Sports Page Magazine Picks Terps 6th

Looks like a UConn-based online magazine and somehow they rewarded the Terps with a #6 ranking.

6) MARYLAND: Coach Brenda Frese wasted no time turning the Terrapins into a national contender, with back-to-back-to-back top rated recruiting classes. Shay Doron and Kalika France lead the backcourt attack, while ACC Freshman of the Year, 6-3 forward Crystal Langhorne, again powers the interior. The Terps will greatly benefit from the return of 6-4 center Laura Harper, whose initial season was cut short with an achilles injury. Frese guaranteed a win against ACC conference favorite Duke, and though the prophecy didn’t come true, 6-1 freshman Marissa Coleman and 5-8 Kristi Tolliver may give Maryland the depth and skill to deliver on that promise this season.

for the complete story go here: http://www.sportspagemagazine.com/published/college-sports/our-ncaa-womens-basketbal.shtml

Terps Picked Third in ACC Preseason Poll

2005-06 Preseason Poll
1. Duke (30) - 470
2. North Carolina (10) - 446
3. Maryland - 394
4. NC State - 352
5. Boston College - 302
6. Florida State - 256
7. Virginia Tech - 214
8. Virginia - 188
9. Wake Forest - 166
10. Georgia Tech - 152
11. Miami - 126
12. Clemson - 54

2005-06 Preseason All-ACC Team
Monique Currie, Duke
Shay Doron, Maryland
Tamara James, Miami
Crystal Langhorne, Maryland
Erlana Larkins, North Carolina
Ivory Latta, North Carolina

2005-06 Preseason Player of the Year
Monique Currie, Duke

2005-06 Preseason Rookie of the Year
Abby Waner, Duke

A few notes about the selections.
- Good to see Maryland have two selections, it's been a long time since we have seen that.
- I think Coleman will beat out Waner for ROY, but that all depends on the NC media.
- Duke was picked either 1st or second on every ballot, while North Carolina received at least one third place vote ( I think it was 4). Maryland looks to have had this breakdown
Second place - 4 votes, Third place - 26 Votes, Fourth place - 10 votes

Capital Gazette Previews the Team

Here's the article for the Annapolis Capital, one of the team's most loyal followers.

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2005/10_19-41/SPO

SI Ranks the Terps 13th

The author did a good job and reading a website and taking some facts from it, but she could have done more research. She mentions that Larkins and Latta are POY candidates and averaged 31 per game, yet Lang and Shay averaged nearly 35 ppg and are POY candidates too. Here's what she wrote about Maryland:

Maryland Terrapins
With so much of the attention falling on Duke and North Carolina, Terps coach Brenda Frese has been putting together quite a team. She brought in her second straight top-five recruiting class. Throw in four returning starters, and you have a potent squad. The Terps welcome back their top two scorers in Crystal Langhorne and Shay Doron.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/tracy_schultz/10/14/power.rankings/index.html

Today's Article

Disappointed that neither the Post or the Times did an article after media day yesterday. Below is the article from Ed Lee of the Baltimore Sun, who enters year two of covering the team.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/college/basketball/bal-sp.terpswom19oct19,1,5139803.story?coll=bal-sports-more

Dick Patrick's Sleeper Team

In case you missed it, Dick Patrick picked Maryland as his sleeper team in the USA Today preview issue on Friday. Here is the link and the excerpt:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/2005-10-13-hoops-questions_x.htm#questions

Is there a team that might be a similar dark horse to national champ Baylor and runner-up Michigan State?
You might want to keep an eye on Maryland. Brenda Frese has had three strong recruiting classes in a row. Junior guard Shay Doron, sophomore posts Crystal Langhorne and Laura Harper, returning from an Achilles' injury, plus newcomers including Marissa Coleman could make the Terrapins a force in March.

Dick Patrick's Sleeper Team

In case you missed it, Dick Patrick picked Maryland as his sleeper team in the USA Today preview issue on Friday. Here is the link and the excerpt:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/2005-10-13-hoops-questions_x.htm#questions

Is there a team that might be a similar dark horse to national champ Baylor and runner-up Michigan State?
You might want to keep an eye on Maryland. Brenda Frese has had three strong recruiting classes in a row. Junior guard Shay Doron, sophomore posts Crystal Langhorne and Laura Harper, returning from an Achilles' injury, plus newcomers including Marissa Coleman could make the Terrapins a force in March.

And We're Back

Sorry for the delay the last month or so, there wasn't a ton of news and I got lazy. Hope you all like the new design on top.

The season officially is underway as Coach Frese led the team to the floor last Friday night. It was great to hear about all the High School All-Americans the team has recruited. I had two complaints though. 1) The order in which the players were introduced. Shay and Crystal should have been the last two announced as they are the two stars. No offense to Aurelie, Charmaine and Angel, but their accolades aren't the same as #1 and #22. 2)The women only got to play for 6 minutes. Yes that's right 6 minutes. At a school that is trying to attract the students to women's games you would figure they would let them play for longer so the students could see what they were missing out on. Granted the ladies played technically instead of high-flying, but we need students at the game.

Yesterday was Media Day and here are the links to what the players had to say, as well as a photo gallery:
http://umterps.collegesports.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/101805aae.html
http://umterps.collegesports.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/101805aaa.html


Also, in case you missed it, here is the release about the preseason magazine polls:
http://umterps.collegesports.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/101305aab.html

First Preseason Poll Out - Terps 13th

Lindy's Preseason Women's Basketball Top 25
1. Duke
2. Tennessee
3. Rutgers
4. Georgia
5. Baylor
6. UNC
7.Ohio State
8. UCONN
9. Michigan State
10. LSU
11. Stanford
12. Texas
13. Maryland
14. Purdue
15. Vandy
16. UCLA
17. Texas Tech
18. Notre Dame
19. Minnesota
20. Oklahoma
21. USC
22. Utah
23. Temple
24. Arizona State
25. North Carolina State

All Americans:
1st team
Seimone Augustus - LSU
Monique Currie - Duke
Candice Wiggins - Stanford
Jessica Davenport - Ohio State
Sophia Young - Baylor

2nd team
Cappie - Rutgers
Tiffany Jackson - Texas
Kim Smith - Utah
Khara Smith - DePaul
Tashsa Humprhey - Georgia

3rd team
Erin Grant - Texas Tech
Nikki Blue - UCLA
Megan Dufy - Notre Dame
Jazz Covington - Louisville
Liz Shimek - Michigan State
------------------------------------------------

While I agree with the ranking, two straight second round exits and not a great finish last year, I do have a problem with the All-America teams. Where's Crystal on this list? She has to be better than the Covington girl. I guess it will just be another year of Maryland players being overlooked despite the fact that they are better than most players. Hopefully this is the only publication to make this mistake.

Two noticeable omissions: anyone from Tennessee and Ivory Latta.

2005-06 Schedule Released

If you look on the left side of the page you will see the newly released 05-06 schedule, which will hopefully result in our third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Out Of Conference Schedule is a little bit better in year's past, but the team is still playing too many cupcakes. We should know right off the bat if this team is any good as we play Xavier, Gonzaga, Michigan State and Tennessee in games 2-5. Xavier and Gonzaga are NIT/possibly NCAA teams, while MSU and Tennessee made the FF last year and have reloaded. The other key non-conference game is Arizona, which may be looking for revenge after last year's overtime loss in Tucson. Polk is still there so Crystal, Jade and Harper will have to play tall and stay out of foul trouble, but Wheeler is gone so this year may be a bit easier.

The ACC gave us home and homes vs. Duke, Virginia and B.C. this year, which means once again they didn't do us any favors. For the second straight year, Maryland gets to welcome a newcomer to the league as they play BC on January 5th. Then a brutal stretch in February with games at UNC, Duke then back home for BC and then back down to NC for NC State in a span of 10 days. This stretch will probably decide our seeding heading into the postseason. Maybe one day the ACC will realize that it's good to help out all the teams in the league and just not Duke and UNC.

Overall I am looking at a 13-1 OOC record and a 9-5 or 10-4 ACC record for a 22-6 or 23-5 mark heading into the postseason and hopefully a top 5 seed.

NY SHAY - Doron Makes the New York Times

Maryland Junior Guard Shay Doron was recently featured in the New York Times. Check out the article:

Two Countries to Serve and a Champion in Both
By Harvey Araton
Published: August 19, 2005
TODAY, we take a much-needed respite from the trailing of Terrell Owens, the baiting of the Boss, student-athletes running afoul of the law, steroid users, glory seekers and mega-money players.

Today, rooted in the real world, we close our eyes and visualize two young women taking in a Liberty game together last week at Madison Square Garden, bonded by what they consider to be the experience of a lifetime, before getting on with the new school year and the rest of their lives.
Lisa Fischman of Bloomfield, N.J., called Shay Doron of Great Neck, N.Y., and invited her to use one of her family's season tickets. It was the least she could do, Fischman said, after all Doron had done for her and a whole lot of others last month at the 17th World Maccabiah Games.
To begin with, Doron played for the United States women's basketball team instead of her native Israel and was the most valuable player as the Americans whipped the Israelis for the gold medal in the Mediterranean Sea city of Ramat Gan.
Seriously, by far and away, that was the least of it.
"Of course you play to win, but that's not really what the Maccabiah Games are about," Doron said earlier this week by telephone. "It's mostly for the experience, for so many people coming to Israel, and can I just say it was unbelievable, the things we did, and especially to be with these girls who had never been to Israel before. Even more than winning a gold medal, I wanted to do whatever I could to help them feel comfortable and safe."
If her teammates and their families sought a restaurant recommendation, they consulted Doron. If they had to direct a taxi driver in Hebrew, they called Doron. If they needed to be calmed after the news of a terrorist bombing or convinced they were in no grave danger by going to the mall or a club, they counted on Doron.
"Shay was our personal tour guide, the one we looked to for advice on everything," said Fischman, a 6-foot-2 senior center for Division III Ramapo College in New Jersey. "She went above and beyond."
Doron said she considered it her honor, practically her national duty. "I've lived in America for 13 years and I consider it my home," she said, "but I'm also Israeli and I love my country, and all I wanted was for my teammates to love it, too."
A peripatetic life has taken Doron from Israel to the United States at the age of 3, back to Israel from seventh through 10th grades, and then to Christ the King High School in Middle Village, Queens - better known for exceptional girls basketball talent like Chamique Holdsclaw and Sue Bird than for courses in Judaic studies.
From Christ the King, it was on to the University of Maryland, where last season Doron, a sophomore, was her team's leading scorer, averaging 17.6 points, including a team-record-tying 39 against Florida State. On Wednesday, she was among 25 players named to the 2005-6 preseason watch list for the Wade Trophy, which goes annually to the Division I women's player of the year.
Given these credentials, it is no leap of logic to think that Doron might have tipped the gold-medal scale in Israel's favor had she joined the home team, which used predominantly 17- and 18-year-old players.
"They weren't thrilled, by any means," Doron said of the Israelis, "but I don't really think they were upset."
How could they be? Just before the Maccabiah Games, Doron was the most valuable player as the Israeli women's team won the European B Division under-20 championships in Brno, Czech Republic, Israel's first international women's sports title.
Having served her country on the court, she apparently recognized an opportunity to make a few points with the American side that ultimately could benefit Israel. She understood that every one of the several thousand visiting athletes represented another person who would scatter to the 52 participating countries, potentially to return another day.
"All I want is peace - and I don't care how it happens - so people will come to Israel and the country will thrive on tourism again," Doron said.
Judging by Lisa Fischman's experience, Doron achieved her goals, from gold medal to grand mission. "When I made the team and told people I was going to Israel, so many said, 'Are you crazy?' " Fischman said. "I think we were all nervous. It's funny, you think you're going to the desert, but when you get there, it's so different, so beautiful, and the places we visited - the religious sites, a hospital, the Holocaust museum - are incredibly moving.
"You feel the spirit of the country and you put aside your fears. All I can say is that while I was there, it felt like home."
Back in New Jersey, she has watched the television images of the forced evacuation from Gaza this week, crying along with the settlers and soldiers. Like Shay Doron, Lisa Fischman said she had no political or religious agenda. She is not rooting for one side or another. All she knows is that she feels their pain and is praying for peace.