Marissa Coleman, the new Mayor of College Park
Now that you've heard about all of our culinary expeditions, and probably think that we are the fattest and most unhealthy people alive, I figured it was about time we actually talked about some basketball.
For those of you who missed Maryland's (or should I say Marissa Coleman's) comeback win over Vanderbilt yesterday, shame on you! Watching Coleman yesterday, I am proud to say that I witnessed the greatest individual performance in Maryland women's basketball history. 42 points, 15 rebounds! Enough said. Just when it looked like it would be her and Kristi Toliver's final game in Maryland uniforms, Coleman put the team on her shoulders and carried them to victory. Coleman hit tough shot after tough shot while facing every defender Vanderbilt had to offer. And she did all of this while taking on the responsibility of defending the Commodores best player, Christina Wirth down the stretch. Coleman personally requested the challenge fo guarding Wirth and made big defensive plays that helped the Terps claw back.
Despite how impressive Maryland's comeback was yesterday, Coach Frese still has to be alarmed by her team's performance. Maryland came out flat at the beginning of both halves, falling behind 12-2 to start out the game and allowing a 9-3 run to start out the second half. At times Vanderbilt dominated the glass, getting second and third chances despite having only one starter over six feet tall. They outhustled the Terps for much of the game and played a very tight, aggressive defense that gave Toliver and company trouble. It was clear that Vandy wanted revenge after being ousted by the Terps last year.
But give credit to the way Maryland persevered, facing a deficit as large as 18. They were down by 11 with just seven minutes to play, but never panicked. Toliver and Coleman wouldn't let this team fail, scoring 37 of the Terps 42 second half points.
Every championship team has that one huge scare on their road to glory. Maybe this was it for the Terps. It's not going be easy for the Terps on Monday either, facing a Louisville team led by Jeff Walz who badly wants to beat the team he helped coach for five years. But down the stretch on Saturday, the Terps at least looked like a team poised for a championship run.
By the way thanks to The Diamondback's Adam Fried for his excellent photo of Marissa Coleman in action during yesterday's game.
Labels: Marissa Coleman, raleighpalooza
posted by jmorela2 @ 3/29/2009 01:49:00 PM
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2 Comments:
It is always fun to read all of your posts. It helps us feel more connected, experiencing the tournament through your eyes, ears, and tastebuds.(!) Once this evening is over, the Elite Eight will be decided. No doubt you are following closely. How do you three feel about the eight teams that remain?
Well, now that we have a complete Elite Eight to talk about......
Let's get Trenton out of the way now. Cal showed some weaknesses in UConn's armor, but Arizona State doesn't have the personnel to compete with the Huskies. UConn is still the favorite in the tournament, and will almost certainly be playing into the Final Four.
Berkeley might not be much more interesting. The Cyclones lost by 38 in a neutral-site game in Hawaii back in November. On top of that, Iowa State just hasn't been terribly impressive in this tournament, save for their first-round game against East Tennessee State, where ISU hit 3s like nobody's business. When they finally did get a test, though, Iowa State ended up being about a minute and change away from being eliminated. Stanford is the better team anyway, and is just playing better basketball right now.
Purdue is an interesting team - I feel they've underachieved at times this season, and they FINALLY seem to be putting it together. Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton against Courtney Paris on the inside might not end up being a terribly balanced matchup, but it's going to be one to watch nonetheless, if for no other reason than that Purdue could be screwed if Wisdom-Hylton doesn't get her numbers. If you forced me to pick, especially seeing the great support the Sooners had tonight in OKC, I'll take Oklahoma.
As for Maryland-Louisville......well, you'll have to tune in tomorrow night to hear our thoughts on that one. I will say this, though - of the four games in the Elite Eight, this one looks to CLEARLY be the best of the bunch, and if the thought of the upcoming Angel McCoughtry-Marissa Coleman matchup doesn't excite you, you're not a fan of the game.
Thanks for the comment!
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