Memborable Day for Coach Frese: Birth and a Sweep

Feb. 5, 1993. That was the last time Maryland swept the season series from Duke. Until today. Thanks to a stellar effort from Crystal Langhorne and Kristi Toliver, the Terps made the first few hours of Markus and Tyler's lives an enjoyable. If you don't know who Markus and Tyler are, watch this:



Feb. 17 will now go down in Maryland history as not only a season sweep of Duke, but the birth of Brenda's two children. The boys were also smart enough to arrive before 11 so that mom and dad could take photos, etc and then be ready for the 5:30 tip. Luckily, Brenda's other "kids" decided to put Brenda and Mark at ease by coming out from the start and being the aggressor. After a Abby Waner 3 at 16:47 (she shot it from nearly half court) cut the gap to 3, Duke never got any closer.

Overall, I think we played a good game. We essentially dominated Duke on both ends most and the game was a lot closer than the score indicated thanks in part to the refs swallowing their whistles (somehow in the men's game you can't be forced out, but in the women's game you can). We controlled the boards and every time Duke tried to get back in the game we either made a basket or a defensive stop (including the first-ever double block I have witnessed). Offensively, we played well attacking Duke in the post and hitting most of our open jumpers.

We had too many turnovers for my liking, but some of that has to be attributed to the refs letting Duke be physical and not calling it. Also, I think too often we look for the foul call instead of playing through it. Kristi also has to pass the ball and not try to dribble through everyone. I was disappointed that Newman and Strickland didn't shoot as well as Thursday. Ashleigh had a big steal and played good defense, but she missed a lay up and an open jumper (someone get her sick again). Strickland missed two wide open threes and a free throw (first of her career). I was pleasantly surprised how we handled the trap and confused Duke with our zone.

The win now clinches the two seed for us in the ACC Tournament. We still need UNC to lose twice and their remaining schedule includes Miami, NC State and Duke. If we stay as the two seed we would play the winner of the 7/10 match up on the second day (Currently that is Florida State/Miami).

Now a week off before Sunday's senior day against Florida State. You may want to ge their early as this senior class has a ton of accomplishments.

Congrats to Crystal for another school record - 826 made field goals.

Game 29: Ekud

The revenge portion of ou schedule ends on Sunday against Ekud. The first time we played them we ended our home-court losing streak against them. A win on Sunday gives us our first win in Durham since 2000 and our first sweep of the season series since 1993 (I think the basketcases were in high school when that happened). Of course we won two straight over them in 2006. A win tomorrow locks up the two seed in the ACC tournament as the worst we could finish is 11-3 and we would own the season series against Virginia and Duke.

To read my preview of Ekud from the first game click here and for the recap click here.

For us to win tomorrow, we need to play our tempo and not make stupid passes. Ekud will again force us into a half court offense and hope their defense leads to points. We need to attack the post and get Black and Cheek in foul trouble. Chances are the refs won't help us out like they did last time.

Thinks I want to see:
1. Strickland continue her confidence from Thursday.
2. Newman show Thursday was not a fluke.
3. Domination on the glass.
4. Marissa not waiting so long to take over.
5. Kristi showing patience and handling the traps.
6. No let downs.
7. Abby Waner marked at all times.

I think we have another good chance to win as the team looks hungry. I watch will be watching the game on Comcast SportsNet and be ready to right the happy recap postgame.

Maryland Stays Perfect Against Boston College

Just like the Virginia game last Friday, last night's game was the opposite of the first time we played BC. BC focused on shutting down the post play of Crystal and Laura, usually with double teams, and that left Maryland wide open on the outside. As a result, the team hit 11 threes, including three, yes three, by Ashleigh. Two were when she set her feet and one was an off-balance beat the shot clock shot. Let's hope the slump is over.

We played sluggish at the start as we adjusted to BC's double teams in the post, but then we took command and went into half with a 17-point lead. The game was never close in the second half and it gave us a chance to rest the starters. As a result, Crystal only finished with 4 points and 3 rebounds and Marissa also was in single digits.

Coach Frese said she was happy with the way we played defense, but BC still shot 42.3% and we barely won the rebounding battle. So I don't know if she was happy that we limited BC's offense and forced them to work the clock or she saw something I didn't. The Eagles match up with us better than most teams because they aren't athletic. I was glad to see Crystal and Laura contained Swords, and maybe that's what Brenda was referencing.

It was great to see Marah emerge from the dog house and wouldn't you know that Drey Mingo has an offensive game? It only took 11 ACC games for me to find that out, but after 13 minutes and seeing the offensive run through her I was pleased and puzzled why she doesn't play more.

My only complaint was that we were too unselfish near the end of the game, resulting in at least 4 rushed shots with the shot clock winding down. It's great to get everyone involved, but no need to pass the ball around with 8 seconds on the shot clock.

Now it's time to get ready for Ekud and lock up at least the three seed at the ACC Tournament.

Don't forget to vote in the POG poll.

Game #28: Boston College

Tonight marks another rematch as we take on Boston College. Here is my preview of the last time we played them and here is my recap of the game.

The Eagles have lost two straight to Duke and NC State and only scored 41 points in both match ups. At 5-4 in the conference, a win tonight almost locks up a first round bye in the ACC Tournament (we just have to wait until FSU loses to UNC on Sunday).

Tonight is finally the time to put on a dominating performance. I don't want BC to creep back into the game like they did last time. The Eagles are down right now and it's up to us to continue their last season swoon. I also want to see our post defense improve as last time Swords had 28 and 13 last time and that shouldn't happen against Crystal and Laura.

We need to rest the starters as some of you feel they are playing too many minutes, which I agree with. A strong first 10 minutes will allow Drey to see more time and rest us for the game in Durham on Sunday.

Other keys:
1) No let downs to start the game or the half.
2) Ashleigh making a jumper
3) Drey seeing minutes
4) Kristi continuing to play smart and not forcing bad shots.
5) Jade to continue having fun out there.
6) Marah getting out of the dog house.

Game time is at 7 and rumor has it we are letting a player on BC sing the National Anthem (Ayla Brown who was on American Idol). I, for one, think it is garbage, but then again our marketing department isn't all that bright (once again the Gary Williams radio show takes place at the same time as the women's game).

Back tomorrow with the happy recap.

Tuesday Tidbits

Stayed at fourth in the AP poll, but Rutgers got sympathy votes in the Coaches poll and bumped us to 5th. One guy in the AP poll has West Virginia ahead of us.

Crystal stil holding down fifth and Kristi eighth in the Wade Watch

Jerry Palm has us as a two seed with a chance to play Minnesota or Arizona State (Don't like that match up), while Charlie Creme also has us as a two seed with a potential second round game against Louisville and the turn coat.

Found this on theACC.com:

Monday Musings

Kristi has been named ACC Player of the Week. That gives us 8 total and the ACC-record is 10. There are three weeks left, so we need some dynamic performances to tie the record.

Former walk-on Michelle Miller has taken up coaching a local high school team, except she's not there all the time.

The NCAA let a few media members go through the process of Selection Monday and currently, we are a two seed.

Crystal is a finalist for the senior CLASS award. Be sure to vote for her.

Crystal was also named Academic All-District.

A put a new poll up on the site to gauge people's feelings. Also I will be doing polls after each game to let the fans pick the player of the game.

Terps Edge out Cavaliers Again

In another hard fought game, Maryland moved it's winning streak against Virginia to 6 with a 86-80 victory. The game was the complete opposite of the game three weeks ago as Virginia decided that they would try to run with Maryland instead of slowing down the pace as they had down in Charlottesville. It worked for certain stretches as the pace seemed to encourage the Terps to push the ball and make foolish turnovers. As a result, we once again trailed in the second half. Then Marissa took over and converted two three-point plays during an 11-2 spurt to vault Maryland the lead. A lead that was never given back. We had several chances to put the game away, but give Virginia credit they fought until the end. The win gives us the tiebreaker over them should we be tied at the end of the season.

Virginia's strategy in the first half seemed to be to isolate Mohammed on Langhorne in the paint and let her go to work. After foul trouble put her and Wright on the bench, UVA's guards used their speed to exploit the 2-3 zone employed by Maryland. I understand the zone was useful with the four guard line up UVA used, but we struggled to cover the gaps and grab rebounds, which will always be the problem with zone defense. UVA had too many offensive rebounds for my liking and 80 points is too many to give up to a team that only scored 64 last time.

We saw Strickland struggle for the first time and as a result Kat saw more time. Kat seemed to be in a little awe as she forced two bad passes and her one shot didn't go in, but she needs this experience. I would have like to have seen Drey play, but Jade was bringing some energy and there was no reason to disrupt the flow. I do feel Drey needs minutes against Murphy and Swords on Thursday to prepare for next year.

A lot of the mistakes we made yesterday were mental, which could be as a result of being tired. There's no reason for us to shoot 57% and only win by 6. We need to play within our offense and stop trying to make SportsCenter plays each night.

Kristi looks to be only slumping at home, but she is making smarter decisions. We really need to stop playing down to opponents, I wonder if it will take a loss or just the Duke game to wake up and start crushing teams again.

Congrats to Harper who recorded block number 186 last night, one more for the school record by herself.

Next up is BC on Thursday, make it a date night with your significant other.

Game 27: Virginia

Time for game two this week and begins our stretch of rematches, the first being Virginia. Three weeks ago, we needed an end of the game run to pull away from Virginia for good to stay, at that point, undefeated in conference play. If you want to read my original preview of Virginia, click here. The box score from that game is here and you can also read my recap.

Since our win over them, Virginia has defeated Miami (by 11), Florida State (by 3), NC State (by 25) and Morehead State (by 45) and is virtually tied with us in the ACC standings. A win today gives us the tiebreaker over them if it comes down to that.

The keys to today's game is to come out strong to start the game and handle the Virginia trap. We had too many turnovers in the first game and that's why we trailed for most of the first half. Marissa needs to stay out of foul trouble as her two quick fouls killed us at the JPJ Arena. We need to keep UVA off the glass and continue to work on our depth.

It will be interesting to see how Coach Park handles teams a second time around and how coaches have adjusted to him. Last time we played a triangle and 2 with Coleman on Wright and Strickland on Littles. Will we do that again from the start or save it until later?

I think we win in a blowout and reestablish that we are the best team in the league.

Stat of the day On Monday it took Virginia Tech 10 minutes to score 31 points, yesterday against Wake it took them almost 30 minutes.

Remember to wear pink to the game today and that Shay is getting honored at halftime, so don't run to the concession stand.

Tuesday's Tidbits

Back up to 4th in both polls, there are still four AP voters who feel we are not a Top 5 team. Last night probably didn't help much.

Shay is having her jersey honored on Friday night at halftime. I don't think it's being retired so Kim Rodgers should be able to wear it next year (as well as the weight of expectations on her shoulders).

The Washington Times and Baltimore Sun did features on Brenda's pregnancy.

The Examiner writes about how the Terps need depth for a title run

The Diamondback talks about the squad's team attitude.

Jeff Lippman picked Crystal for his All-January team.

Jerry Palm dropped us to a two seed and Charlie Creme moved us up to a one seed.

Crystal now in fifth in the Wade Watch, while Kristi is down to eighth.

Under The Shell Episode #3

Terps Squeek by Hokies in Overtime

Well I was half-right on my prediction as Barbour and Cook killed us offensively, but I didn't expect VT to make us all break out in a cold sweat last night. We played the first 10 minutes like we didn't want to be there and that VT would just wilt and give up. The players didn't realize that VT has already played UNC and Duke so they have faced this animosity before. Hopefully this wakes them up.

We also have been terrible on the road lately as we have trailed at the half at UVA, at UNC and at VT and all three games have included the home team coming out red hot to start the game and then us clawing our way back into it. Either Coach B needs to tape some pregame talks or Coach Park needs to work on his.

This game can be broken down into two parts: the first 10:13 and the last 34:47.
In the first 10:13, VT scored 31 points on 11 of 23 shooting, including making their first six shots. In that same time span, Maryland scored 10 points on 4 of 8 shooting and 10 turnovers. Over the last, 34:47 Maryland outscored VT 64 - 30, while VT made 15 of 60 shots to Maryland's 24 of 53. Maryland also committed only 15 turnovers in that final span (still too many, but compared to the first 10 mins it's an improvement). Also note that the run started when the bench went into the game.

I give the team credit for keeping their composure and slowly chipping away and forcing overtime. Talent took over and once it went to overtime, VT was spent. The problem is experienced teams shouldn't let inferior teams stay in the game. I don't expect this to happen again.

The other problem is that because the game was a struggle, once again the starters had to play a ton of minutes. Credit goes to Kristi who realized her shot wasn't falling and settled for more mid-range jumpers. Another solid night out of Crystal with 19 and 16.

Back in action on Friday night against Virginia. Be sure to wear your pink.

Game 26: Virginia Tech

Back playing on Monday night, but instead of being on ESPN2 we are on Comcast SportsNet while Duke and UNC battle it out on the deuce. Today's game should again be a great way for us to improve our depth. Although, judging from some of the comments people still aren't satisfied with the rotations. I do agree that Drey, Kat, Ashleigh and Jade (in no particular order) need to rotate in when the game is close. VT should be blown out of the water, so there is no reason for us to not work on getting everyone involved. (I stand corrected, as the VT website is hyping this game as if it's a top 25 match up)

Virginia Tech is 13-9 on the season and 0-7 in the ACC. Their only win in the last 8 games is over Dartmouth. The Hokies closest ACC game was a four-point loss to FSU.

VT averages 70 ppg while allowing 65.1 ppg. They outrebound opponents 39.2-37.0 VT shoots 42.8% from the floor, but 29.3% from three, while opponents shoot 40.9% and 31.8%, respectively. VT has only made 75 threes all year, meanwhile Marah and Kristi have made 101 in fewer attempts.

VT is led by 6'0 guard Brittany Cook. She averages 17.2 ppg, 5.9 rpg. She likes to take the ball inside the arc as more than thirds of her shots are from inside. She will play aggressive defense and can block shots. Second on the team in scoring is freshman Andrea Barbour at 15.9 points per game. She is like cook, except doesn't rebound as well. Next is Utahya Drye, a 6'1 forward, who leads the team in rebounding at 6.2. She's not a shot blocker and not a three point shooter, but does average 10.1 ppg. Amber Hall is 6'2 forward who also pulls down 6.2 board per game. She is the main shot blocker down low and has taken only two 3s all year. She is a good free throw shooter at 88.5%. Rounding out the starters in point guard 5'10 Laura Haskins. She runs the offense and leads the team in assists at 101. She also helps rebound so she needs to be boxed out. She will shoot the 3 if open, but is primarily the fifth option on the team. Lindsay Biggs is their shooter off the bench as 73 of her 121 shots have taken place outside the arc. She shoots 34.2% from there. Eleanor Brentall is their main post sub and is listed at 6'4. VT's other two subs Shani Gray and Lakeisha Logan don't seem to be too involved in the offense and don't play more than 9 minutes per game.

VT will probably try and use it's quickness on the outside to get the rim and we need to counter that by getting around screens and boxing out when the miss. On the inside, Laura and Crystal should have a field day. The Hokies will probably try to slow the game down, so we need to get the ball and go. Dictate the tempo, not let them dictate the tempo for us.

Defensively, I see: Kristi on Haskins, Marah on Barbour, Coleman on Cook, Langhorne on Hall, Harper on Drye.

I want to see Ashleigh hit a 3 tonight and more offensive plays run for Drey and the same energy from Jade I saw on Thursday.

Terps Cane 'Canes

Sorry for the delay was having computer issues.

Now that’s more like it. After a sluggish first 10 minutes of the game, we settled in and played Maryland basketball and cruised to a 44-23 halftime lead. Almost everyone minus Emery played in the first half, which means either Coach Frese and Coach Park have been reading internet chatter and wanted to quiet the fans or feel that depth was a key factor in Saturday’s loss.

I was excited to see Kat become the first player off the bench, and thought she played well. She avoided the traps and with the shot clock running down she made her move to the bucket and either shot it or dumped it inside. Her three-point streak ended at 10, but she already started a new one.
Would have liked to see Drey get more minutes in the first half when the game is close. It’s great she got experience last night, but she’s not learning much when Miami has essentially given up. Let’s she what she can against some frontline starters.

We finally got some rest as none of the starters played more than 29 minutes and Kristi and Crystal each played 20. This is the way it should be from here on out. Use the depth to keep our minutes down so the ladies are fresh for March, when it really matters. While Kristi and Crystal will have to play more than 20 minutes against Duke, UVA and maybe FSU, they shouldn’t need to play 35-40 as some rest will allow us to take over games earlier.

Congrats to Crystal on 2,000 points (on a jump shot no less) and then making all nine of her free throws. Kristi also continues to produce while her offense isn’t working, dishing out 10 assists. You can tell Kristi is starting to fret as she is forcing some shots (she doesn’t need to fade on every shot) and trying to dribble through people. She needs to play her game and stop thinking.

Jade looked like she was having fun out there again last night and I hope the coaching staff realizes that. Ashleigh needs to do something about her shot, because if she can’t hit an outside shot she’s not helping us on the offense. She had some nice steals last night, but if she is not consistent then let’s give Kat her shots.

Next up is Virginia Tech on the road, Monday night. Should be another easy game, which will help us further develop the bench.

I think we will be quiet on the milestones for a few games, but I will have to look at the media guide over the weekend.

Game 25: Miami

We all had five days to stew over the loss, but now it's game time again. Today's opponent is Miami and begins a two-game stretch where we should be able to develop the bench.

Miami is 8-12 and 1-4 in the ACC. They beat Clemson by 5 and lost to LSU (11), Duke (12), Georgia Tech (3), Virginia (11) as far as common opponents go.

Miami scores 64.5 points per game and allows 62.5. The most they have allowed is 84. They are outrebounded 38.5 to 38.1. They shoot 39.4% from the floor and 32.6% from behind the arc, while their opponents both shoot better than that. The Hurricanes shoot 60% from the free throw line. Interesting fact of the day: Miami has played in front of 14,000 fans total (that's including home and road games). Our last two home games were in front of 25,000 combined.

Miami is led by Maurita Reid. She leads the team in points (16.5), rebounds (5.8), steals (81) and shot attempts (292). Shut her down you shut the team down. She shoots roughly 40% from both inside and outside the arc and will use quickness to get to the bucket. Albrey Grimsley is second on the team in scoring at 8.8 and leads the team in assists. She will shoot outside but prefers to stay closer to the bucket. Epiphany Woodson is fourth on the team in scoring at 6.4. She will spot up and take the three and shoots 30% from there, but shoots 59% from the foul line. Carla Williams is the lone post player in this offense and averages 6.0 ppg. She only grabs 4.4 rebounds per game, shoots 47% from the floor and doesn't take 3s. Charmaine Clark is their fifth starter and is a guard/forward. She has taken 16 threes this year and only made 1. She is essentially in there to shot block. Off the bench their scoring threat is LaToya Cunningham, who is third on the team in scoring. She also likes to shoot the 3. Diane Barnes will give Williams a rest in the post.

This game should be over at halftime and if it's not I hope it's because Kat, Drey, Jade and Ashleigh have seen extended minutes. I would prefer all four didn't play at once, because they need to be worked into the rotation for us to go deep in March. Jade should have a big game today due to the lack of post presence by Miami.

This is what I want to see today:
1) Smiles on the faces of Jade and Kristi. I sure miss those.
2) None of the starters playing more than 30 minutes. They need some rest.
3) A Big line up featuring three post players, Marissa and either KT or Kat at the 1
4) A complete game.
5) Ashleigh Newman hitting a three-pointer.

Also, I completely forgot, but thanks to Chris for pointing it out. Crystal needs two points for 2,000. Looks like she will be getting another commerative ball (I wonder what she does with them all?). Also, Kristi is two assists away from 500.

Wednesday's Words

Looks the Inside Edition tease was just that, a tease. Who knows when it will be on again.

The Diamondback finally did its Daron Park story.

The Annapolis Capital wrote about Brenda's pregnancy

It's Bracket Prediction time and both Charlie Creme and Jerry Palm have posted theirs.

Crystal and Kristi are slipping in the Wade Watch

Marissa was left off the MidSeason Naismith Award List.

Under the Shell Episode #2

Monday Musings

Brenda was on Inside Edition today. If it appears online I will post it here.

I posted a new poll today regarding baby names. Thanks to Heidi Scanlon who provided a bunch.

So we lose on the road in double overtime minus two players, you would figure most pollsters would take this into account. Not the AP voters. We only dropped to fifth, but 12 poeple felt that we should be sixth or worse. Four people: Buddy Davis (7), Eric Herter (7), Stu Durando (7) and Ramona Shelburne (8) picked us seventh or eighth (Click on their names to e-mail them if you want).

Love the feedback in the comments section regarding the loss to UNC and I do agree that some of the players may be worried about being pulled hence their tentativeness. Keep it up people. I really want to see Drey in the same line up as Harper or Lang. I don't want to see Drey and Jade at the same time. Something really crazy would be Kristi/Marissa at the 1, Marissa/Marah at the 2, Drey at the 3, Harper at the 4 and Langhorne at the 5. That line up would give some teams fits and could help with length if we went to a 2-3 zone in the future.

One last point about the game and the terrible officiating. At the 10 minute mark of the second half, both teams had 7 team fouls. We committed 16 in the next 20 minutes, UNC committed 3.

Heels Depth Outlast Terps in Double Overtime

Well, the overtime streak had to end at some point and while I would rather it never end, I am glad it happened in the regular season. We played Carolina tight with 7 players, but once we got to 5 it was going to be rough, especially with lack of height.

There are several reason why we lost today.
1. Depth. We have the best starting five in America, problem is no one on the bench can play because they don't get minutes. Ashleigh hasn't hit a jumper in weeks, Jade looks disinterested because she doesn't get to play and Kat and Drey can probably give a great scouting report of the different bench chairs in the ACC. We won't go far in either tournament if Drey doesn't see minutes. I am pretty sure she knows how to rebound and that's all we would need her to do to spell Laura and Crystal.
We were exhausted at the end of boths halves because no one can come off the bench. If we don't feel Kat can play PG, slide her to the 2 and let Marissa play the point for a while.
2. Rebounding. Carolina outrebounded us by 13 and mainly because of hustle. The guards need to help keep the more athletic teams off the glass.
3. Daron's inexperience. I want to say we had a great game plan defensively, as we held Carolina to 71 points in regulation and I think Daron did a great job that way. But I think today he coached not to lose instead of to win. We were doing great, passing the ball around looking for open shots, but with the game in hand we went to isolation plays and worked on dribbling the shot clock out. Problem with that is that Carolina is long and can contain Kristi and Marissa, plus it gives us no chance at a rebound as the Heels can stand around waiting for the shot. We did the same thing versus GT. If we played to win, we would all be celebrating. But it's something he can learn from.
His inexperience didn't help with the refs either and that's not a slight on him because he can't do anything about that. Jesus could have been the coach and the refs wouldn't have given us calls. Sylvia knows how to work the refs and after 0 free throws in the first half, UNC shot 38 in the second half, while we shot 11. Our whole team was in foul trouble despite no one having more than 1 in the first half. Yet Carolina never was in foul trouble. In fact, the refs evened it up right away as Langhorne had 3 fouls less than four minutes into half #2. I am sure Commissioner McGlade will put a little extra into the checks of Wesley Dean, Eric Brewton and Joe Cunningham this week.
4. We settled for outside shots. We should have pounded it more downlow, but I do realize Carolina's length made that tough.
5. Kristi's pressing. She was great at distributing the ball, but you can see she's trying to will each shot. Someone needs to relax her when she misses.

Carolina isn't better than us, they just have more depth. But from now to the end of the season, Drey should see at least 10 minutes a night and Kat at least 5 considering the teams we are playing the rest of the way.

It's time to rebound against Miami and make sure we don't lose again this year. We need some breaks but we can still get that one seed.

Game 24: North Carolina

Today marks the end of the tough portion of our ACC schedule as we close out a four-game stretch that featured Duke, Virginia and Georgia Tech, all of which we can't stand. A win today puts us in the driver's seat for the ACC Regular Season title and #1 seed in the ACC Tournament.

North Carolina enters the game 17-2 and 4-0 in the conference. Their two losses are to UConn and Tennessee both of which came on the road. They just played Monday and blew a big lead to UConn so I have no idea what their psyche will be. They beat Georgia Tech by 21 and BC by 26.

Carolina likes to play fast. Their style is get the ball and go. They want to take 100 shots a game. We need to slow them down. On defense, they love to trap, so we have to stay in the middle of the court and get the ball to the open person. Something we didn't do well against GT. Sylvia just lets them do what they want and that's why they don't win titles.

UNC averages 89.4 points per game, while only allowing 61.5. They outrebound opponents by 10.7 per game. They average 7.5 blocks per game and 14 steals. The only thing they don't do well is shoot 3s and take care of the ball.

The Tar Heels are led by Erlana Larkins. Even though she is third in scoring, everything goes through her. She sets screens, she rebounds, plays defense, scores and shows emotion all with a broken hand. If we can shut her down or take her out of the offense, we will win this game. Rashanda McCants is the leading scorer and shot taker. She loves to use her athleticism to get by you. She will shoot jumpers and the three ball, which she shoots at 31.3%. She uses her length to get steals and rebounds. LaToya Pringle is next on the team in scoring. Like McCants she uses her athleticism, but doesn't take 3s. She leads the team in blocked shots. The new Ivory Latta is Cetera DeGraffenreid. She's fast, she has the attitude, but doesn't shoot that well from 3. The fifth starter is Heather Claytor and she is mainly a three-point threat. She sits out there and spots up for three. Jessica Breland is the post player off the bench. She's another long player, who can block shots and rebound. Italee Lucas is the back up PG and sometimes two guard. She also is not a great three-point shooter. The best three-point shooter is Rebecca Gray at 39.6%.

Essentially, Carolina's roster is filled with the same player so even if one goes out their clone comes in. They love to attack the hoop and create contact. We must box out and keep them off the boards. If we don't do that it will be a long afternoon. Kristi needs to get out of her slump against the smaller player and Marah must take advantage of her match up too. I don't know what defense we will play as a zone will expose us rebounding wise and we may not have the right match ups for man-to-man.

Washington Post

Baltimore Sun

Friday Factoids

Mechelle Voepel wrote a great article on Kristi

Crystal moves up to fourth in the Wade Watch.

Jeff Lippman continues his backhanded compliments towards the Terps.

The Examiner writes about Coach Park's influence.

The Laurel Leader writes about one of its residents.

The SI Power Poll still has us ranked fourth

Brenda on the Early Show

For those of you that missed it this morning, Brenda was on The Early Show with Laura and Marissa.

Wednesday's Words

Maryland moved up to three in the coaches' poll, but stayed at four in the AP. Jay Jenkins in Charlottesville felt that we were the sixth best team after watching us play on Friday. He also can't spell Toliver, so take it with a grain of salt.

Crystal earns her third ACC Player of the Week and sixth of her career.

Nice article today in the USA Today regarding Brenda's pregnancy.

Jasmina Perazic is Maryland's Legend at the ACC tournament.

Under The Shell Episode #1

Terps Survive Double Overtime to Defeat Georgia Tech

Who knew when I stepped inside Comcast Center yesterday I was going to get free basketball as well as a street ball game? In the best game of the year, we survived not one but two possible winning streak ending plays. First was shot the at the end of regulation after the steal. Then was the free throw attempt with 1.6 left in OT on what should have been a non-call. Luckily for us, GT missed both and we finally outlasted the Yellow Jackets in the second five-minute session.

Obviously I felt we could have played better but we had less than a day to be prepared for the game and Georgia Tech is a hell of a team. Their players aren't scared of the spotlight and stepped up big. It also helped that the referees decided that clutching, grabbing and physical play is completely acceptable. Coupled with the fact that GT was able to walk with the ball on nearly every possession made it a very long and loud game as I screamed at the refs on nearly every possession.

For the third time this week, we were shown how much different this team is from last year's team. Last year's team wilted with the pressure. This year's team takes the pressure, crumples it up in a ball and shoots it through the hoop. How else do you explain Marissa stepping up an hitting her only three-pointer of the game with two minutes left in OT and the team down 6? What about Crystal going 5-for-5 from the free throw line in OT? I never lost faith yesterday and it's going to be hard for me to lose faith the rest of the year.

Most days a 20-20 game would not be overshadowed, but when someone on your team scores 31 and grabs 15 rebounds, you have to take a backseat. We were great on the boards except for two possessions. Georgia Tech had a great gameplan of attacking the hoop and their freshmen didn't seem to feel the pressure of the big game.

Kristi seems to reverting back to getting frustrated when things don't go her way, but she needs to relax and let the game come to her.

We have to handle the press better, but for now it's time to rest and get ready for Carolina.

Baltimore Sun

Washington Times

ESPN.com

Washington Post

DC Sports Box

Game 23: Georgia Tech

The third and final game of this week may be the toughest. Duke was a game we had circled all season. Virginia was a road game followed by a 3-hour bus ride home and now we play Georgia Tech with North Carolina looming on the horizon.

Georgia Tech is 16-2 on the year and 3-1 in the ACC. Their two losses have been to Georgia and North Carolina. They beat Temple and Wake both by 10.

Georgia Tech is known for their defense, primarily their press. They will play full-court defense for 40 minutes with pressure on the inbounder and the guard receiving the ball then they will try and trap. When the ball crosses half-court they will go into a 1-3-1 type of zone to confound the shooters. Offensively, they run everything off a pick at the top of the three-point arc. It could be a three, drive to the paint or a pass down low. We have to fight through the screen and disrupt their offense.

They average 70.9 ppg while allowing 57.6. They are second in the league in steals. They outrebound opponents nearly 6 per game. GT shoots 41.9 from the floor and 30.6 from three, while opponents shoot 40.0 from the floor and 28.8 from three.

Georgia Tech is led by forward Janie Mitchell, who average 16.9 ppg and grabs 6.8 reboubds. She is lean and quick to the hoop, but has only shot 9 threes all year (making 2). She is turnover prone and not really seen as a shot blocker. Chioma Nnamaka is their scoring threat from outside. She averages 16.1 ppg and has taken 127 three-pointers this year and shoots 42.7 % from there. She will help rebound as well. Alex Montgomery is third on the team in scoring with 10.2 ppg. She also grabs 6.0 rebounds per game and acts as the team's point-forward as she is second on the team in assists. Montgomery will shoot the three and shoots 30 percent from there. She is also the team's leading shot blocker. Iasia Hemingway is one of the starters at guard. She is the fourth option on the team is not really a three-point threat. Hemingway will help on the glass and isn't a great free throw shooter. Jacqua Williams rounds out the starting five for GT and is in there primarily for her defense. She leads the team in steals with 68 and is not much of a scoring threat. Jill Ingram is the team's spark off the bench as she leads the team in assists and is second in steals. Ingram is third on the team in three-point attempts and has taken the fourth most shots on the team. Brigitte Ardossi, Deja Foster and Daphne Mitchell are the post subs and none are a real threat.

We need to break the press quickly and not allow GT to set traps or their defense. We need to be smart with the ball and make the right passes. Lastly, we need to rebound the ball effectively.

On defense, if we play man we have several match up issues as they are athletic at all five spots. I would say Crystal guards Mitchell, Harper on Montgomery, Coleman on Nnamaka, Strickalnd on Hemingway and Toliver on Williams. I can see us playing more of a triangle and two like we did on Friday to keep Mitchell and Nnamaka in check, but I am sure we will come up with something.

Terps Continue Streak Versus Virginia

Well it wasn't a pretty first half of basketball as we reverted back to our sloppy ways with the ball and Kristi looked rattled due to turnovers and her misses, but we regained our composure midway through the half and went into halftime down 1 (the first time all year we have trailed at the half). The second half was more of the Maryland basketball we have come to expect this year as we played solid defense, rebounded the ball and played our game instead of letting Virginia dictate the pace. I have to give Virginia credit as they never let up, but eventually emotion died down and the Terps D was too much to handle.

Marah Strickland gets the game ball for her gutty performance on offense and defense. She sets a career high with 19 points and let the game come to her. On defense we when put in a triangle and 2 (or so it seemed) she was guarding Littles, a more physical player, and held her own. If Marah has more performances like she did last night, we should be very well set for a deep March run. PLus for the first time all year, she played the whole game.

Congrats to Crystal who broke the school scoring record and for the second time this year decided that just getting to the record wasn't enough, she wanted to crush it. (remember that she grabbed 18 rebounds to pass Len Elmore a few weeks ago). Next up for Crystal is 2,000 points.

It was good to see Kat and Drey get some valuable minutes and hopefully we see more of that in the future.

I thought our defense played well in the zone, except when we rotated too far and allowed Virginia to spot up for open threes.

This game would have been a lot different if Coleman doesn't pick up two fouls right away.

Now it's a day rest (we all know the players aren't resting today) before we avenge last year's regular season loss to Georgia Tech. Expect us to be pressed and trapped all night.

Game 22: Virginia

Fresh off our big win on Monday it's down I-64 to Charlottesville for our annual battle with Virginia. We have won four-straight against the Cavaliers including two at their place. This will be a big test in terms of the team's psyche as we will see if the win over Duke still lingers in their heads or if that feeling went away Tuesday morning.

Virginia is 13-4 and 2-0 in the ACC and has won seven-straight games. They have lost to George Washington, South Carolina, Hartford and UConn. The Hartford loss was in Hawaii after two days of hoops. Like us they have beaten Wake Forest, but they only won by 19.

The Cavaliers score 73.9 points per game, while only allowing 59.9. The most they have given up this year is 83 and they haven't allowed more than 57 in over a month. They play straight man-to-man but will press off of inbounds plays and then will try to trap the guard in the corner. The key is for the guard to come off the corner to the middle to receive the ball and then slice through the middle of the press to find the open players running down the court as the press is a 2-1-1-1. They shoot 45% from the floor and nearly 40% from three-point land. Opponents shoot 40% and 30%, respectively. They aren't a great rebounding team as they outrebound opponents 38.8-34.7. They are turnover prone too.

Monica Wright leads the team in scoring (17.6), shot attempts (250), steals (46) and blocks (11). She can do everything and it appears that Debbie Ryan is now running the offense through her. She tends to be over aggressive on defense and could get into foul trouble. Lyndra Littles is second on the team in scoring at 15.9 and second in rebounding at 5.7. She will shoot the three if left open. Littles has been hampered by a knee injury lately and as a result has not started the last two games. Littles is their main post threat considering she missed four games and is still third on the team in shot attempts. Their other post presence is 6-3 Aisha Mohammed, who missed last year with a knee injury. She is third in scoring (12.6) and first in rebounding (9.1). She doesn't shoot threes and is not a great free throw shooter. Neither one of their post players are shot blockers either. Paulisha Kellem is one of two starting guards for them. She likes to slash to the hoop and create off the dribble and may take a three if left open. Their PG is Sharnee Zoll, who has really become a distributor this season as she is only averaging 8.1 ppg. She is their top three-point threat, but will also try to break players off the dribble to get into the lane. Enoge Stovall is the first sub off the bench (and may start due to Littles' injury) and is not much of an offense threat.

We need to attack their posts and make smart decisions with the ball to put this game away early. If Littles doesn't start I can see us starting the game in zone to counteract the four-guard line up. If she does start then Toliver gets Zoll, Coleman on Wright, Strickland on Kellem, Langhorne on Mohammed and Harper on Littles. Virginia can give us fits if we let them hang around. I want to slam the door on them early so that the ladies can rest up for the press that awaits them from Georgia Tech on Sunday.

If you aren't going to the game then you can watch it on ComcastSportsNet Plus.

Brenda on WJZ

There was a taped segment on WJZ last featuring Coach Frese and her twins

Terps Exorcise Blue Devils, 85-70

What a fun night at Comcast last night and it was even more fun to watch Duke leave the arena with frowns on their faces. For the first time since 1998, they lost at Maryland. I still won't be satisfied until we beat them down there, but that comes later in the season.

As for the game, I think we played ok and we were very tight, especially KT. She missed open looks, lay ups and free throws, yet still finished with 21 points. Defensively, our post defense could have been better, but when we needed a stop and a rebound late in the game, we got them. I always felt we would win last night, but I got nervous the few times Duke would pull close. The team this year didn't panic and put into into fourth gear at the end to seal the win. I think the Rutgers game helped us grow a lot as they are similiar to Duke and made the same comeback.

Marissa played great and had a ton of confidence with each shot she took. Crystal struggled with her shot but found her stroke at the line. Laura played just as well and would have liked her to get more touches in the second half.

I think we can play better and will get better. We have two games before Carolina and we need to focus only on Virginia and GTech both of which could gives us fits.

Articles

Baltimore Sun

Washington Post

Annapolis Capital

ESPN.com

Duke Chronicle

Duke Chronicle

Duke Chronicle

News & Observer

Washington Times

CSTV.com

Game 21: Ekud

Today we face our first true test of the ACC season and first ranked opponent since Rutgers. While this game won't be a sellout like last year (mainly because of the Monday game) I expect a large crowd on hand. The game is on ESPN2, which makes it an even bigger deal. I hope our ladies are ready as last year we seem to wilt in the spotlight. it also doesn't help that we are playing Ekud, who we have only beaten twice in the last 16 meetings (once at the ACC tournament, once in the Championship game).

Ekud is 13-3 this season and 2-0 in the ACC. Their losses have come to UConn, Vanderbilt and Penn State. Our two common opponents are Rutgers and Pittsburgh, both of which they defeated (Rutgers by 5, Pitt by 2). Even though Duke has a new coach they still play their tough defense. I figured they would resort to the 2-3 zone that McCallie used at MSU last year, but it seems to me that they know play aggressive man-to-man and a 2-1-1-1 press on all makes. Duke pressures you to speed up your offense and it helps when you have 6-6 Chante Black in the middle. We have to be careful about cross court passes and picking up our dribble too early as Duke attacks the ball handler when the ball is picked up.

The Blue Devils allow only 53.8 points per game with 86 points being the most they have given up all year. They outrebounded opponents by 9 per game. Ekud shoots 42.5% from the floor, but only 28.8% from three-point range. They are also a deep team as they have several options off the bench with four players having more than 10 blocks.

Ekud's offense runs through Black, who is averaging 14.2 and 7.1 and has 40 more blocks. We must attack her and get her out of the game or play better defense on her than we did on Swords on Thursday. Abby Waner is second on the team in scoring with 11.0 ppg and leads the team in steals. She isn't having a great shooting year, but she sometimes shines in the big games, we cannot leave her open. She also leads the team in assists as she will get the ball from the top and then dump it down to Black or Joy Cheek. Cheek is their new Mistie Bass averaging 9.9 and 5.0. She will attempt a 3 if left open and doesn't block that many shots. Jasmine Thomas is their freshman PG, who was a McDonald's All-American. She averages only 8.0 ppg and is second on the team in steals. She has made only 11 of 49 three pointers this year and would much prefer to drive to the bucket. Wanisha Smith is their fifth starter as they go with a three guard line up. Smith is playing her last game at the Comcast Center having played locally for Diane Richardson. She has only taken 81 shots on the season mainly because she hurt her hand earlier in the season and is just coming back. Carrem Gay comes off the bench to replace Cheek. She is second on the team in rebounding and of her 109 shots only four were 3s.

We need to attack the press before Ekud is able to set it up and must take care of the ball. Our defense needs to be stellar as Ekud will set up their press after makes. Crystal and Laura need to be big on the glass and not let Black go crazy. I think we can win this game as long as we play our game.

Toliver should guard Thomas, Strickland on Smith, Coleman on Waner, Harper on Black and Langhorne on Cheek.


For those who are new to rooting for the team Ekud is Duke backwards and refers to what the coaching staff did to get the ladies mind off of the Blue Devils during the 2006 ACC tournament.

Terps Continue Undefeated Streak in Boston

Another trip to Boston, another win. I think that pushes our streak to 5 and it seems like BC is the only Boston area team that can't win at home.

All-around decent effort although we had our chance to crush them for good, but we let them back into it. BC's zone seemed to give us fits from outside as we shot 7-26 from three. Luckily, Crystal was down low to gobble up the rebounds. She only needed 8 for the basketball record, but obviously felt 18 was a more impressive number. After a cold first half, Toliver heat up from outside and finished with a season-high 26 points. I am glad to see that Harper did better from the line and that our turnovers numbers again stayed down. Coleman looks to be back in her shooting slump but hopefully she shakes it off and gets ready for the next game.

I am disappointed that we let a freshman score 28 on us, especially when she took 16 shots. Post defense has to better when we play more talented teams.

My bigger complaint is the minute distribution. Why is Kristi playing 40 minutes in a 27-point blowout win? Were we afraid that BC was going to make a furious rally to tie the game up late in the second half? Why is Crystal playing 37 minutes? The only thing it does it leaves us open for injuries. Does the staff have no faith in Drey Mingo or Kat Lyons? Both need experience, especially Drey as she will be thrust into a starting role next year (that is, if she decides to stay).

Next up is Ekud on Monday at 7 in hopefully a packed Comcast Center.

Game 20: Boston College

Back on the road again for a during the week game this time we go to one of our favorite locations - BOSTON! For those of you who don't recall, Boston is where we won the National Title in 2006 and hopefully Tampa becomes a favorite city later this year. Coach B is again staying at home to take care of her precious cargo so Coach Parks will look to continue to keep us on the winning track.

This could be a trap game for us as we look ahead to Ekud on Monday. BC is 9-0 at home with their toughest game being a win over NC State on Sunday. Our common opponents are Delaware (W, 53-51) and Notre Dame (L, 88-58). The Eagles have lost two other times and they were to UMass and Fairfield.

The Eagles are a young team as only on upperclassmen makes up their top five scorers. They are only averaging 67.9 ppg and allow 57.6 ppg. They outrebounded opponents by 12 and their inside defense is stout allowing only a 37.6 shooting percentage from inside the arc. BC plays a match up zone meaning penetration should be easy against them. The zone keeps them out of foul trouble as not one player has fouled out all year.

Their offense runs through the posts as they have 6-4 freshman Stephanie Murphy (5-time ACC ROW) and 6-6 freshman Carolyn Swords down low. Murphy leads the team in points and rebounds at 18.5 and 10.2. Swords is next at 14.4 and 8.1. Next is the American Idol, 6-0 Guard Ayla Brown is averaging 8.5 and 6.2. She will shoot the 3 if left open. Mickel Picco, who comes off the bench, is their primary shooting threat as she has taken 63 of 90 shots from behind the arc. You may recall last year, she went crazy on us. Brittany Johnson is their slashing guard and has only taken 16 three-pointers. Jacyln Thoman is their point guard.

Crystal, Laura, Jade, Drey and Marissa will have to be great on the glass as Murphy, Swords and Brown all attack the glass. I think we need to play uptempo and force BC to play a style they are not comfortable with. Defensively, I see Kristi on Thoman, Marah on Johnson, Marissa on Brown, Crystal on Swords and Laura on Murphy.

The game is on ACC Select and will be broadcast by WMUC.

Two milestones to track: Ashleigh playing in her 124th straight-game and Crystal needs 8 rebounds for the school record.

Tuesday Tidbits

Up to 4th in Both polls and according to pollspeak.com, no one is voting us lower than 5th in the AP poll.

Crystal was named ACC Player of the Week for the second time this year.

Brenda made the Celebrity Baby Blog.

The Post and The Times each wrote an article about Coach Park taking over for Brenda.

Kat Lyons was featured in the Winston-Salem Journal prior to her game against Wake Forest.

Kristi and Crystal are now fifth and sixth in the CSTV's Wade Watch

Terps Demolish Tigers, 110-46

It's days like yesterday where you wonder if the Clemson team would have felt better had they just stayed in South Carolina and been ridiculed for not showing up to play rather than the blasting they took at Comcast. We won by 64 points, yes you read that right, 64 POINTS against a conference team. I knew we would win big, but I never imagined us accomplishing the don't have to score after halftime feat. Do you realize Harper and Langhorne outscored Clemson and nearly outrebounded them?


All around stellar effort by the team. Defensively, we have held our last two opponents to sub-20 point halves. Offensively, we are beginning to click. Strickland is gaining more confidence as the games go by and Crystal seems to be back on track. One thing I am beginning to enjoy is how Toliver lets the game flow to her and slices up the defense passingwise before waiting until the final 10 minutes and then going on a scoring spree.

We only had 10 turnovers which is great. Harper needs to work on her free throws otherwise we have two post players who aren't consistent.

Next is BC on Thursday.

Game 19: Clemson

Today is the home ACC opener and it's against the 7-8 Clemson Tigers.

Clemson has beat Maine, Duquesne, Rice, Siena, Furman, James Madison and Charleston Southern. Clemson should have been a lot better this year, but lost three of it's players to ACL tears this year. They are riding a three-game losing streak and have lost six straight to the Terps. They only score 61.0 ppg (second to last in the ACC) and give up 65.7 ppg (last in the ACC) so it looks like another possible scoring spree for the Terps. They are getting outrebounded 43.6 to 39.7. Clemson shoots .368 from the floor and only .272 from behind the arc.

Clemson is led by D'Lesha Lloyd who is averaging 9.1 ppg and 4.6 rpg. She is 6-0 forward who spends her time in the paint. She has taken 1 three all year. Morganne Campbell is second on the team in scoring at 8.4 ppg. She is a 5-8 guard who has taken 29 shots, but primarily shoots inside the arc. Christy Brown is another guard and seems to share ballhandler duties with LeLe Hardy as she leads the team in assists. Despite only being 5-10, Hardy leads the team in rebounding. Moreemi Davis is their starting center and only averages 3.7 ppg and 3.5 rpg. She has taken 53 shots all year. She is replaced by April Parker. Sthefany Thomas and Kirstyn Wright are the subs who will shoot the 3, as both have taken 50 each.

This should be a blowout if we play the way we normally play. Anything less and I will be disappointed.

Crystal needs 14 points to pass Shay for second on the scoring list. Ashleigh just needs to get some playing time (pretty much a lock) to tie the record for consecutive games played at 123.

The game is on ACC Select and WMUC, but if you live local wouldn't you be there in person?

Terps Wallop Deacons, 83-49

When a team only allows 47 points per game and you score 47 in the first half, it's a good day. Maryland came within three points of again not having to play in the second half. Wake had no match for Maryland's quickness as they rarely had the chance to set their defense up. The zone was also ineffective in rebounding as Maryland grabbed 49 boards to their 36. I think our problem with teams that focus on defense may be over.

I really liked how we attacked on the break and how Strickland seems more confident in her shot these days. We had 20 turnovers, but half of them were traveling calls where it looked like trying to make a move was a travel. Harper's free throw shooting needs to get better and I am sure it will. Defensively we were a little lax in the second half, but when up 36, I can't complain. The ACC Select guy made it seem like the second half was even, but had the starters played the whole game, the result would not have been different.

Crystal records her third-straight double-double and is closing in on the team lead. Marissa did a great job on Tchangoue and as result she didn't score as much. Kristi may be close to the assist record and that will be the next thing I start tracking on the left as she now owns the three-point record. I feel bad for the person who has to chase that record next.

A few days off before Clemson comes to town. Clemson is 7-8 and just lost to Charlotte.

In other ACC Action:
- BC beat Virginia Tech, 63-53
- LSU beat Florida State, 73-61
- Duke beat UNC Central, 82-29

Game 18: at Wake Forest

From now until March we play only conference opponents against some of the best teams in the country. Tomorrow we start against Wake Forest, marking one of two trips to the Tar Heel State this month. We have won five straight against the Demon Deacons, but our last trip to Winston-Salem resulted in an OT win. Rumor has it that the game is being promoted as Kat Lyons Day meaning that Wake is encouraging Maryland fans in the area to come root against their team. (Can't wait for MD's Marketing Dept to promote Wanisha Smith Day on Jan. 14)

Wake is 12-2 on the season with their two losses coming to JMU and Radford, but they did knock off Texas A&M at home. The Deacons problem is that they can't score. They are averaging 60.4 points per game and have only broke that mark FOUR times all year. While they can't score, they don't let opponents score either allowing only 47.1 points per game and the most they have allowed was 64 to JMU. Opponents shoot only .311 from the floor and .305 from behind the arc against them. They aren't that great at shooting the ball either making only 40 percent of their shots.

I was able to watch some of their game versus Charlotte on ACC Select and from what I can tell, they play a match up zone on defense. Now the zone looked ragged as the players raced down to get into their spots, so who knows if they have improved on that. The zone keeps them out of foul trouble and they are outrebounding opponents, but some of their opponents probably have no height. On offense they set screens so that Tchangoue can get open and shoot. When that fails they dump into Groves.

Tchangoue leads the team in points and rebounds and is not afraid to shoot the three. Marissa will likely guard her. Groves is second on the team in both categories, but has come off the bench recently. Christen Brown is a 6-2 forward who can also shoot the 3. She averages 5.5 rebounds per game. I envision Harper covering her. Valentine is their shot blocker so Langhorne will probably be on her. I am guessing that Collier is the point guard given her higher number of assist totals, but it could also be Morris. Morris is less of a three-point shooter than Collier. Whoever plays the point will be the third different one this year as one got a concussion and one left the program.

Offensively, we need to grab the ball and go and not let WF settle into their defense. Attack Valentine when given the chance to take the shotblocker out of the middle. Defensively, pressure their guards, rebound the ball and fight through screens. Do all this and it should result in win 17.

Tuesday Tidbits

We stayed at fifth in the AP poll and actually lost two points.

Marissa was named ACC Player of the Week giving us five in nine weeks.

Crystal was one of 30 seniors nominated for the CLASS Award

Crystal, Laura, Marissa and Kristi were all selected to the Preseason Naismith Watch List.

Terps Turn Retrievers into Puppies, 98-56

Sorry for the delay, was caught up in Redskins euphoria (we are going to the playoffs and the game is on Saturday!).

What a day in College Park, I wasn't sure which record was going to fall. First, KT makes five 3s in the first half and I think the career and game record will fall. Then Marissa heats up and I think she will break the game record. Then Drey, Kat and Marah get in the act and before you know it we hit 17 three-pointers for the ACC record. Wonder how many other teams will try to play zone on us this year? Overall, the game was not close as UMBC led twice and then we scored 18 straight and the game was essentially over. UMBC had no height and it showed as both Harper (9) and Langhorne (10) grabbed the same or more rebounds than UMBC's players (they finished with 11 but 2 were team rebounds). The second half let us rest players and give Drey and Kat more time. Drey finished with 7 points, 5 rebounds and a block (1 foul, after fouling out on Saturday).

Defensively, we could have played better as we still don't jump to the three-point shooters fast enough, but we have to pick our poison - play like Rutgers and not score or score a ton and give up more points than we should. That's my only real complaint, but I guessing more practice time will eliminate that.

Non-conference play is over and now it's on to ACC play starting with Wake on Thursday. Check out the new poll on the left regarding wins in the ACC.

Happy New Year to all my loyal readers and here's hoping it's GREAT in 2008.

Game 17: UMBC

Here we go again, another game, but as I mentioned yesterday this will be the last time until March when we play on back-to-back days. Today we play UMBC and chances are today's game should end up like yesterday's.

UMBC is 4-8 with losses to James Madison (74-61), Loyola (58-56), Northern Iowa (74-72), and Richmond (64-51). They score only 57.6 ppg, but allow 62.6. The only grab 33.2 rebounds per game and only shoot 38.6% from the floor. They have two players over 6'0, neither of which scores that much.

The Retrievers best player is guard Carlee Cassidy who leads the team in scoring with 16.1 ppg. She has taken the most shots on the team and on Friday took 20 shots (nine from 3), making only 8. Guard Kristin Drabyn is second on the team in scoring at 9.3 ppg and second on the team in shots. Chantay Frazier, another guard, is third on the team in scoring. Hatten, a 5-10 guard, is the team's leading rebounder at 7.0 rpg.

We should attack the post all night long and Langhorne should be able to post another double-double. Our guards just need to pressure their guards into trouble and not allow them to get off shots.

After today, it's all ACC play.

Terps Step On Spiders, 89-59

Well today's game went exactly as planned. We came out firing on all cylinders and never let Richmond get into the game. Even when they tried to creep back in we slammed the door shut with a 12-0 run to end the half and take a 21-point lead into half. The only shocking thing was that KT missed a shot at the buzzer. In the second half, the score was never closer than 16 and it was more of whether Crystal could grab 20 rebounds and if Marissa would get her double-double (she did!)

I really liked how Coleman shot the ball today and it looks like her three-point stroke is finally coming around. Langhorne had a nose for the ball and only committed one turnover. It seems to me that in the first half, Kristi has decided that if her shot isn't falling, she gets her teammates involved and then waits for the D to collapse and then shoots away. Mingo got in the game, but didn't do much as she was foul prone again (maybe this is why we don't see more of her when the games matter).

Jade needs to work on her free throws as she missed a bunch and it seems to affect the rest of her game. Still need to take care of the ball better as we tend to force things still, but all in all cannot complain with a 30-point win.

Tomorrow we play again, this time against UMBC (This is the last time until March where we play back-to-back games).

Don't forget to send in those baby names.

Game 16: Richmond

The holidays are over and it's time to play hoops again. This time it's Richmond in the Terrapin Classic, which for some reason is a three-day event instead of the typical two-day affair. I missed today's Richmond vs. UMBC game but it looks like there were 119 people that didn't miss it. Richmond beat UMBC 64-51 and now the leader for earning runner up honors (unless something fishy happens the next two days).

Richmond is now 7-5 on the season with losses coming against Georgia, Fairfield, Virginia, Montana and VCU. They haven't given up more than 86 points all year and haven't scored more than 81. The Spiders are averaging 64 ppg, grabbing 35.0 rebounds and shooting 40.1% from the floor. They like to shoot the three with five players having attempted more than 26 this year. As a team they shoot 61.7 % from the free throw line.

Richmond is led by Johanna McKnight a guard averaging 14.0 ppg and 4.7 rpg. She shoots 45.3% from behind the arc, but today went 0-for-4. Brittani Shells is second on the team in scoring with 12.4 ppg. The smaller guard shoots 39.5% from three, but doesn't rebound much. Kate Holzer is the leading rebounder at 7.5 per game and also averages double figures in scoring. She is the lone player who started today that doesn't shoot the 3. Christina Campion is the other post player and was on fire today making 6-of-7 three pointers after only making 3 all year. She rebounds at a 6.4 clip. Kara Powell is the team's PG, and also likes to shoot the 3, but only shoots 21%. They have three main bench players: Thomas, who doesn't shoot the 3, Goring, the sister of former NC Stater Gillian and Bell, who is more of a shooter and likes to grab the occasional steal.

The defensive match ups will be as follows, I think:
Powell - Toliver
Shells - Strickland
McKnight - Coleman
Campion - Harper
Holzer - Langhorne

I would love to see us put this game away early and get Drey some minutes with the main line up. You never know when Drey is going to have to play serious minutes in ACC play. We haven't played Maryland basketball for a a few games now - since the loss to Rutgers - and it's time to get back to that style.

Thursday's Tidbits

We dropped to 5th in the AP poll after Stanford beat Tennessee, but remained fifth in the Coaches' poll. Our game versus Carolina may determine the final #1 seed.

Harper was named ACC Player of the Week becoming the fourth Terp this season to accomplish that feat. Of course the ACC sucks and didn't put anything in it's release about how many other schools have had four different players win POW in a single season.

Charlie Creme did his first bracket of the year a few weeks ago and it looks like he has us playing Texas or Penn State in round two.

Mechelle Voepel did an article on Brenda's pregnancy and Coach Walz's newest Angel.

Mike Fratto previews the rest of the season for the Washington Times.

Milton Kent did a feature on Kristi last week.

I am working on a poll for Brenda's baby names, send me your suggestions and i will pick the best ones. Right now I have:
Boston and Albuquerque
Pat and Geno
Shay and Crystal

You can scout our next two opponents at 1 pm today if interested.

The Red Coat is Coming

Tomorrow marks Jeff Walz's official return to Baltimore as they play Coppin State University at 2 p.m. Louisville has turned things around since a slow start and I think is on the verge of hoisting the Commonwealth Cup after wins over Western Kentucky and Kentucky.

I may stop by depending on how holiday shopping is going. I will be the one with the sign:

Can't

Stand

U - Jeff Walz

(Daron is so much better)

Go Eagles!

Terps Keep Dukes From Streaking, 71-65

It was a great atmosphere for hoops in the MadiZone and luckily for us we came away with the win. The refs decided early that Kristi wasn't going to be allowed to showcase her skills for the captive audience and put her on the bench three minutes into the game. And that proved how valuable she was to the team. With her on the bench, Coleman couldn't guard Young and our offense had no rhythym.

I figured in the second half, Kristi would take over and put this game away early, but our recent trend (and harking back to last year) of coming out sluggish to start the second half reared its ugly head again. Then we decided to tease the fans by trailing by 10 with 9 minutes to go. The competitive switch went off and JMU scored 8 points the rest of the game, while we scored 24.

I think it's time to put an end to these homecoming games. The last three have not been fun: Middle Tennessee State (Ashleigh and Jade) - narrow win, Temple (Harper) - narrow win, UCSB and UCLA (Sade) - narrow wins, JMU (Kristi) - narrow win. The last easy win was against Monmouth (Crystal and Shay) and we need a second half burst to control that game.

Congrats to Ashleigh for making our lone three.

Harper gets Player of the Game honors for being ferocious all night.

I wasn't too happy with Langhorne taking maybe 7 shots last night, as natty06 told me practice would change this. Plus she needs to start making her free throws or the ACC season will become "Hang on Lang" to keep her from filling up the bucket. Disappointed in Drey not seeing more time and makes me wonder what next year holds with no post experience. Lastly, the refs were awful again.

See you all for Richmond on the 29th.

Game 15: James Madison

Well it's been a while, hasn't it? Are we sure the 08-09 season isn't starting today? After 14 games in 31 days, we play our first game in 11 days. Let's hope the layoff doesn't affect us that much.

If you aren't making the trip to the MadiZone, you can watch the game through JMU's site for $8, listen to WMUC and/or watch GameTracker via JMUSports.

James Madison enters the game with a record of 6-2 and riding a two-game losing streak. They have also won 30 games in a row at home including this season over Wake Forest and George Washington. They are another defensive-minded team with the most points they have given up being 79. Offensively, they average 73.9 ppg. The Dukes also love to work the glass averaging 48.1 rebounds while only allowing 33.2 to their opponents. They aren't great shooters with a FG percentage of .387.

Their offense revolves around Tamera Young, who leads the team in points, rebounds and turnovers. She has taken 27 three-pointers, but only made 2 on the season. She's a 6-2 guard, which means Marissa will be guarding her. Limit her touches, and I believe their offense will crumble. Dawn Evans is a 5-7 guard and their main three point threat, making 21 of 61 shots. Kisha Stokes is their post presence and is second on the team in rebounding with 9.6. Jennifer Brown is the other person in the post and the team leader in blocks. Jasmin Lawrence rounds out the starters and is primarily a shooter. I assume the defensive match ups will be as follows:
Coleman - Young
Toliver - Evans
Harper - Stokes
Langhorne - Brown
Lawrence - Strickland

We just need to put this game away early like we did at Northern Iowa last year. If we let the crowd get into the game, it could be a long night and long bus trip back.

A Little Holiday Dancing

From some Maryland Elves



And from some famous Scrooges

Wednesday's Words

With all the games in such a short time, I wasn't able to keep you all updated about the happenings with the team so without further ado:

The Rutgers loss saw us drop to 6th in the coaches' poll, but then we moved up to 5th this week and even picked up a first place vote (I am guessing the Pitt coach did that). In the AP we are fourth and we are finally able to access votes by visiting here. If you want to spit some venom e-mail Elliott Warnock at the Chapel Hill News who has picked us 10th.

The Diamondback did a feature on Marah Strickland

The Washington Post did a feature on Coach Frese and a day in the life of a pregnant coach.

Crystal was last week's ACC POW, giving us three thus far this season.

Kristi Toliver moved up to second on CSTV's weekly Wade Watch

Jeff Lippman wrote a scathing piece about how Toliver takes too many shots in losses

Terps win Boxing Match over Temple, 64-46

In the most physical game of the year and the last of a 14-game stretch, the Terps finally responded to being pushed around and sent a message to Temple and other teams of their ilk by winning by 18. In the past, we would have wilted due to being hacked, elbowed and pushed on almost every play, but yesterday we gave it right back and said enough was enough. The game was poorly officiated as the refs let it get out of hand and thus players fell all over the court.

I thought the defense was outstanding as we really limited Temple's looks and they were forced to take a bunch of bad shots. We also didn't rely on the three-point shot as much, as we only took two (and made them both), which shows that we can play on the inside when they pressure us from the outside.

Player of the Game: Kristi. Yes, she led the team in scoring, but I was more impressed that she played a true PG in the first half and didn't look for her shot. She took two shots and instead had 7 assists and four rebounds. She realized her shot wasn't falling and got her teammates involved. It was great to see.

Next Up: James Madison on Dec. 20 (yes, imagine that, no games for 11 days). God rested on the seventh day, the Maryland Women's Basketball team didn't get to rest until the 32nd day.

Game 14: Temple

For the fourth time this week, we have a game. Today will officially mark the end of the craziest schedule in NCAA history. The ladies just need 40 more minutes of energy and then they can rest their legs.

Today's opponent is Temple, which gave us quite the game last year at their place. Temple is 4-5 with their losses coming against Georgia, Georgia Tech, Duke, Stanford and NC State so they have played top competition and will not be intimated. They have beaten Purdue this year and were up 19 on Stanford before losing.

They are similiar to Rutgers as they play in your face defense and will hound you all over the court. They want to play the game in the 60s as they are averaging 61 points per game. The Owls give up 52.7 points per game and haven't given up more than 64 all season long.

5-5 guard Ashley Morris is the offensive star of the team. Last year she was a reserve and now has taken full advantage of playing all the time. She averages 17.0 ppg and will shoot both inside and outside as she has taken the most shots inside and outside the arc. Lady Comfort is their inside threat (she missed the game last year) and averages 11 and 9.4 rebounds. She does seem foul prone. Helping her out in the middle is Shenita Landry who leads the team in blocks and third in rebounding and scoring. LaKeisha Eaddy is their little pest of a guard who will help on the double teams to create the steal. She is turnover prone and isn't a great shooter. Their fifth starter Marli Bennett is averaging 1.0 ppg. She is not much of a factor. Off the bench, the Owls three-point shooters are Kimmel and Roberts. Nearly everyone of their shots have been threes this year.

If we attack the press and play our game this should be an easy win.

Terps Overcome Odds to Defeat Northern Iowa, 91-37

The only odds the Terps faced last night was whether or not they would all make it to the gym on time. The game was a complete effort as timely passes, key rebounds and very few costly turnovers led to the easy win. Crystal saw her streak of perfect first halves end in the first minute as she had her shot blocked and after starting the game 1-for-4, finished 7-for-10 (that's 6-for-6 for all the non-math majors). Emery (Jane) also saw her first action since her career outing and finished with 1 point thus knocking her scoring average down to 7.0.

No complaints today as Natty 06 (and team insider) stated in one of the comments that the team hasn't practiced in a while and once they get a chance to practice again we will be a wrecking machine. So until Dec. 31 I will reserve all judgement on the team unless I see a lack of enery out there.

Next up: Temple on Sunday at 2 to complete hell week and hell month. 40 more minutes ladies and then 11 days off (sort of).

Lastly, a moment of silence for the loss of a fellow women's Terp fan on Thursday. Fellow bloggers Eileen and Judith over at The Basketcases (your more fan oriented site) lost their beloved Ripley to the rainbow bridge. Ripley never made an appearance at Comcast (at least not that I know of), but I am sure would bark like crazy when his/her owners were watching Terps' road games. Here's hoping that The Basketcases make their return to Comcast on Sunday.

Game 13: Northern Iowa

Time for game three of four this week as well as battling a stomach bug. Will Coach Frese return to the bench? Tonight's opponent is Northern Iowa and hopefully we are healthy enough to put them away at halftime.(Then again, I thought the same thing about UCSB and MTSU).

Northern Iowa enters the game with a record of 4-2 with their lone losses coming to Minnesota and Iowa. They are averaging 62.0 points per game while allowing 55.7. They are a three-point shooting team, having taken 135 thus far this season (that's 22.5 per game) meaning we must step over the screens instead of under them. The Panthers are a small team with their tallest player at 6'2. If I recall correctly from my trip to the game last year, UNI likes to slow down the tempo and make it a low scoring game. We must attack the basket tonight.

The Panthers leading scorer, Nicole Clausen, comes off the bench and is averaging 12.3 points per game. She leads the team in three-point attempts, too. Jacqui Kalin is the team's point guard and second on the team in scoring at 11.0. She is the assist leader and shoots the second most three pointers. Erin Brocka is their main rebounder at 7.5 rebounds per game and third in scoring. She also will step out to shoot the 3.

We need to play our style of basketball tonight and watch for long rebounds.

Terrapins Fight Off Illness and Raiders, 74-69

We are somehow the unluckiest team in America. Twice this year the team has gotten sick as a whole and for the third time in three years. And not only do they sick, they get violently ill where they are sluggish on the court. It wasn't a pretty game, but we won and I will chalk it up to being sick. I assume no presentations were done due to Brenda being home sick.

Here are some things I have noticed and don't like 12 games into the season. Please note that I have never coached before so I could be completely wrong on some of these.

1. This is Crystal Langhorne: . She is a National Player of the Year candidate and since her return to the starting line up she has missed only 10 shots. Is there a reason she doesn't touch the ball in the paint every possession? It seems that we have gone back to the guard-based offense again. For the second straight game, she went perfect in the first half and then went missing in the second half.
2. Our defensive focus seems to be stopping people cutting to the lanes and neglecting the outside shooters. Many teams have dribbled to the middle and then kicked it out for wide open three-pointers. We are also going under screens instead of over them which gives a shooter an extra inch to shoot.
3. We don't adjust the gameplan to attack an opponent's weakness. My philosophy is to attack players in foul trouble, ours sometimes seems to neglect that fact. Case in point, Brandi Brown had three fouls in the first half and finished with four (which she picked up with 2:30 to go). She was going nuts behind the arc. Would it have hurt to just pound it into the paint and make Langhorne, Harper, Perry and Mingo attack her to get her out of the game? The same thing happened at Rutgers with Vaughn out and Ajavon with 3.
4. Our press break seems to go backwards instead of forwards and we dribble to corners instead of the middle. We like to play uptempo, why when a press happens we slow down? Attack the the middle of the court and expose the press.
5. It's great to see Coach Park has helped our defense, but I am worried about his coaching. In the three games he has gone solo, we have trailed late and needed superhuman efforts to win. It may be time to let Coach Floyd lead the way and see how the team responds, especially if Coach Frese plans on missing some ACC contests.
6. We look like we go to low in our stances on defense in order to prevent the drive by. Unfortunately, it gives us a slow first step and "shrinks" our players allowing the opposing team an easier look at the hoop on jump shots.
7. Will we ever get respect from the refs? We are the number 6 team in the country and the opposing teams get more closer calls on our home court than we do. You think Tennessee and Connecticut walk away from home games against lesser opponents saying "we got screwed again" Also, I am afraid the bench is going to get a technical this year because I think we have been warned at least twice this year by opposing refs. Not a good impression to make before ACC season even starts.

Game 12: Middle Tennessee State

We only had one day to rest after suffering from our only defeat of the year and tonight's opponent, Middle Tennessee State, should help us get back on the winning side of things. Tonight should tell us if this team is of National Championship caliber. Two years ago when they lost to UT, it made them hungrier. Last year, when they lost to Duke, they got down on themselves and it showed the rest of the year. I want to see a complete destruction of the Blue Raiders tonight, so much so that Emery AKA Jane Wallace has another chance to set a career high.

We should have two presentations today. One to honor Crystal as the all-time leading rebounder and one to honor Kristi as a 1,000 point scorer. You will also note that I have updated the records section on the left to give all my loyal readers a chance to follow along as the season progresses.

MTSU enters with a record of 3-3 with wins over Tennessee Tech, Houston and Arizona. They are averaging 70.2 points per game while allowing 66.7. Opponents are shooting 48.3% from the floor and 34.5% from 3. If I remember last year's contest, they like to play pressure defense the entire game, but who knows if that philosophy has changed. Amber Holt is their whole team. You may remember her from last year as she went off agaisnt us in her college debut and we escaped with a win. Coleman is going to have to lock her down like she did to Packer. Holt leads the team in scoring, rebounding, shot attempts and assists. Everyone on the team can shoot a 3, so we must step out on screens. Their tallest player is 6'2 and she only grabs 3.3 rebounds per game. We should win the rebounding edge handily.

To win today:
1. Guard Holt
2. Dictate tempo
3. Establish the Post
4. No stupid turnovers

Rutgers Ends Maryland's Perfect Season, 68-60

Kudos to Rutgers for playing one hell of a game. They came out and did exactly what I thought they would do. Their defense was outstanding and they never got rattled no matter the deficit.

Other the other hand, we got rattled and it showed. Kristi, Marissa and the rest of the team seem frustrated with Rutgers' defense and instead of playing Maryland basketball they fell right into Rutgers' hands. There was a stretch at the end of the first half where we played uptempo and got our shots, but for some reason we went away from that in the second half. On that note, I have three complaints about the second half gameplan.

1. Going small when Vaughn picked up her fourth foul. Vaughn picked her fourth foul at 16:07 and a little over two minutes later with a 9 point lead we went subbed in Ashleigh for Crystal. That gave us four guards and a post player. Rutgers cuts the lead to 2 before we go back to the dual post combination and with that Rutgers was back in the game. Why not put Jade in if you want to go small and let her continue to work her magic down low?
2. Not attacking the paint with Vaughn on the bench and Ajavon with three fouls and in the bonus. Ajavon had three fouls and there was no shot blocker in the middle and we were in the bonus, yet we never drove hard and tried to create contact and get to the free throw line. Plus, with our four guard line up we never reestablished our post game which should have been a gimmie. WHEN WILL OUR PLAYERS LEARN TO FEED THE POST?
3. Staying in the zone too long. The zone was a wonderful idea in the first half as it kept Rutgers from driving to the lane. In the second half, Rutgers made adjustments and we didn't. Once the zone was solved and the score got close we should have switched back to man-to-man to regain our advantage on the boards. One thing I have learned about playing a zone is that it is harder to grab defensive rebounds as there are no block out assignments.

Do I feel Rutgers is a better team than us? No, but I felt they played better than us last night and deserved to win.

Now we have to regroup and win the next 3. Last year that first loss to Duke was our undoing and we pressed the rest of the year. Let's see if a year later has had any impact.

Game 11: Rutgers (ESPN2)

For the first time all season we get two days off in between games and we need it as we head north to Piscataway, NJ to take on #5/6 Rutgers in the Jimmy V Classic. For some reason Rutgers continues to play in this game instead of giving other teams a chance to host it. Rutgers will be the fifth ranked team we have played in 11 games and third top-10 team. Last year, I don't think we played 5 ranked teams all season.

Rutgers is the media darling after being "mocked" by Don Imus last year after losing in the national championship game. Ironically, tomorrow is Don Imus' first day on the air and it would be fitting that his last and first days on the air centered around Rutgers losses. Vivian Stringer made a big deal about this issue in the spring, but now she wants to be known as the team that lost in the Championship. She is also insane as last week told a reporter that the NCAA was out to get her.

Aside from Don Imus Vivian Stringer also hates scoring, whether it be by her team or the opponents. Thus far this year they have scored only 57.6 points per game, while allowing 47.6 ppg. They haven't scored more than 67 all year and haven't allowed more than 60 (and that was because of free throws with no time left on the clock essentially). The last time they scored more than 80 in regulation was 88 last year against Florida. The last time they allowed more than 70 was against Connecticut last February. Opponents shoot 30.4 % and 24.1% from three. They will guard us from the time we walk off the bus.

They are led by sophomore Epiphany Prince, who is more famous for scoring over 100 in a high school game. Prince is a slasher and will occasionally shoot the three. Their dazzling backcourt is seniors Matee Ajavon and Essence Carson. Both are similiar players bu Ajavon may attack the paint more and more of a ballhawk on defense. Chances are she guards Kristi. Carson, which one paper calls their stopper, is coming off hip and groin injuries so whoever is being guarded by her (i'm assuming Coleman or Toliver) needs to make quick sudden movements to check out her range of motion. The key to the team is Kia Vaughn. She is their lone starting post player and if she can control the paint, the guards can play tough defense. Vaughn sometimes decides when she wants to play, but she tends to come alive in the big battles. We must attack Vaughn from the tip and get her out of the game. She can be foul prone. Rutgers' fourth starter is Heather Zurich, who is more of a wing player and will likely be matched up against Harper or Langhorne. She will shoot from outside, but is the team's fifth and final option. This is another match up we must exploit.

To win this game, we must take care of the ball. Rutgers wants to slow this game down to a snail's pace. I don't mind if we try to speed up the tempo, but we can't force passes that aren't there. Second, we must keep Rutgers' guards off the glass. Prince and Carson like to help Vaughn on the glass so we need to box them out on misses. Lastly, Vaughn likes to pretend she is loafing on plays and then dart to the paint for an easy bucket.

If we get to 70, I think we will win this game. Then we get ready for 3 games in 5 days.

Terps Stifle Buckeyes 77-53

Well looks like the extra day of rest paid off on the defensive end as Ohio State was held to 29.6 shooting from the field, the second lowest we have given up this year. I loved the defensive intensity we showed last night as we challenged every one of Ohio State's shots. There was hustle all over the place. We could have rebounded better but when one team misses 50 shots, it's going to be hard to grab them all.

It was great to see Jade rebound from thee subpar performances. She seems to relish playing against these All-American type players. The game also showed that you can try and shut down Kristi, season-low 9 points, but then the inside game with kill you as Crystal, Laura and Jade combined for 39 points. The turnovers are still an issue but we seemed to cut down on them in the second half. I noticed that the turnovers are primarily a result of Toliver trying to play faster than the game. She forced a bunch of passes because she wanted to get going quickly. My only true disappointment was that we didn't keep attacking Lavender (boy wouldn't she look good in Red and not Scarlet?). She picked up a foul at 18:43 on a charge and didn't get another one the rest of the game. She was great inside and we needed to get her out of there.

Player of the Game: Marissa Coleman. Much has been said about her lack of defense but here is the stat line for OSU's star player: 2-11 (2-6 from 3), 0-0 from the line, 6 points. Packer was averaging over 17 points per game and shooting over 50 percent inside the arc. She made no shots inside the arc and one of her three-pointers came when Marissa was on the bench. After Marissa was done shutting down Packer, she scored 14 points and grabbed a crucial last second rebound to keep us from losing the rebounding battle.

Things to work on: Resting again. We have 4 games next week.

Next up: Rutgers on Monday at the RAC at 7 p.m. on ESPN2 as part of the Jimmy V Classic. A win will almost certainly lock up a 1 seed in March and will make C. Vivian Stringer even crazier than she already is.