Terps Take Down Temple 64-46

Not exactly the most efficient game, but a win is a win. After playing 14 games in a month, Maryland will get a much needed 11-day rest. By that time the stomach virus should be completely gone through the Maryland system. Ever since the Rutgers game, the Terps just haven’t looked like themselves, most likely a combination of fatigue and sickness. But they are on a three-game win streak, improving to 13-1 after the 64-46 win over Temple.

Maryland looked like the much quicker and energetic team. Temple had trouble keeping up with Maryland’s driving down the court and kept fouling. Maryland shot decently, but allowed Temple to shoot 17 more times, but thanks to Temple’s very aggressive play, the Terps got 24 points off free throws. Temple held in there for a little while, but poor shooting gave them their fourth loss to ACC teams this season.

For the second time in three games, Kristi Toliver’s play in the second half drove the Terps to victory. She scored 15 points with four assists and only one turnover in the final 20 minutes, eventually ending with a double-double with 15 points and 11 assists. She also got four free throws in a row after a personal foul and technical foul called on Owl head coach Dawn Staley.

Crystal Langhorne also looks like she is back to form. She led during the first half with 10 points and two blocks. She has been the physical presence in the paint that the Terps have needed in the last few games.

Maryland didn’t see much from the bench, as only three players came off to the court. Combined Newman, Perry, and Mingo got six points, seven rebounds, and four steals. Thankfully for Maryland, the starters did enough to win the game, but the lack of scoring from the bench could prove to be a problem against the ACC.

It is final exams time around College Park, and as Coach Frese said after the game: "They have earned a well-deserved break, so we're going to get away from each other. We're going to allow them to be students because I don't think the schedule has been very kind to allow them to be students first."

The Terps are off until December 20th, where they will take on the James Madison Dukes in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Tipoff is at 7:00 p.m., tune in to wmucsports.com for all the action!

From Cats to Birds

The No. 3-ranked Maryland women's basketball team welcomes the Temple Owls to Comcast Center Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock. Temple comes to town sporting a 4-5 record; winning their last contest 74-34 over Kent State. Dawn Staley, who is in her 8th year as head coach, has led the Owls to four Atlantic-10 championships. The latest came in the 2006 season. These two teams met last year in Philadelphia, with Temple giving the Terps all they could handle. Maryland came out victorious 77-66 as Laura Harper led the way with 17 points.

In that game, Temple used an 18-1 run to take a 62-58 lead with just 5:38 left to play. Good news for the Terps is that the player who sparked the rally for Temple, Kamesha Hairston, has graduated to the WNBA. Senior guard Ashley Morris, who did not score in last year's contest, currently leads the Owls in scoring with 17 points per game. Another face Maryland will have to deal with is Lady Comfort, as the 6-foot 2-inch senior is almost averaging a double-double for the season with 11 points and nine rebounds a contest.

The Owls were able to force 21 Terrapin turnovers in the December '06 match-up and will undoubtedly be looking to do some of the same things that caused headaches for the then-No. 1 team in the country. Temple will not be able to win at Comcast Center by out-shooting the Terps, as they only shoot 41-percent from the field and average just over 60 points per game. In stark contrast, Maryland shoots at just over 50-percent with a 79.8 points per game average.

Maryland will be coming in sky high off of their demolition of the Northern Iowa Panthers 91-37 on Friday night. Five Terrapins logged double-digit point efforts as Marissa Coleman (22 points & 12 rebounds) and Harper (10 points & 11 rebounds) chalked up double-doubles. Kristi Toliver had an "off-day" in comparison to her normal "Agent Two-Zero" standards with 12 points and seven assists. Toliver did become just the ninth player in school history to accumulate at least 400 assists for a career.

A couple more milestones were reached in Friday's drubbing; Coleman moved into top 20 all-time in Terrapin scoring with 1,167 points and Ashleigh Newman played in her 117th consecutive game in a Maryland uniform. Maryland's win, which featured a margin of 54 points, was the biggest win of the season, and largest since a 55-point victory at Loyola last December.

Sunday's game will end a stretch of 14 games in 31 days, as the Terps will not play again until December 20 when they visit James Madison in a homecoming game for Toliver. Toliver played at Harrisonburg (VA) High School in the shadow of JMU. The upcoming rest is going to be greatly deserved as the team has battled sickness and numerous top-flight opponents en route to a 12-1 record.

The action begins with a 2 o'clock tipoff at Comcast Center Sunday afternoon. We will have the pregame show starting at 1:40 on WMUCsports.com. The Terps look to improve to 13-1, while Temple looks for a signature win to jump-start their season.