against the Terps. I hope the team is getting plenty of fluids and resting because we will need a great effort for 40 minutes tomorrow. Here's hoping the constant hounding of KT doesn't affect her mental make up and she continues to go to the line.

What I liked
- The play of Kim Rodgers. For the second straight game she has stepped up big and has provided the offense for an ineffective Marah Strickland. Kim is going to force teams to not leave her open if she keeps doing this.
- The effort on the glass. We outrebounded UNC by seven and showed great hustle.
- Composure. We never panicked when UNC made their run. The signs of a veteran team.
- Free Throw Shooting. great effort and the 80% especially the ones down the stretch sealed the deal.

What I would like to see more:
- Holding on to leads. We blew at least 3 nine-point or larger leads. UNC is a good team but we need to deliver a knockout punch.
- Marah Strickland's offense. 1-for-12 in the tournament. Kim has been bailing her out thus far.

Game 31: North Carolina (ACC Semifinals)

Less than 24 hours after our win over Wake, we are back in action today (Why the #1 seed gets less than the #4 seed I will never know). This time playing the reigning ACC Champion North Carolina Tar Heels. Carolina had an easy win over Clemson (Thanks Georgia Tech) and should be more rested. They also know that they have won this thing so many times in a row that the pressure is all on the other team. Plus, they will have somewhat of a homecourt of advantage as the crowd will have a lot of light blue in it. I do hope the Dukies cheer for us just once.

Keys to the Game
- Rebound the ball. Carolina is outrebounding opponents by 4 per game. We outrebounded them by 13 the first time thanks to great games by Marissa, Dee and Lynetta. We will need the same effort today.
- Hound the ball handlers. Carolina loves to turn the ball over, but they can only do that if they are being pressured.
- Attack Breland. Get her in foul trouble and than opens up the lane a little more.
- Play at our pace, not Carolina pace. UNC loves to do everything fast, if we can slow the pace down to slightly under fast that would be great.
- Someone besides KT and Marissa will need to score. We got 10 and 12 from Lynetta and Dee respectively the first time. Need that again today.
- Don't let McCants get hot. If she makes her first couple she will continue to expand her range. she's not a great 3-pt shooter, but if she's feeling it the shots will fly.
- Hands up on the three-point shooters. UNC's guard are shorter than ours and we can't let them have open looks.

Terps Survive and Advance Past Wake Forest

Well, they say a win is a win and it wasn't more appropriate than today. Hopefully, this was our typical clunker of a game that always happens on the first day of the ACC Tournament. Now that we got it out of our system we can rebound against UNC tomorrow at 1 p.m.

Wake Forest led 63-51 with a little under 10 minutes left and I wasn't seeing any spark out of the team. Then Kristi hit a 3 and it ignited a 19-2 run and put us in the lead for good. It looked as if the team panicked because Marissa and KT weren't scoring and that three let them know everything was going to be ok.

I do give the Deacons a ton of credit as their defense and offense gave us fits almost the entire game. Their tight d on KT and Marissa forced us to use other players to score and we didn't react well until the seniors took over. On offensive, they screened their way all over the floor to create mismatches. Also they couldn't miss shots.

Some milestones reached today:
- KT is now #2 in the ACC in assists with 730, she needs 50 to pass Sharnee Zoll.
- MC becomes the second ACC Player with 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 200 steals and 100 blocks. I think she could also be the first player in NCAA history with 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 400 assists, 200 steals and 100 blocks.

What I liked:
- It looked like the old Dee Liles was back as she was jumping all over the place getting rebounds.
- the play of Kim Rodgers. She hasn't seen much time but with Marah saddled with foul trouble she came in and scored seven points in the first half including two deep balls.
- The intensity with the game on the line. Wake was feeling it and if you Tivo'ed the game I believe there was a giddy Sue Semrau cheering when Collier or Tchangoue made a jumper near the WF bench in the middle of the second half.
- Kizer calling for the ball and knowing she could take her player. Now if she would just use the glass on her layups.

What I would like to see more:
- Taking care of the ball. We were just giving Wake the ball.
- Better defense. We didn't switch on screens and Wake had easy looks.
- Marah Strickland's offense and decision making. 1) she missed a ton of open looks 2) the game was on the line and we have a one possession lead and she shoots the ball way early in the shot clock. If you take that shot you have to make it.
- Better Free throw shooting. back-to-back games where we have struggled from the line.


The Keys to the UNC game will be up before the game tomorrow, just don't expect a full breakdown.

Toliver Named ACC Player of the Year

For the second straight season, Maryland takes home ACC Player of the Year honors as Kristi Toliver was chosen as the winner earlier today.

Congrats to Kristi, although I felt Marissa deserved it based on her play recently.

I really wish they would stop hiding the votes.

Game 30: Wake Forest (ACC Quarterfinals)

And now the fun begins. The Terps now enter the portion of their schedule where it's win or go home. Once again, Maryland had the luxory of watching another team play before taking to the court in Greensboro. This year's first round opponent is Wake Forest, a team that currently sits on the NCAA bubble in some people's eyes.

The last time we saw Wake Forest it was the first game of the ACC season and the Deacs were ranked in the top 25. 15 games later, WFU went 5-9 in the conference, while we went 12-2.

Record: 19-10
PPG/OPP: 65.6/59.0
FG%/OPP: .380/.384
3FG%/OPP: .300/.293
FT%/OPP: .664/.695
RPG/OPP: 37.9/41.3
APG/OPP: 14.3/10.5
TOS/OPP: 16.9/23.2
STEALS/OPP: 12.4/9.7
BLOCKS/OPP: 2.6/3.1

The Starters
- Alex Tchangoue. 5-11 guard/forwards. Second on the team in points and assists, first in rebounds and steals. Shoots 42% from the floor and 33% from behind the arc. Will drive the ball.
- Corinne Groves. 6-3 forward. Leads the team in points, but third in rebounds. Stays mainly in the paint and doesn't shoot 3s. When she gets the ball she is usually going to take the shot as she doesn't look to pass.
- Secily Ray. 5-11 guard. fourth on the team in scoring, second in rebounding and first in blocks. shoots only 35% from the floor. will take the three if left open, just not very good at it (26%). Likes to attack the bucket, but shooting 65% from the free throw line. Will get into foul trouble as she has fouled out of 3 games this year.
- Brooke Thomas. 5-4 guard. The team's point guard. sixth on the team in scoring at 5.7 ppg. Leads the team in assists as well as turnovers. shoots 28% from the floor and 14% from behind the arc (4-27). A decent free throw shooter at 67%.
- Courtney Morris. 5-11 guard. sixth on the team at scoring and fifth in rebounding. Shooting 33% from the floor and behind the arc. Primarily a jump shooter who rarely attacks the rim. 55% free throw shooter. will help on d as she is second on the team in steals.

The Bench
- Brittany Waters. 6-1 forward. third on the team in scoring and fourth in rebounding. makes 41% of her shots and 37% of her threes (has taken 100 threes this year) Can block shots, but will also get into foul trouble.
- Camille Cooper. 5-6 guard. fifth on the team in scoring. Another gunner who would prefer to stay outside the lane. all but 70 of her shots have been from 3 where she has made 26% of them. Doesn't help rebound.
- Sarah Riddle. 6-5 center. Barely plays and doesn't factor a whole lot into their offense . Doesn't shoot the 3.

Keys to the Game
- Play our game. This game should be over at halftime if we play the way we have been playing for the last month. Wake will try to slow it down to keep it close. We need to get the ball and go. Also, we need to rest some players given the games that await us.
- Rebound the ball. We have a height advantage on Wake and there is no reason why they should outrebound us.
- Get other players involved. I liked the plan against Miami on Sunday and hope we see more of the same today.


With the game at 3 and on TV, I have a feeling those who aren't in Greensboro will be enjoying happy hour even earlier.

Kizer Named ACC Rookie of the Year

For the third time in five years a Terp has earned ACC Rookie of the Year Honors as Lynetta Kizer was selected by the panel yesterday. Kizer was also named to the All-Rookie Team and was joined by fellow Terp recruiting targets Chay Shegog and Cierra Bravard.

Tuesday's Tidbits

- We moved up to #4 in the latest AP poll thanks to non-conference opponent UCLA's win over California.
- Marissa was named ACC Player of the Week
- Marissa and Kristi were chosen First Team All-ACC. It marks the second straight year the Terps have accomplished this feat and fifth-straight year with at least one first teamer. I do find it interesting that the ACC didn't release the votes this year meaning chances are high there was only one unanimous player and that person will be the POY.

Terps Crown Miami to Take ACC Title

15 minutes into the game and you could already hear the managers preparing the champagne in the visiting lockerroom as the Terps were up by double-digits and Miami looked completely lost. (I doubt there was champagne but it's a good analogy) For the first time in 20 years, Maryland is the ACC Champion. Although the real titles they want will warrant another 3 and 9 consecutive victories.

Maryland now awaits the winner of NC State and Wake Forest on Thursday and then we go on from there.

It was funny to watch the game and see and hear more Terps' fans than Miami fans.

It was puzzling not to see Coach Floyd on the bench. I hope she gets over whatever illness she has in time for the ACC Tournament because I doubt anything else would keep her from being at the game that would secure the title.

I am sure you have seen the new poll I added to the site about ACC Player of the Year. I have a feeling we could split the vote and someone may swoop in and take it. My pick is for Coleman who has played so great the last eight games that she has pushed past Toliver as the team's most valuable player.

Things I liked
- Establishing other players. It seemed like the plan was to let Kizer take advantage of her height. There was also stretches where it seemed like Marah and the supporting cast were told to look to score before Toliver and Coleman did.
- The domination on the glass. Everytime I looked up a Maryland player was flying through the air. 52 rebounds has to be close to a season-high.
- Marissa driving to the bucket. Marissa saw the mismatch and routinely used her size and speed to take the Canes to the bucket over and over again.
- The defense. I think we forced Miami to do things they weren't comfortable doing and as a result they threw bad passes and tried to rush their offense.
- The Miami radio crew. They weren't biased and in fact I think they were more anti-Miami than anything else. I do want to know who was the source that revealed that Marissa and Kristi were top 10 WNBA picks. He/she could be the next Deep Throat.

Things I would like to see more of
- Practicing lay ups. too many easy shots were missed today. Luckily we got the rebounds.

Game 29: at Miami

The Year was 1989: George Bush the dad was President, the Berlin Wall fell down, stamps cost a quarter, Marissa and KT were two, the Basketcases were part of Weller's Women and Vicky Bullett was the career leader in points and rebounds.

Now's its 2009: George Bush the son was just President, stamps cost 42 cents, Marissa and KT are 22, the Basketcases are Basketcases and Vicky Bullet is third in career points and rebounds (soon to be fourth in points).

What do they have in common? 1989 was the last time ACC Champion and Maryland Terps was uttered in the same sentence and tomorrow around 4 p.m. that sentence could be uttered again.

Miami is all that stands in the way of that becoming reality. Hoping the girls aren't spending any time on South Beach until after the game. Miami is playing for pride at this point and possibly Katie Meier's job as they have had another disappointing year (somewhere Fern is laughing). The Hurricanes are 2-11 in conference play and most likely the 10 seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament. They have been giving teams fits lately but then struggle down the stretch.

Miami
Record: 13-15
Common Non-Conference Opponents: None
PPG/OPP: 65.9/63.0
FG%/OPP: .400/.387
3FG%/OPP: .276/.314
FT%/OPP: .638/.681
RPG/OPP: 37.9/42.5
TOS/OPP: 16.9/21.2
STEALS/OPP: 11.3/8.9
BLOCKS/OPP: 4.8/3.4

The Starters:
- Shenise Johnson. 5'11 freshman forward who leads the team in almost every category. The favorite for ACC ROY. More of an inside game but will shoot the 3 if you let her. Shoots 85% from the line.
- LaToya Cunningham. 5'6 senior guard. Prefers to stay outside the paint and shoot jumpers. best three-point shooter. shoots only 61% from the line. Doesn't help on that glass that much.
- Epiphany Woodson. 5'8 sophomore guard. fourth in scoring. will shoot the 3 but only shooting 22% from there. Rarely gets to the line and rarely fouls the other team. She also has no steals which says to me, she doesn't play defense.
- Charmaine Clark. 5'11 junior forward. 5th on the team in scoring. Rarely shoots the 3. Will help on the glass. third on the team in assists. second in blocked shots. Mainly an inside presence.
- Sylvia Bullock. 6'2 freshman from Alaska (I doubt she complains about the weather). Plays about 12 minutes a game. Doesn't shoot the 3. shoots 43% from the line. not much of an offensive or rebounding threat.
The Reserves
- Riquna Williams. 5'7 freshman guard. second leading scorer. Makes 22% of her threes yet continues to jack up shots. Not much of a rebounder and rarely passes the ball.
- Lamese James. 6'1 senior forward. Another player who rarely factors into the offense having taken only 82 shots all year. Not much of a passer. Will help on defense.
- Diane Barnes. 6'2 junior forward. Inside player who is third on the team in rebounding. Not a great free throw shooter. Tends to get in foul trouble.
- LaToya Drake. 6'2 senior forward. Averages 5.9 points and 3.4 rebounds. Not a three point shooter but will get involved in the offense. Another not so good free throw shooter.
- Briyana Blair. 5'10 sophomore combo player. Plays about 11 minutes a game. Has made only 3 threes all year. She can be left open on the jumper. Not a big help on the glass.

Keys to the Game
- Control Johnson. She's the entire team. I have a feeling that Marah will find out if she is wearing deodorant by the end of the night.
- Rebound the ball. We easily have the height advantage and there is no reason to not win the battle on the glass.
- Watch for the senior day burst. Miami's players may try to send out the Hurricanes on a winning note. We need to end that quickly.
- Control the tempo. I haven't seen Miami play but I doubt they have much of offense. If we get them helter skelter, we will be fine.
- Establish other scores. Kizer, Liles and Strickland need to know that they can score and we will need them in the postseason.


The game is on ACC Select, something else that wasn't around in 1989.

Seniors Shine on Senior Night

Here I was worried that our seniors would get too emotional with all the pregame ceremonies. Turns out they decided that they would try to beat a team by themselves for the second straight game. While they did combine for 59 points, the defense was lacking today and we needed a late push to seal the deal. I would have liked to see Coach take a timeout with 16 seconds left and sub out Marissa and Kristi but I can be petty at times.

The win makes us undefeated at home in the ACC for the second straight season. Also, we are a win over Miami from winning our first ACC regular season title in a long time.

A win on Sunday means we will either face BC, Wake or NC State in the second round of the ACC Tournament. BC plays NC State on Sunday and if they win they get the 7 seed. NC State needs a win and a win by Virginia to get the 7 seed.

What I liked:
- The fire that Coleman and Toliver are playing with lately. It's now kind of shocking when they miss.
- Marah and Anjale's defense on Picco in the first half. Picco didn't realize her shadow would follow her all over the court. BC's coach made some adjustments and continually ran Picco off of screens to help free her up.
- The lack of turnovers. Eight is great for a game that was fast-paced. I thought we had more.

What I would have liked to see more of:
- Defense. Maybe it's BC, but we seem to not play defense against them. It could be an over focus on the post players but this is the second time a BC bench player have a career night.
- Rebounding. Swords was saddled with foul trouble and we still lost the battle of the boards.
- Other scoring options. It's great to see the seniors shine, but other people need to score. Marah's outside shooting was non-existent and no one else really looked to score.

Game 28: Boston College

Fresh off the big win over Ekud on Sunday, the Terps have another emotional game tonight. But it's a different kind of emotion as we sort of say goodbye to Kristi and Marissa tonight (they will be back for the 1st and 2nd rounds of the tournament). Last year's senior game was very emotional with the entire team crying during pregame festivities and it looked like it took us a half to wake up. We also needed OT to beat Florida State. I hope tonight we can keep our emotions in check until after the game when this happens:



The opponent tonight is Boston College a team we played five games ago. You can read my report about BC here and then check on the recap.

A win tonight puts us another step closer to the #1 seed in the tournament.

Keys to the Game
- Rebound the ball. Dee and Lynetta did a great job in the first match up and we need them to do more of the same tonight.
- Play defense. Last time we let BC do what they wanted on offense and it sparked a trip from AD Yow to practice. This time Ms. Yow can walk into the huddle to impart some words of wisdom if the D is under par.
- Attack the Trees. Swords and Murphy can't keep up with our speed and as a result it should result in fouls.
- Hands up on defense. just a hand in a shooter's face can make all the difference.
- Play cool and calm and the rest will be fine.

Wednesday Words

- Wahoo for the Wahoos. A big thanks goes to the Virginia Cavaliers for upsetting Florida State and putting us in the driver's seat for the Regular Season ACC Title. Two more wins and the #1 seed is ours.
- Marissa earned ACC Player of the Week honors again.
- Charlie Creme moved us up to a one seed as did Jerry Palm
- The Diamondback did a story on Marissa and KT's recent play.

Toliver and Coleman Nearly Defeat Duke By Themselves

What a weekend at the Comcast Center. First the men upset UNC, then the women lay an old fashion beatdown on the Blue Devils. The first half was a little frustrating with the team's tentativeness on offense, but I knew if we kept it close the second half would be ours - and it was.

That was the best opening minutes of the second half I have seen us play in a long time. Usually we look like we are going through the motions, but we played aggressively and let Duke know they were going to have to work for the victory.

The win almost guarantees us a two seed in the ACC Tournament. We have to win our remaining two games and Friday will be hard as Kristi and Marissa will be emotional. To get the 1 seed we need a huge win by Virginia later this week as Miami collapsed in the final minute of their game against FSU.

What I loved
- Kicking the crap out of Duke and watching Coach P look dumbfounded the entire game.
- Kizer and Dee's defensive presence. While most here will pick Toliver or Coleman for player of the game, my vote is between Kizer and Dee. Those two disrupted most of Duke's low post game by either blocking shots, tipping the ball away and grabbing key rebounds. Without that this is a shootout.
- Strickland's defense. I think if you asked Marah what flavor gum Abby was chewing she would have known. Except for a few times, Marah won the game of shadow. Now if she could just work on her offense a little bit.
- Yemi. Honestly, when Yemi came into the game I was worried that Duke would take over in the post, but Yemi held her ground and even came up with some key rebounds.
- Toliver's decision making. Kristi was feeling it early but she did her best to keep her teammates involved and that's great change from earlier in the year.
- Watching the starters on the bench with a minute to go and a huge lead.
- Kicking the crap out of Duke.

Leave it for Rick Maese to be the wet blanket today.

We also said Goodbye to Sa'de yesterday who has decided to remain in school but not with the team. I wish her good luck but it would be nice for her to at least be on the bench like Christie Marrone did last year and Emery is doing this year.

Game 27: Ekud

Another game, another tough-minded defensive team on the horizon. For the third-straight game, Maryland will play a team whose MO is defense first, offense second. The first two games have seen us handle the physical play well and let's hope the third team goes just as well.

This is the second time we play Duke last year and if you recall the first game, we should have won that one too. Marissa was cramping up and Marah was at home battling illness not the same one she battled in December. We lost by 3 and were missing two key contributors. Had we grabbed a few more rebounds the game probably would have went another way.

By my calculations, this game could decide the first three seeds in the tournament. A win by us, locks us into at least the two seed if we win our remaining games as we would own the tiebreaker thanks to our win over FSU. A loss and we drop to the 3 seed and possibly the four seed as Duke would own the tiebreaker. More on this after tomorrow's game.

Record: 22-3 (9-2 ACC)
Non-Conference Common Opponents: -
PPG/OPP: 71.4/55.5
FG%/OPP: .408/.342
3FG%/OPP: .306/.291
FT%/OPP: .683/.642
RPG/OPP: 45.4/36.6
TOs/OPP: 20.0/23.8
Steals/OPP: 13.8/9.5
Blocks/OPP: 5.8/3.0

The Starters
- Chante Black. 6'5 post player who leads the team in points, rebounds, blocks. Can shooter a jumper and has attempted two threes this year (missed both). The offense essentially runs through her at this point. Has fouled out of two games this year.
- Abby Waner. Possibly the last time we will ever see Abby play at Comcast and her career has continually gone down since freshman year. Second on the team in points (9.7), first in steals and assists and three-pointers made. Will help a little on the glass. You never know which Waner will show up - the dead eye or the one who just chucks up shots. She leads the team in steals because she is the one who comes over to help on the trap or lies in wait for the errant pass.
- Jasmine Thomas. Quick point guard. Can shoot the 3 and will do if left open. Great hands and can create turnovers. Not the best shooter.
- Carrem Gay. Lanky forward who is there to help on defense. second on the team in rebounding. Will shoot the 3. second in steals.
- Bridgette Mitchell. Thrust into the starting line up 3 games ago and is the fifth scoring option on the team. Will shoot if open but defers to teammates first.

The Bench
- Joy Cheek. The Muscle down low. very physical player who uses her size to her advantage. Has range on her jumper and will step out and take the 3. Usually gets in foul trouble.
- Karima Christmas. Another one of Duke's defensive pests. Creates turnovers and blocks shots. Shoots 50% from the floor and 40% from behind the arc.
- Keturah Jackson. Heart and soul of the team. Coach G buried her on the bench but Coach P loves her hustle and intensity. Not a great shooter and is in there to create havoc.
- Shay Shelby. Back up guard who doesn't do much.

Keys to the Game
- Control Black. She's long so fronting her will result in lobs over the top. We should play behind her and force her away from the hoop. That way if Duke misses a shot it will be harder for her to rebound.
- Control the glass. Duke has the height so Maryland will have to limit second chance opportunities. We need to go up strong for rebounds.
- Take care of the ball. Duke will want to press and force bad passes to score easy buckets. If we can get a combination of the Rutgers and GT effort I like our chances.
- Don't let Abby get hot. If she catches on fire early we are in trouble. If she misses early, she will get frustrated.
- Watch for the back door cuts. Duke loves to bring the posts high and then have the guards cut underneath for the easy bucket.
- Attack the post. Tennessee did this all night on Monday and it really affected Duke.
- Respect the 3. Unlike GT, Duke has 4 players on the court at all times that can shoot, we can't afford to sag off and leave them wide open.
- Score and score some more. Duke has broken 70 four times in the ACC this year - once was in OT, once against Clemson, Miami and Virginia. I loved the GT strategy of attacking the bucket quickly. I don't think Duke has the offense to keep up with us.

Lastly, The Washington Post is expecting another big crowd tomorrow. Not a sell out, but another big number. I hope it is louder than the men's game was today. And I don't think I need to remind any fans that it is Duke and they are led by the same woman who mocked our IQ last year and doesn't know the names of any of our players. I hope the bullies read her the riot act.

Terps Take Sting Out of Yellow Jackets

Another road game, another somewhat tight ball game. We lead by a lot for most of the game but down the stretch I was getting close to chewing at my nails. We handled the press well for the most part and as a result moved to 22-4 on the season and 9-2 in the ACC. One more ACC win and we lock up a first round bye. Although we are still gunning for the regular season ACC title.

Good to see that we can still win when Kristi has an off night. Now it's time to get ready for Ekud.

What I liked:
- The establishing of Kizer. We knew that GT couldn't handle us in the paint and from the opening tip we attacked them inside. I think Lynetta had the first 8 points for us and finished the first half with 17. Hopefully the freshman slump is over for her.
- The uptempo offense. Instead of letting GT set up the press we went at them full speed so they didn't have a chance to trap us. As a result, we scored bucket after bucket before GT knew what was happening.
- The rebounding. We had the height advantage and for the first time in three games we won the battle on the boards.
- Strickland finding other ways to score. It was good to see that Marah can shoot from other spots on the court. I was getting worried that she could only score from the corners.
- The backdoor cuts. We have been cutting on teams the last several games exceptionally well. It gives a new dimension to the offense and often leads to free throws.

What I would like to see more:
- better control of the ball. We handled the press well, but the problem was we often tried to be too fancy with the ball pretending it was an And1 Mix Tape demo. A lot of the turnovers were unforced.
- Defense. We had roughly two 10 minute stretches where we played solid D but the other times we seemed to let GT do what they wanted. 79 points is a lot for a team that rarely breaks 70. I knew the plan was to limit the dribble drives, but giving Montgomery and Williams space to shoot the 3 was a mistake.

Game 26: at Georgia Tech (ESPNU)

After two games at home, it's back to the road for the Terps and this time it's a dreaded trip to Georgia Tech. We have lost four of the last five games at Georgia Tech including two years ago when the Yellow Jackets stunned us. GT is 12-1 at home and 2-0 versus ranked teams this year.

Tech is a defensive minded team who will press and trap us the second we get off the bus. They are also physical as who can forget last year's double overtime game where 5 players fouled out for them.

This is an important game in terms of seeding for the ACC tournament and hopefully a game we don't look past as it was sandwiched between Rutgers and Duke.

Georgia Tech
Record: 18-7 (5-5 ACC)
Common Opponents: Boston College (L, 64-65), Florida State (L, 49-59), North Carolina (W, 66-62; L, 50-73), Duke (L, 34-60), Clemson (W, 49-41), Wake Forest (L,60-68), NC State (W, 67-54).
PPG/Opp: 65.7/53.9
FG%/Opp: .417/.382
3FG%/Opp: .290/.261
RPG/Opp: 38.5/33.2
TOs/Opp: 22.5/25.6
Steals/Opp: 14.0/9.1

The Starters:
- Alex Montgomery: combo guard/forward who leads the team in points (12.8) and rebounds (7.0). Second on the team in blocks and steals. Will take it inside and shoot it from outside as she is a 32.7% shooter from behind the arc. Doesn't initiate a lot of contact as she has only taken 59 free throws all year.
- Iasia Hemingway: another small guard who likes to take the ball to the hoop having attempted over 100 foul shots on the season. Third on the team in scoring and second in rebounding. Has taken only 18 threes this season.
- Deja Foster: 6'0 guard who has started the last three games. Fourth on the team in scoring, third in rebounding and third in steals. Another player who is more comfortable closer to the basket as she has only taken seven 3-pointers all year and made only 1. Shoots only 60.7% from the line.
- Sasha Goodlett: 6'5 freshman center who is fifth on the team in rebounding despite her size. Doesn't shoot the 3. Makes only 46% of her shots and 55.6% on her free throws.
- Metra Walthour: 5'6 point guard who was thrust into the starting line up after the loss to Wake Forest. Has taken 33 shots all year and only 13 threes. Doesn't rebound and only plays 10 minutes a game. I think she was put in the line up to shake things up a bit.

The Bench:
- Jacqua Williams. One time starter. Pesky defender who leads the team in steals and is second in scoring at 11.4 per game. Primary ballhandler who loves to take people off the dribble and create contact in the paint. Shoots 74.5% from the stripe. Will also shoot the three , making 23 of 77 shots during the year. Doesn't help a ton on rebounding.
-Brigitte Ardossi: 6'2 forward who also used to start. 46.2% from the floor and no three pointers. 82% free throw shooter. fourth on the team in rebounding.
- Mo Bennett: 5'10 guard who plays 13 minutes a game but comes out looking to score as she has shot 123 shots this season. 8 for 39 from 3. Doesn't venture into the paint that often with only 15 foul shots and 2.4 rebounds per game.
- LaQuananisha Adams and Chelsea Regins: freshman post players who see about nine minutes per game. Neither takes a bunch of shots and isn't much help on the glass. Nor have they shot a three all year.
- Shaday Woolcock: Another guard who doesn't shoot much but will take the three. Plays about nine minutes a game. Not much help on the glass.

Keys to the Game:
- Take care of the ball. GT will trap and press pretty much the entire game. They play a 1-3-1 press which confuses teams. We must make safe smart passes to the open players and try to get to the bucket fast. The Jackets haven't scored more than 70 against a real opponent all year.
- Rebound. the team has one player over 6'1. We need to hit the glass hard and watch for their guards coming back to help on the glass. Controlling the defensive glass will give GT less time to set up their press.
- Control Montgomery. Probably Marissa's assignment. If we can limit her scoring chances and keep her off the glass GT is in trouble. Marissa just needs to stay out of foul trouble.
- Keep our composure. GT wants us to speed up play and force it. We need to just play calm and do what we do best.
- Protect the interior. GT isn't a three-point shooting team, so we must be ready for the drives to the bucket.


If you can't watch it on ESPNU try ESPN360.

Tuesday Tidbits

- Maryland is now in the top 10 in both polls. Two more wins this week and we may even be in the top 5.

- Marissa earned ACC Player of the Week for the second time this year.

- From Charlie Creme's column on Sunday:
2. Maryland is making a statement. Rutgers could have been the kind of team to give Maryland trouble, considering the strength of the Scarlet Knights' physical defense. But other than Connecticut, no one had an easier time Sunday than the Terps. A 20-point win and now a five-game winning streak means Maryland is now back in contention for a No. 1 seed.

Maryland Gives Rutgers a Taste of It's Own Medicine

What a week it was for the Terps. First BC was dispatched, then Virginia and finally Rutgers with each margin of victory getting wider and wider. The team seemed to play with a ton of passion yesterday and determined not to let Rutgers employ their will. Two more wins this week and the Terps reenter discussions for a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

I thought the atmosphere at the game was great and Coach Frese announcement was a no brainer but I feel that each lady should get their own night. I even posted a second poll about it.

Marissa has been playing awesome and seems like she refuses to lose. In her last three games, she's gone to the line at least 10 times which shows off how aggressive she is being.

Suprised not to see Sa'de on the bench and the rumors abound that she left the program. We heard the same rumors back in December about Marah and she's still on the team. I guess we all have to wait for official word.


What I liked:- the defense. at one point during the game, I felt as if Rutgers was going to build us a new Comcast Center with the amount of bricks they were shooting. I think we forced Rutgers into a ton of bad shots and did a great job limiting their bigs from scoring inside. Dee blocking shots was also a welcome sight.
- the team's focus. Rutgers tried a few times to get back in the game and each time we went on a run and kept Rutgers at bay.

What I would like to see more of:- Rebounding and production on the inside. Rutgers was in foul trouble down low most of the game we still lost the rebounding battle. That shouldn't happen. Also, we would like to see the two posts score a little more. We will need it one day.
- class from Rutgers. fouling with 8 seconds left? shooting a three at the buzzer? it was a 20-point game.
- The starters on the bench at the end of games. The last two games have saw us with decent leads in the final minutes yet KT and Marissa are still on the court. They need rest especially with the ACC Tournament right around the corner.


Georgia Tech and Ekud this week. Two physical in your face defensive teams. Two wins would almost lock up a top 2 seed in the ACC Tournament.