REACTION: Maryland 72, Wake Forest 70

We should have seen this coming.

I wrote earlier today that I would be "stunned if the Terps win by less than double digits." Boy, was that stupid. I'm giving myself something of a pass since I really had to rush that preview before class today, but the signs were still there that this was going to be a war.

Wake Forest, quite simply, was probably playing for its NCAA tournament lives today. At 19-10 with an RPI of 65, a SOS of 80, and no signature wins (0-5 against the RPI top 19, all teams in the top 5 of the ACC), they really needed to win this game.

They almost did.
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With 9:53 to go, Brooke Thomas buried a jumper to put the Demon Deacons up 12, 63-51. Maryland looked out of it. They looked lost. They weren't playing any defense. They looked like they were going to suffer yet another disappointing result in Greensboro, a house of horrors for them since the ACC tournament moved there in 2000.

Then two people stepped up. I don't have to tell you who they were.

Kristi Toliver knocked down a three on the next trip to get it back to 9. That was the first three of Toliver's 10 points in the final 10 minutes. Wake turns it over next trip. Coleman misses a layup, Maryland gets the board. Toliver misses a jumper. At this point everyone's thinking, "Man, they're off today. Are they ever gonna get it together?" But there was one girl on the Terps who had it together from the word "go" and that was Lynetta Kizer. She grabs one of her 11 boards and lays in two of her 16 points, getting fouled in the process. She buries the free throw and suddenly it's 63-57. It was 63-51 less than a minute ago. Uh oh.

Wake's choking. They turn it over AGAIN after missing a three and collecting the board. Maryland's switched to a 2-3 zone and it is absolutely baffling the Demon Deacons. Toliver gets the steal and gets it to Strickland for three to cut it to a possession but it won't fall. It wasn't Marah Strickland's best game. In fact it was one of her worst. 0-7 from the field, 0-5 from three. Wake gets the rebound and misses another three. The Terps are daring them to take them and they're not converting. Kizer's fouled while grabbing the board. She hits a pair at the line. 63-59. It's an 8-0 run in just under two minutes to cut a 12 point deficit to 4. That's what great teams do.

Coleman and Toliver each miss a shot and Wake hits a couple of free throws. 65-59. 5 minutes to go. Wake's held the Terps at bay for a few minutes. The run is over. They might just be able to hang on.

Then Coleman hits a jumper to make it 65-61 with 4 and a half to go. This is when I walk in to my dorm room with no idea what's been happning. I flip on the TV and I'm stunned that Wake's ahead. I say out loud "oh my god they actually might lose this game."

Seconds later, Wake misses a jumper and Toliver collects the board. She takes it up the court to the left wing. Without even blinking, she jab steps, steps back, and launches a contested three from behind the men's three point line.

Bottom.

What a shot.

The Maryland fans in attendance go BALLISTIC. It's absolutely bonkers in Greensboro. The number 1 seed, battling back from down 12. The number 9 seed, trying to hang on for the monumental upset that would almost assuredly punch their Dance ticket.

At this point, I was REALLY jealous of John Willmott, Hal DeCoursey, and Rob Dawson, who called this baby for WMUC Sports and are in Greensboro all weekend until the Terps lose.

But before I can curse those three gentlemen any more, Kizer stuffs Brooke Thomas. The rock finds its way to Toliver, who fires it up court to a streaking Coleman. Layup. Terps lead.

Wake's in quicksand and they can't do anything about it. Camille Collier launches a three and it's not even close. Airball. The TV timeout temporarily saves the Deacs but they cannot get the momentum back as Strickland, despite being scoreless, contributes in other ways. She gets fouled on the rebound and knocks down two free throws; her only two points of the afternoon. The Terp lead is 3. Then Toliver swipes Brooke Thomas and she's off and running. Dishes to Barrett. Barrett makes a little move before banking home the short range shot. 70-65. It is all Maryland. They're on a 19-2 run. The harder Wake fights to get out of the quicksand, the deeper they sink. The patches of red throughout the Greensboro Coliseum go wild. They know that the Terps have taken the best Demon Deacon punch and fought back to knock them on to the canvas.

One minute to go. Strickland misses a bad three that would have been a dagger. Brenda Frese wanted that ball in the hands of one of her seniors. Alas, it's Wake's now. Corrine Groves hits a HUGE jumper late in the shot clock to keep the Deacon hopes alive. They call timeout. Strickland misses ANOTHER three with 35 seconds to go and oh my goodness, Wake can tie it up and send this baby to OT. Unfortunately, the Terps absolutely buckled down on defense. Wake can't even get a three off; Thomas drives for a contested layup and misses. Kizer collects the board, she absolutely OWNED the glass today. Gets it to Toliver who's fouled. A meteor could have fallen at center court and that wouldn't have stopped Toliver from icing this game at the line. Ballgame. Well, not quite; Alex Tchanguoe goes all Dave Neal and hits a meaningless three at the buzzer to make the final margin a deceiving 2 point loss. Funny how the exact same thing happened in two different basketball games in the same week involving the same schools, except the teams were reversed this time. Can't make that up.
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What a comeback.

Toliver was just ridiculous. 10 of her 15 came in the late charge, including that absolutely ridiculous three to cut it to one. But that's just what Kristi Toliver does. I have been extremely critical of her at times. Maybe not on this blog but ever since she hit The Shot, I've expected her to be Superwoman every day and every game. Sometimes she has really bad games. It happesn to everyone. What bothers me the most though is how she lets it show in her body language when she's frustrated. She's one of those players that when she misses two or three shots in a row, that quickly turns in to seven or eight or even nine or ten shots in a row, she doesn't pass the ball, and she starts turning it over like crazy.

"Streaky" isn't the right word but it's the first word that comes to mind.

Anyway, Toliver has her bad games. But she doesn't have very many of them. And even when she's having a bad game, she'll always, always find a way to get it done in the clutch if her team needs her to. Like she did at Duke; despite her last second three rimming out, she led them back. And like today. No last second threes rimmed out this time. She didn't let it come down to that. She scored, she assisted, she stole. 10 points, 3 assists, 2 steals in the final 9:54. Unbelievable.

Coleman was great, too. She had those four points bookending the Toliver three in the quick 7-0 run that finally put the Terps on top for good. She also had a key block of a Courteney Morris three with 92 seconds to go that wasn't mentioned in my commentary. Her final stats for the day: 12 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks. Not quite up to her 22 PPG average during the 9 game winning streak but she found other ways to get it done. And again, a third of her points came during the most crucial spurt in the game. How's that for "clutch"?

Dee Liles poured in 11 and 9 in only 24 minutes due to foul trouble. 6 of her 9 boards came on the offensive glass, showing you just how hard she worked today. Anjale Barrett and Kim Rodgers combined for 16 points off the bench; Rodgers with two threes in the first half and Barrett with that big shot during the run to go along with 5 assists on the game.

This was a team effort today. Toliver obviously led it but it took everyone on the team working hard to bring the Terps back. Now maybe I'm wrong but after gutting out a game like that, I feel like it's their destiny to win this whole thing. And as for Wake, whether or not they land in the NCAA's or the WNIT, they're a very good basketball team that showed a ton of heart today. It's just tough when a player like Kristi Toliver puts her team on her back, carries them, and single-handedly gets everyone else to raise their games in an absolutely amazing comeback. Also give credit to Brenda Frese, who switched to that zone just in the nick of time and totally rattled Wake's attack.

For the Deacons, Corinne Groves and Tchanguoe had 16 (the Neal parallels continue, as his last second meaningless three netted him his team's "leading scorer" prize as well) in a losing effort that might banish them to the WNIT. That's unfortunate; they looked like an NCAA team for about 35 minutes. They even held the Terp comeback at bay at first, but then Toliver hit that ridiculous three and that was that. You just can't recover from a superstar player making a play like that. To continue the parallels to the Wake/Maryland men's game, it was just like how the Terp men weren't the same after Jeff Teague's dunk.

Wonderful game and a wonderful win for the Terps. UNC's up next. That game might make the Earth stop spinning it's so important. And yet I will fail you, the reader, by not being here at all tomorrow afternoon because I'll be in Towson broadcasting the Maryland men's lacrosse team taking on the Tigers. My apologies in advance for that. I'll do my best to get a preview out tomorrow morning; it's possible it'll be rushed like today's was but I'll do my best. And of course I'll be back tomorrow evening to recap what could be an absolutely epic basketball game. Enjoy it.

UPDATE: Terps In A War

66-65 Terps at the under 4. Wake was up 12, Coleman and Toliver have brought Maryland back. I just got in.

Back with more after it's over.

GAMEDAY: Seed No. 1 Maryland vs. Seed No 9. Wake Forest

Couple notes before we begin. Arizona State SCHOOLED Cal in Berkeley last night to take over second place in the Pac-10. The only part of that result that is stunning is the margin, because the Sun Devils are red hot, having won a school-record 15 straight and the Bears are skidding with Alexis Gray-Lawson recovering from injury, having lost their second in a row, both in blowout fashion. A few weeks ago, I called them a Final Four favorite. Not anymore. Here's a team that, if they get a very high seed, could be an early weekend upset victim. If teams can contain Ashley Walker, there's just not a lot behind her.

Stanford, meanwhile, got a scare from lowly Arizona but hung on to clinch at least a share of the Pac-10 title.

As for last night in the ACC tournament, nothing too noteworthy happened. BC and Virginia both cruised. Right now, UNC's cruising against Clemson. After that's done, the fun REALLY begins.

There's not a lot to get in to for Maryland/Wake. The two teams met on January 8 and the Terps rolled. That was when Maryland was playing much worse basketball than it is today. I'll be stunned if the Terps win by less than double digits but hey, I was stunned by GT/Clemson yesterday (like we all were) so you never know.

Sorry to be terse but I have class in 20 minutes. Back in a few hours for the game.

Day 1, Early Session: Terps Get Wake, Clemson Stuns GT

Talk about kicking the ACC tournament off with a bang.

In 32 years of existence, the tournament had not seen a bigger on-paper upset than 12th seeded Clemson's 81-69 shocker over 5th seeded Georgia Tech. It might not have seen a bigger actual upset, either.

Consider that Clemson was 13-16, 2-12 in ACC play. Consider that they lost 12 of their last 15 games, including their last nine conference games. Consider that they hadn't tasted victory in ACC play since George W. Bush was still the President of the United States (January 18, or 46 days) and consider that in the past six weeks, their only two wins came over Western Carolina and Charleston Southern. Consider that they had lost their last four games, all in conference, by an average of 25.5 points, with the worst of those being a 35 point drubbing by the team they played today, Georgia Tech.

Meanwhile, consider that Georgia Tech was 21-8, 8-6 in ACC play. Consider that they had won 3 in a row, including a 74-66 triumph over Virginia to beat out the Cavaliers for the 5 seed in this tournament. Consider that they owned a victory over North Carolina earlier this season, consider that they hadn't lost in the first round of the ACC tournament since 2005, and consider that in two games against Clemson this season, the Jackets had allowed 95 points total to the Tigers.

And finally, consider that teams seeded five places or better than their opponents were 60-4 in ACC tournament history. Georgia Tech was seven seeds better than Clemson. Consider that there had been three 5/12 matchups in ACC tournament history and that the 5's won each by a total of 65 points, or an average of 21.7 points. And consider that Clemson was just 28-29 all time in ACC tournament history and that while they did made the ACC quarterfinals last year, they hadn't posted back-to-back quarterfinal appearances since Bill Clinton was President (1998-1999.)

Seed No. 12 Clemson 81, Seed No. 5 Georgia Tech 69.

Stunning.

How did it happen? Well the first thing to point to is the job done by Clemson freshman center Shaniqua Pauldo. Considering all the wrong things I said about both teams and this matchup in my preview earlier this morning, I think I can at least allow myself to toot my own horn about the one correct thing I noted. In regards to Georgia Tech:

I feel that their weakness is on the interior (as Kizer showed), so they'll need to shore that up if they're going to do serious damage this weekend.

Maybe it's something about tall freshman centers that the Yellow Jackets can't handle, because the 6'3 Pauldo, making her first career start, went for a career-high 23 to spur the Tigers to the upset. She also had 7 rebounds, 3 on the offensive end, as a part of a FIFTY rebound performance by the girls from the Palmetto State. They outrebounded the Jackets 50-38, a huge key to today's shocking upset. They also outscored the Jackets 44-30 in the paint. So clearly, Clemson owned the interior and it's a good thing too because they were just 1 for 11 from three point range. Usually a huge underdog needs to be raining threes to pull off an upset of this magnitude but not today.

I talked about Lele Hardy in my Clemson writeup and while she didn't score a ton of points (a modest 10, but she was one of five Tigers in double figures including Pauldo's 23), she had seven steals, backing up her Third Team All-ACC Defensive selection. The key stretch for Clemson came early in the second half when they went on a 15-4 run, scoring on seven straight possessions to turn a 40-39 deficit in to a 54-44 advantage. GT never got closer than 7 after that and Clemson surprisingly cruised to a 12 point victory.

Obviously the main problem today for Georgia Tech was on the interior but a much scarier moment happened with about 2 minutes to go when Alex Montgomery was carried off the court. Coach Joseph MaChelle said in the postgame press conference that she'd be "okay" and would get "a couple days off and rest, and she should be back out there and ready to go." For their sake, hopefully he's right as the Yellow Jackets cannot afford to lose their best player going in to the NCAA's. Like I noted in the preview, they're still probably safely in the field even though "the unthinkable happened," but they almost assuredly won't be wearing their white uniforms as the better seed like they did today. For a team that could have risen to as high as a 5 or 6 seed with a good tournament run here, this is a hugely disappointing result and now they just need to worry about regrouping before the NCAA's and getting Montgomery back healthy.

In the other game this afternoon, 8th seeded N.C. State lost its first ever ACC tournament game without Kay Yow at the helm 59-52 to 9th seeded Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons went on a 7-0 run to break a 22-22 tie and go up 29-22 in to halftime and they controlled the game in the second half. NCSU fought hard until the very end, hitting a couple threes to keep it interesting late, but Wake made its free throws to hold on. The Deacs were keyed by Corrine Groves' 18 points on 8/11 shooting. It's worth noting that Groves missed both of the first two matchups with the Wolfpack, both losses, with an illness. Wake might get injury credit from the Selection Committee, especially now that both of their bad losses to NCSU have sort of been negated by today's win with a full team, but I still think they need a win tomorrow to really feel comfortable about their NCAA tournament chances. 5-9 in the ACC and losing 5 out of 6 to close the regular season is still 5-9 in the ACC and losing 5 out of 6 to close the regular season.

So who does Wake Forest have to beat tomorrow? Oh, just a little team called the Maryland Terrapins. You might have heard of them. More on that game to come. But before that, Day 1's night session begins right about now-ish with 7th seed Boston College taking on 10th seed Miami before 6th seeded Virginia faces 11th seeded Virginia Tech to close out the evening. You can watch both of those matchups on ACC Select. Oh and speaking of interesting evening tournament games, Tennessee plays in round 1 of the SEC tournament tonight against Alabama. That's right, Tennessee playing on Thursday in the SEC touranment. Let that sink in for a second. Back later tonight or tomorrow morning.

ACC TOURNAMENT PREVIEW

At long last! Here we are. Just a few hours away from the twelve team battle royal beginning down in Greensboro. Here are your pairings:

Thursday:
Game No. 1 - Seed No. 5 Georgia Tech vs. Seed No. 12 Clemson 11:00 a.m. (RSN)
Game No. 2 - Seed No. 8 NC State vs. Seed No. 9 Wake Forest, 3:00 p.m. (RSN)
Game No. 3 - Seed No. 7 Boston College vs. Seed No. 10 Miami, 6:00 p.m. (ACC Select)
Game No. 4 - Seed No. 6 Virginia vs. Seed No. 11 Virginia Tech, 8:00 p.m. (ACC Select)

Friday:
Game No. 5 - Seed No. 4 North Carolina vs. winner of Game 1, 11:00 a.m. (RSN)
Game No. 6 - Seed No. 1 Maryland vs. winner of Game 2, 3:00 p.m. (RSN)
Game No. 7 - Seed No. 2 Florida State vs. winner of Game 3, 6:00 p.m. (ACC Select)
Game No. 8 - Seed No. 3 Duke vs. winner of Game 4, 8:00 p.m. (ACC Select)

Saturday:
Game No. 9 - ACC Semifinal 1, 1:00 p.m. (Fox Sports Net)
Game No. 10 - ACC Semifinal 2, 3:30 p.m. (Fox Sports Net)

Sunday:
Game No. 11 - Championship Game, 1:00 p.m. (Fox Sports Net)

So many storylines coming in. North Carolina's won this thing four straight years. Before that, Duke won it five times in a row. So that's almost a decade of ACC tournaments going to blue-bloods separated by eight miles on Tobacco Road. And yet, this year, neither one is among the top two seeds. Just goes to show you what kind of year it's been in the ACC.

Can Maryland lock up a # 1 seed? Can Florida State prove it's for real and can play with the best of the best outside of Tallahassee? Can Duke regain its mojo and get its offense going for three straight days, potentially snatching a # 1 seed in the process? Can UNC keep the streak going and get back to the top of the hill in the ACC and in women's college basketball in general? Can Georgia Tech or Virginia get hot for a weekend and shock the world? Can Boston College make a run and lock up an NCAA tournament birth? Can Wake Forest shake off its end-of-season slide and try to save its season this weekend? Can anyone at the bottom stand out and win a game or two?

As you can see, we've got lots of questions to answer between now and Sunday. Let's break this baby down, starting with team-by-team previews:

Seed No. 1 - Maryland Terrapins (25-4, 12-2)
Winners of nine straight and 12 of 13, it's clear that the Terps are the hottest team in not just the conference but perhaps in the entire country. During the nine game winning streak, the Terps have victories over every team in the top half of the conference except for UNC, who they beat a week before it started, and Marissa Coleman has gone absolutely berserk, averaging 22 points per game including a career-high 32 on Senior Night last Friday against Boston College, and winning three straight ACC Player of the Weeks for her troubles. The Terps are the only team to beat every other team in the conference this season, so there's not one team they'll see in Greensboro who they don't know how to figure out. Obviously that's a huge advantage. What's not a huge advantage? The fact that only seven players on the current roster average double-digit minutes per game. If big girls Lynetta Kizer and/or Demauria Liles get in to foul trouble, the Terps are in a huge pickle, as Yemi Oyefuwa hasn't even looked ready to play in ACC regular season games, never mind the ACC tournament. It's also been a problem how the Terps have been a two-player team for significant stretches recently. If Coleman and Toliver are both going off like they have been, it's fine, but if one or both is cold, someone else has to pick up the slack. Neither N.C. State nor Wake Forest should provide resistance on Friday but what about on Saturday if it's UNC in a Greensboro Coliseum that will be most likely be painted Carolina blue? It took a 13-0 second half run and Sylvia Hatchell flying off the handle to secure a 77-71 victory in College Park for the Terps; those are two things that seem unlikely to happen outside of the friendly confines of the Comcast Center. Remember, the Terps flamed out on Semifinal Saturday in last year's ACC tournament against underdog Duke. If they can avoid that same fate this year, they might get the Blue Devils in the final, who will be steaming after the 77-59 whipping two Sundays ago, or perhaps a Florida State squad that was only beaten by a Toliver buzzer beater on February 2 in Tallahassee. They have not won the tournament since 1989...but they also hadn't won a regular season championship since 1989 until last Sunday. They made the final three years ago, losing to UNC, but prior to that, you have to go back to 1993 to find the last time the Terps played on Sunday here, losing a 106-103 triple overtime classic to Virginia.

Seed No. 2 - Florida State Seminoles (24-6, 12-2)
It's slightly surprising that Maryland is the # 1 seed. It's extremely surprising that Florida State is the # 2 seed. The Noles weren't supposed to be this good but led by Jacinta Monroe (2nd in the ACC in blocks and averaging 13.5 points and almost 8 rebounds per game) and a host of others, mixing young (Cierra Bravard) with old (Tanae Davis-Cain, Mara Freshour), they've stunned the experts, who predicted them to finish 5th in the preseason, and won a share of the regular season conference title. Granted, they DID get some scheduling breaks in the form of no trips to College Park, Durham, or Chapel Hill as well as two of their three home-and-homes coming against No. 12 seed Clemson and No. 10 seed Miami, but when you come within a Kristi Toliver buzzer beater of an outright ACC championship, you've earned your respect. But now it's time to prove they're worthy of it and can play with the Tobacco Road powerhouses (and Maryland) on Tobacco Road. Before that though, they might have to get by a potentially dangerous Boston College squad that would likely be playing that Friday quarterfinal to guarantee a spot in the NCAA tournament. How are the Noles going to respond to the pressure of being a high seed in this event? They're not exactly experienced at it and they're also not experienced in getting to Saturday. They've done it exactly once; 2001. Should they do it this year, Duke would probably be waiting, a team they needed OT to beat on January 29. They've never been to the final, nevermind winning the thing. But they've already accomplished one big first this year in winning a share of the regular season title; why not achieve others? The ultimate prize for FSU might be no better than a 2 seed in the NCAA tournament-no team that lost to Washington and Valparaiso is getting a 1-but that is still a goal most certainly worth shooting for. And this year, improving the 2 seed might be key as there's a big difference between being the worst 2 seed and thus being in UConn's regional, or being any other 2 seed.

Seed No. 3 - Duke Blue Devils (24-4, 11-3)
Abby Waner's three with under a minute to go in overtime sealed up victory over North Carolina on Sunday and secured this seed. It was a beautiful moment on Senior Night for Waner, who's had an up-and-down, star-crossed career to say the very least. Unfortunately for her, the one recurring theme of her career has been disappointment. As a freshman, she was on that Duke team that lost in the national champioship game to Kristi Toliver and the rest of the Maryland Terrapins. As a sophomore, she was on a Duke team that was the first in the history of the ACC to go unbeaten in conference during the regular season but ended up flaming out in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament due to Lindsey Harding's two missed free throws at the end of regulation. Last year was another Sweet 16 exit in an all-around disappointing season (except for perhaps the ACC tournament semifinal upset of Maryland) and now this season had the potential to be really special until the February 22 trip to College Park where the Terrapins dismantled her and her teammates, forcing her in to 7 turnovers and only 5 points as her team was crushed, 77-59, to end their regular season title hopes. Her and fellow guard Jasmine Thomas are probably the keys to a Duke team that has a rock in First Team All-ACC Chante Black down in the paint and their defense as a whole being the best in the conference and among the best in the country. If Waner and Thomas are scoring, the Blue Devils can beat anyone. If they're not, the team is in huge trouble. Don't count out an early exit to a pesky Virginia; after all, if Hartford can win at Cameron Indoor Stadium, why can't the Wahoos win in Greensboro? There's a lot of history that Duke has that is likely weighing on the minds of everyone in that locker room. They know that their predecessors won five straight tournament titles before they came to school and allowed UNC to begin and extend their own run of four straight. They wouldn't see the Tar Heels until the final but what a final that would be if it occurred. The last time they played was pretty good. The prize for winning it all? Probably a # 1 seed in the NCAA's; something the Blue Devils haven't seen since 2006-2007.

Seed No. 4 - North Carolina Tar Heels (25-5, 10-4)
And now we arrive at the defending champs. Or should I say "defending four time champs"? That's right, no one currently going to school at North Carolina has seen anything other than an ACC tournament title for the women's basketball team. That's a streak that absolutely no one wants to screw up so you can imagine the pressure on this year's group. They could've been a seed higher and on Florida State's side of the bracket as opposed to Maryland's, but 33 turnovers later and now not only are they looking at the Terps in the semis, but also most likely an extremely dangerous Georgia Tech team who beat them already this year in the 4-5 quarterfinal. There's no doubting that North Carolina is a loaded team. In fact, they might be the best team in the ACC on paper. Rashanda McCants, Cetera DeGraffenreid and Jessica Breland might be the top threesome in the conference and they're certainly the most versatile. That's a trio that can beat you from the inside (Breland), the outside (DeGraffenreid), or both (McCants) and that makes them incredibly more dangerous. McCants especially has a tendency to take over games, such as the second half of first Duke meeting when she had 19 of her game-high 21 in a 51 point Tar Heel surge, and if she gets hot for a weekend, she's certainly good enough to carry her team to a 5th straight tournament title (although she likely will not need to do that with all the help she has.) But despite how good they look on paper, something just hasn't been quite right for the Tar Heels since that night. What was that night? It was when # 1 faced # 2, both unbeaten, and # 1 won by 30 points in # 2's house. North Carolina was # 2. Yes, UConn went to Chapel Hill and pasted an 88-58 beat down on the Heels that I don't think they've entirely recovered from. After that game, they went on to lose three days later at Georgia Tech and then six days later at Maryland. Since January 19, the day of the massacre, the Tar Heels are just 8-5 after starting the season 17-0. There have been second half collapses (@Maryland), no shows (@Florida State), and self destructions (@Duke) For all the talent, the results have simply been puzzling and the team has underachieved. But maybe they snap out of it this weekend. No one would be shocked. And if they do snap out of it, the reward is probably a # 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Seed No. 5 - Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (21-8, 8-6)
On February 19, Georgia Tech was reeling. Lynetta Kizer and Maryland had just stormed in to Atlanta and absolutely dominated the Yellow Jackets. A late surge was not enough and the Terps went home with a 87-79 victory, dropping the Ramblin' Wreck to 18-8, 5-6, and probably on the wrong side of the NCAA tournament bubble. Prior to that game, North Carolina had gotten revenge for a January 22 loss by blowing the Jackets' doors off, 73-50. With two road games coming up, the team could have gone in to the tank and let far inferior Clemson and/or Virginia Tech squads stick a dagger in their season. Instead, they blew out the Tigers, survived the Hokies in overtime, and then came home and beat a Virginia team coming off an upset win in Tallahassee, 74-66 to ensure an above-.500 finish in ACC play and to lock up the 5th seed in this weekend's tournament. Perhaps it's a curse, not a blessing. It can be argued that Duke is a better quarterfinal matchup than North Carolina whereas there's little difference between Clemson and Virginia Tech in the first round. On the other hand, like I said, the Jackets recently beat the Tigers by 35 and the Hokies by only 5 in OT so they're probably happier to see the girls from South Carolina in the tournament's opening act. Charlie Creme has them as an 8 seed in his latest Bracketology so you have to think they're safely in the NCAA tournament field, even if the unthinkable happens and the Tigers stun them in a few hours. Assuming that doesn't happen, they'll get their rubber match with the Tar Heels. The Jackets have a trio of their own to matchup with UNC's as Alex Montgomery, Jacqua Williams, and Iasia Hemingway all average double digit points per game. Montgomery grabs almost 7 rebounds per game and Hemingway 5, whereas Williams leads the trio, who are 1-3 on the team in assists, with 93 dimes on the year. Like McCants, Montgomery is clearly the star but the team wouldn't be where they are without the other two. Can Georgia Tech really go on a run to the finals? I wouldn't rule it out; they've already beaten UNC and they never said die against Maryland. They've only been to one ACC tourney final, in 1992, but I feel that their weakness is on the interior (as Kizer showed), so they'll need to shore that up if they're going to do serious damage this weekend.

Seed No. 6 - Virginia Cavaliers (22-8, 8-6)
It's debatable whether the best trio in the ACC is McCants/Breland/DeGraffenreid or Virginia's Monica Wright, Lyndra Littles, and Aisha Mohammaed. It can be argued that Wright and Littles are the top 1-2 scoring duo in the ACC. Yes, that includes Toliver and Coleman, because Toliver and Coleman aren't both averaging over 21 points per game this season. Granted, Toliver and Coleman have more help than Wright and Littles do, as outside of Mohammed, Virginia has absolutely no depth and that's why they're playing on Thursday in this thing. While Wright and Littles are both extremely good, the Cavaliers' lack of depth has been exposed at many points this season. On the nights when they're both off, the Wahoos don't stand a chance. Maryland destroyed them in the second half on February 12 and then three days later, lower division N.C. State stunned them in the Hoops 4 Hope event. Heck, they can both go off and the team can still lose because of the gross lack of depth. In a February 5 game against Duke, they combined for 50 points but the rest of the team had just 17 in an 81-67 defeat. That was an unusual no-show from Mohammed however, who might be the most underrated big girl in the conference. Chante Black, Jessica Breland, and Jacinta Monroe get all the love (and All-ACC team nominations) but it's Mohammed who's averaging 12.8 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. She posted a ridiculous 18 and 17 in that Maryland loss; she was literally the only Virginia player to show up in the second half. If the Cavs can get anything, ANYTHING, from their supporting cast and have their three superstars do their thing, this team can beat literally anyone. They've already defeated the Terps and ruined Florida State's Senior Night (and sole possession of an ACC regular season title) as well as winning at Utah and Tennessee in out-of-conference play. Of course they can't look too far to the weekend though; Thursday opponent Virginia Tech is an in-state rival who they've only beaten by a combined 14 points in two meetings this season. It's unlikely that UVA adds to it's three tournament championships or even its six finals appearances but if the Big Three catch fire this weekend, you never know. A protected seed (top 4) is probably their top prize for the Big Dance.

Seed No. 7 - Boston College Eagles (19-10, 7-7)
After last Friday's loss at Maryland, I called this team "next year's Florida State." Right now they're a fringe NCAA tournament team; a team squarely on the bubble. Charlie Creme has them as a 9 in Bracketology but notes that "they could really use a win against Miami" to open the ACC tournament. They should get that, but a poor showing in the quarters would not be good. We're talking about a team that has absolutely STUMBLED to the finish line, losing 6 out of their last 8. To be fair, the teams they lost to were, in order, @Duke, Florida State, Maryland, North Carolina, @Virginia, @Maryland. Still, there are only four top 100 RPI wins, the best being over RPI 32 Georgia Tech in Atlanta by a point in overtime. A win over a TCU team that has beaten Maryland and Cal is probably second best, but that's a shaky resume. 2-8 against the RPI top 50 is bad, as is 4-10 against the top 100. The RPI is 38 and the SOS is 33. They're probably in decent shape as long as they beat Miami (FL) and compete well against Florida State but they're by no means a lock. It's a shame too, because Carolyn Swords is an amazing player and her supporting cast is really good and has tons of potential as well. Hopefully they make the NCAA's and they can show what they can do. Two wins this weekend would easily lock it up. I certainly think that's doable and I believe that Virginia and Georgia Tech are both envious of that potential quarterfinal matchup with the Noles as opposed to the Tobacco Road bluebloods those two teams are looking at. If you want an ACC tournament sleeper, you just might be looking at it.

Seed No. 8 - North Carolina State Wolfpack (13-16, 5-9)
What a story this team is. On January 23, this team had lost its 5th in a row to drop to 8-11, 0-4 in ACC play. The next day, their coach of 34 years, Kay Yow, finally lost her battle with cancer, passing away at the age of 66. Their game that Monday at Wake Forest was postponed three weeks and then when the team finally returned to the court, they lost their 6th in a row to fall to 8-12, 0-5. Many teams would have just quit. Many teams would have called it a season and not bothered to find the strength and energy to finish off the year, instead allowing the extremely unfortunate circumstances surrounding their beloved coach passing away to overcome them. Instead, the Wolfpack have rallied in her memory going 5-4 down the stretch to close the season and rise from the ACC's basement in to a Thursday tournament game during which they'll get to wear their home jerseys. Absolutely incredible and inspiring. Included in the run was an emotional 60-54 upset of then-# 15 Virginia in the "Hoops 4 Hope" event to raise money and awareness for the disease that took Yow's life. With all the storylines going on in the ACC, the most special might be the way that this Wolfpack team has taken back its season; the way that they've refused to go quietly in to the night, showing the same strength and fight that their coach always did. No, the NCAA tournament isn't happening without a miracle four day run that would rank among the greatest in the history of the sport, but postseason play is not out of the question and what a reward that would be for a team that dropped its first five league contests and was in complete disarray and shock. All-ACC Second Team Shayla Fields and ACC 6th Player of the Year Bonae Holston have been two of the standouts on this team and I wouldn't rule out them upsetting BC, a team who beat them by only 6 points in Chestnut Hill on Sunday. Going any further would be very unlikely but then again, there was a point when getting this 8th seed was thought to be very unlikely as well. By the way, it's paragraphs like this one that remind me why I love sports and why they can be so special sometimes.

Seed No. 9 - Wake Forest Demon Deacons (18-10, 5-9)
The term "playing your way off the bubble" is often overused but it is all too applicable in the curious case of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Thanks to a soft (to say the very least) non conference schedule, they started the year 12-0 before losing 45-33 at Richmond in a game where neither team shot 30% from the field. Then they went 1-4 to open the ACC season, with some results that made sense (losses at Maryland, Virginia, and UNC) and some that didn't (a loss at home to Clemson) with the lone win over Boston College. But then they rebounded, winning four in a row (with a layup over North Carolina Central included) to get back to .500 in ACC play and 17-5 overall. Since then, the bottom has absolutely, positively dropped out. The Deacs have lost 5 of 6, including three sub-100 RPI losses (two to N.C. State and the absolutely stunning 24 point disaster to Virginia Tech) to drop all the way to 9th in the conference and not even close to .500 in league play. Their RPI and SOS have both slipped accordingly, to 73 and 82 respectively, and with only four top 100 RPI wins, they likely need at least two victories, maybe more, to gain an at-large NCAA tournament birth. With the way they've been playing and with the way Maryland, who looms in the quarterfinals, has been playing, that's not happening. Still, the fact that they're even in position to potentially make the NCAA tournament after being picked to finish dead-last in the ACC in the preseason is an accomplishment in itself. Unfortunately, that is only a small silver lining for the epic collapse they've had down the stretch.

Seed No. 10 - Miami (FL) Hurricanes (13-16, 2-12)
And now we're in to the three dregs of the league, as the bottom three seeds are all sub-.500 overall and all are 2-12 in the ACC. Miami's only league wins were over N.C. State when they were among the basement dwellers and fellow dweller Virginia Tech. However, to use an extremely off-color political analogy, if they're the Democratic Party and this season has been the 2004 election cycle, then Shenise Johnson is Barack Obama; a freshman who is very clearly the next big thing and ready to shine and break out even further sooner rather than later. Going in to the final game of the season against Maryland, she was averaging 13.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.7 steals, and an .848 free-throw percentage. Those numbers were good for first among ACC freshman in points, steals, and free throw percentage and second in rebounds and assists. Not surprisingly, she's won the ACC Rookie of the Week three times this year, was named to the All-ACC Freshman Team, and very nearly won ACC Freshman of the Year. Perhaps had she played on a team that was even middle-of-the-pack, she could have beaten out Lynetta Kizer. As for the Canes, they've been playing a lot better basketball lately, sans Sunday's blowout, nearly beating FSU, BC, and Virginia. If a team isn't careful and especially if they don't watch Johnson too closely, they can get bitten. This team's problem is like Georgia Tech's, a lack of size, but in their case, it's about a hundred thousand times worse as Sunday's matchup with Maryland showed. If they can somehow stun the Eagles, Jacinta Monroe and Cierra Bravard will abuse them in the quarters. FSU would win that one by a lot more than a point, guaranteeed.

Seed No. 11, Virginia Tech Hokies (12-17, 2-12)
Well, they couldn't ask for much more than their hated in-state rivals who they've played close two times this year in round 1. They try to slow things down (62.4 points per game versus 62.0 points allowed) and sometimes that works in the breakneck ACC as it catches teams off-guard and takes them out of their game resulting in a closer-than-expected battle. They took Georgia Tech to overtime on Senior Night, they lost at home to FSU by 4, and they lost twice to Virginia by a combined 14 points. By far the highlight of their season though was February 22 when they absolutely DEMOLISHED a desperate Wake Forest team that needed a win to stay on the bubble, 79-55. I still can't figure that one out. Their only other conference win was by four at Clemson. This is a team that South Carolina Upstate took to overtime before losing by 6 and this is a team that 15-14 IUPUI beat by 12. They...they are not good. Monica Wright, Lyndra Littles, and Aisha Mohammed should be able to beat them by themselves. The quarterfinal opponent would be Duke if they somehow got by the Cavs; the last time those two teams hooked up, it ended in 21 turnovers, 33.4 percent shooting, multiple scoreless droughts, and 46 points. Welp.

Seed No. 12 - Clemson Tigers (13-16, 2-12)
Who was the last non-UNC, non-Duke team to win the ACC tournament? The Clemson Tigers in 1999. My, how things have changed. Clemson actually has two ACC tournament titles and six finals appearances in its history...and it will not be adding to those totals this season. Actually, things weren't looking too badly on January 5. They had just won their ACC opener in Coral Gables against Miami and were sitting at 10-4, 1-0. The OOC was pretty weak, but hey they beat Washington, which is more than Florida State can say. But then...well, then they went 3-12 to end the year, including losing their final nine conference games. At least they came up with that stunner at Wake that might end up being a noose around the Demon Deacons' neck...but there's not much other silver lining. They've scored 95 points in two games against first round opponent Georgia Tech this season. The Yellow Jackets average 67 and a half points per game, so the Tigers might want to pick up the pace. All-ACC Second Team Lele Hardy is the typical "superstar on a bad team who deserves much better."

For Thursday's games, which now start in like three hours, I like Georgia Tech over Clemson in a rout, I like Wake Forest over N.C. State in the game of the day (it's VERY tough to beat a team three times and I think the Deacs have had time to regroup and they'll get this), I like Boston College to take care of Miami, and I like Virginia to handle Virginia Tech.

ACC Tournament Preview Coming...But First...

A couple of things that went down on Wednesday that are worth reporting:

First of all, Lynetta Kizer was first named to the ACC All-Freshman Team along with Cierra Bravard of Florida State, Bonae Holston of NC State, Shenise Johnson of Miami (FL) and Chay Shegog of North Carolina.

...and then she beat out those four and every other freshman in the conference to win the ACC's Freshman of the Year award. Congratulations to her. I'm sure Miami fans will have a beef with Johnson not winning and that beef definitely could be legit, but there's no scoffing at what Kizer has done this year, either. 11.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, and shooting 50% from the field. She's alternated with Dee Liles as the third best player on this Maryland team but Dee Liles didn't take over games like Kizer did a few weeks ago at Georgia Tech or, to a lesser extent, on Sunday. I've talked a lot about Kizer over the past few weeks so I don't really have much more to say but I'm really excited to see her get honored like this. Good for her.

There's one other thing I feel that's worth noting before we get started with the ACC tournament preview. # 6 Baylor got stunned 69-45 by red-hot Kansas and Danielle McCray. An absolutely shocking result to be sure, but remember that the Bears had no Danielle Wilson, who's dealing with a knee injury. She wasn't the only Danielle who made the difference tonight, as McCray simply WENT OFF. She had a career-high 35 on seven threes to lead the Jayhawks to the blowout upset. And on a side note, how bizarre is it that on the same night Kansas' top 10 men's team gets blown out by an unranked foe led by one player going absolutely ballistic from behind the arc, their unranked women's team blows out a top 10 foe, led by one player going absolutely ballistic from behind the arc? College basketball just makes no sense sometimes and crazy things can happen when home court advantage is involved, especially on Senior Nights and things of the like.

Anyway, why does that result (the women's one, duh) matter for Maryland? Because it now most likely means that Baylor is out of the # 1 seed running for the NCAA tournament. Even if the Bears win the Big 12 tournament, the stench of a 24 point loss to a likely NIT team this late in the season likely cannot be washed off. If Wilson's back sooner rather than later, they'll get injury credit for this game but I don't think it'll be enough to get them a # 1 seed. Thusly, Maryland now might have a bit more leeway in regards to losing potentially on Saturday to North Carolina in the ACC tournament. It's still something they probably don't wanna do but now that one of the teams who was lurking to pluck that # 1 seed away is out of the picture, there's slightly less pressure. Slightly.

Back with the ACC tourney preview in a few.

Tuesday Links: Polls, All ACC, Bracketology, and more

Buckle up, because we've got a lot of these to get to today. Some of them should have been posted yesterday but the snow day kinda screwed things up (in a good way) for all of us here at Maryland. Here we go:

--Thanks to # 4 Cal getting stunned by UCLA on Sunday, the Terps are now 4th in both the AP and Coaches polls. As we all should know by now, polls are relatively meaningless outside of influencing public perception. In this case, that's a good thing for the Terps as now they are seen as one of the top four teams in the nation. There are four number 1 seeds to be handed out in the NCAA tournament on Selection Monday in less than two weeks. You do the math. As long as the Terps don't flame out early in the ACC tournament, they should get a # 1 seed. Heck, they might be a Friday win away from a # 1 seed if last year is any indication; the Terps survived an ACC tourney semifinal loss to Duke last year and still got a (controversial) top seed.

--As I predicted, Marissa Coleman has been named the ACC's Player of the Week for the third week in a row and for the 7th time in her career. All she did last week was post career highs in points (32 on Friday vs BC) and rebounds (16 on Sunday at Miami) and lead the Terps to their first ACC title in 20 years by leading the team in scoring (24.5 ppg), rebounding (12.5 rpg), field goal percentage (66.7 pct; 20-for-30) and steals (1.5 spg.) Forget the ACC; find me a player in the entire country who had a better week than that. What an unbelievable player. And yet, sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who appreciates her. More on that in a moment.

--However, that is not the highest achievement and recognition that Coleman received this week. Her and Kristi Toliver were named First Team All ACC yesterday, along with Monica Wright and Lyndra Littles of Virginia and Chante Black of Duke. Toliver's a first teamer for the second year in a row whereas Coleman breaks through to the first team for the first time after three straight years of second team selections. Congratulations to them. Next up: First Team All American? Unfortunately, probably not. Maya Moore and Courtney Paris have First Team All American spots locked up basically on name recognition alone. Angel McCoughtry is going to get one, too. That leaves two spots. Jantel Lavender should get one since she's averaging a double double for Big Ten-leading Ohio State. Could Toliver get the 5th spot? She'd have to beat out players like Ashley Walker, Shavonte Zellous, Renee Montgomery, and others, but I think she probably will do it because of name recognition and being the leading scorer and assister on red-hot Maryland. I don't think Coleman has a real shot to do it unless she continues to go ballistic in the next few weeks. Why is that? Again, more in a moment.

--In optimistic team news for Maryland, Charlie Creme's new Bracketology is out and the Terps have held their spot as a # 1 seed in the Raleigh regional. It's not all optimistic though. Despite being a # 1 seed, Maryland looks to be in an absolutely BRUTAL region. 26-3 Louisville is the 2 seed. 25-5 North Carolina is the 3 seed (and remember that this is the Raleigh region; it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who'd have the home court advantage.) Both of those teams are still in the discussion for a # 1 seed. 20-6 Pittsburgh is the 4 seed; you think Maryland knows what they're capable of? Heck, even look at the 8-9 battle to be the Terps' second round opponent (sorry Murray State, we just don't see you pulling a Harvard.) 25-5 Middle Tennessee, a traditional mid major power and the second best mid major in the country this year behind South Dakota State (not to mention a team that's battled Maryland once or twice in recent years), is the 8 seed. 19-9 TCU, another team the Terps know all too well, is the 9 seed. Are you kidding? What a NIGHTMARE of a region. Thankfully for the Terps, it's just a projection.

Furthermore, Creme has this to say about the Terps:

No team outside Storrs is hotter than the Terrapins. No player is hotter than Kristi Toliver, period. A trip to the ACC tournament finals would ensure this No. 1 seed. However, North Carolina could be lurking in the semifinals.

I completely agree with all of that except for that bolded second sentence. No team outside Storrs IS hotter than the Terrapins at the moment. A trip to the ACC finals should indeed lock up a # 1 seed and even a tight ACC semifinal loss to UNC might be enough. And yes, UNC is certain to be potentially lurking in the semis and that would definitely be a battle.

But that second sentence...uhh...Charlie? It's not Kristi Toliver who's won three straight ACC Player of the Week awards and it's not Kristi Toliver who's averaging 22 points per game during the Terps' nine game winning streak. Come on. To be fair, it's not like Toliver's been playing poorly lately. Quite to the contrary, she has been out of this world. Unfortunately, that's not even good enough to be the hottest player on her own team, nevermind the country, as Marissa Coleman has been out of this universe during the same time span. That's something that one of the top women's basketball experts on ESPN.com just can't miss on. Inexcusable.

I want to throw this one out there though: did Creme simply make a mistake? Was he just sloppy and/or lazy when writing that little blurb? Or is this just another example of Kristi Toliver being, for better or for worse, the face of Maryland women's basketball no matter what actually happens on the court? I've held this belief that Marissa Coleman has been perpetually underrated ever since coming to campus and this is a large part of why I said before that Kristi Toliver has a shot at being an All American but I would be stunned if Marissa Coleman is selected as one. How many people know that it was Coleman, not Toliver, who had two double doubles in the Final Four? Brenda Frese made the same point in her postgame speech after Friday's win over BC; everyone knows about "The Shot" but how many really know that Coleman was arguably the better performer that weekend in Boston? How many people really realize that Coleman, not Toliver, has been 2nd team All ACC or better all four years at school and how many people really realize that Coleman's one of only eight players in ACC history to score 2,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds? These facts have been coming to light recently but have they really sunk in for people? Furthermore, if you asked a casual fan to guess the second leading scorer in Maryland women's basketball history, would they guess Coleman first or would they guess Toliver first? More to that point, ask most women's basketball fans who they think the better player on Maryland is and I bet you that most, if not all, say Toliver when in actuality, the stats say that it's neck and neck and that the vote should be more split. I still think that Toliver gets the spotlight shone on her because of her personality, her flashiness, the fact that she runs this Maryland team as the point guard, and the shots that she has hit throughout her career (The Shot, the buzzer beater at FSU, etc.) ...but maybe it's also because Coleman's hard to identify. Toliver's the point guard and the leader. Crystal Langhorne and Laura Harper were always the dominating forces down low and got all that attention when they were in school. But what's Coleman? Is she a guard or is she a forward? What does she do so well? Toliver drains threes, runs the show, and dishes out assists. Langhorne and Harper dominated down low and on the boards and blocked shots. Coleman? She can score inside and out, she can rebound, steal, block, assist...she does everything and in this case, because she does everything, it can be hard to simplify where her impact is felt most on this Maryland team. She usually doesn't do too much of any one thing and thusly she's not among the top 50 in the country in points, rebounds, or assists. No one really knows how to identify her and simplify her, and maybe that's why she's perhaps not as visible as the other three Maryland greats. I don't know, maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree, but I just feel like Marissa Coleman's greatness isn't well-known or at least well-identified enough outside of College Park. In the past few weeks, she has been just as good if not better than any other player in the nation and over the course of the season, I don't think there's been a more all-around outstanding player not named Maya Moore. It's nice to see Coleman get the First Team All ACC selection (which both her and Toliver more than deserve) but I'd like to see her in a few "who are the best players in women's basketball" conversations or even just recognized as being the best player on her own team as of late by one of the Worldwide Leader's "experts" on the sport. Oh well, if she keeps playing as well as she has in the past few weeks, everyone will have no choice but to give her all the props she deserves.

--And in our final link of the day, we have a brief ACC tournament preview from Mechelle Voepel's ESPN.com blog (scroll down a bit.) I find it interesting how she notes that the top two seeds are sort of the outsiders/new powers who tasted regular season title glory for the first time in two decades (or in FSU's case, ever, but they joined the ACC in 1991 so two decades is fairly appropriate as well) and who haven't tasted ACC title glory in just as long...and that your # 3 and # 4 seeds are Duke and North Carolina; your blue-bloods (literally), your traditional powers, your dynasties (especially in Greensboro), and yet both are struggling a bit coming in and that's why they're not regular season ACC champions/top two seeds and Maryland/FSU are.

There aren't a ton of longer ACC tournament previews out yet but I expect that will change come tomorrow and Thursday, especially on this blog. Look for a longer ACC tournament preview in this space at some point tomorrow.

REACTION: Maryland 89, Miami (FL) 64 - ACC Regular Season Champs

Yeah, this is cliched. Whatever. It gives the proper perspective:

THE LAST TIME THE TERPS WON A REGULAR SEASON ACC TITLE...

-George H.W. Bush had recently succeeded Ronald Reagan as the 41st President of the United States
-The Soviet Union still stood and had just left Afghanistan
-I hadn't been born yet
-"Lost in Your Eyes" by Debbie Gibson was the Billboard Hot 100 # 1 hit
-Kristi Toliver and Marissa Coleman were 2 years old
-Brenda Frese hadn't started coaching yet and wouldn't for another five years at the Division 1 level
-"Lean On Me" was # 1 at the box office
-Gas was $1.12 a gallon
-The Oakland A's, San Francisco 49ers, and the Bad Boy Pistons dominated their respective sports
-Florida State, Miami (FL), Boston College, and Virginia Tech had yet to join the ACC
-The Baltimore Orioles were coming off of a season in which they had lost 21 straight games (to open the season) setting an MLB record...oh wait with the way the pitching looks and with how good the AL East should be, that might happen again =(

Seriously, you get the point. It's been a long, LONG time since the Maryland Terrapins did what they did today. Twenty years, to be exact, as the year was 1989 when the Terps captured their last ACC regular season championship.

Until today.

Sunday afternoon's 89-64 drubbing of the Miami Hurricanes secured a 12-2 record in ACC play for the season, good enough for a tie for best in the league with Florida State. The Terps get the # 1 seed in the ACC tournament though, by virtue of their 72-71 victory on February 2.

Congratulations to them. I've talked about it before how meaningful this would be and how special this would be and here it is. Add one more achievement to the list of things that Brenda Frese, Kristi Toliver, Marissa Coleman, and everyone else who has been a part of this Maryland Terrapins women's basketball program has accomplished.

Brenda:

"We did it together. Each and every game building momentum to get to this moment. It's a good feeling as a coaching staff when your team is in sync and on board with your goals."

"Obviously, just a special win for us. So proud of this team. With this win, being ACC champions, and like I told them, the chance and the opportunity to leave their legacy and their mark and win the first ACC title in 20 years. We did it together, each and every game."

Furthermore, the Terps were the only team in the ACC to beat all other 11 conference foes. It's not an outright title but I sincerely doubt that anyone in that locker room really cares whether Florida State gets to hang up a banner and get rings as well. The Terps get to hang up their banner and get their rings, which is all that matters at the end of the day. Of course, if they want a title that they won't have to share with anyone, they can go for the ACC tournament championship, which is another thing they haven't won since 89. More on that to come later this week. All you really need to know right now is that Maryland's locked up the # 1 seed for that and that they will play the winner of 8 seed N.C. State and 9 seed Wake Forest on Friday at 3 PM in Greensboro, N.C.

Anyway, not to toot my own horn, but I was basically right about today. It was close for about half of the first half and then Maryland blew it open, going on a 16-3 run over a 5 minute stretch from about the 14 minute mark to the 9 minute mark to turn a 14-11 lead in to 30-14. The Canes wouldn't get closer than 10 after that and the Terps would extend the lead to as much as 29 after Miami got a 16 point halftime deficit down to 14 a couple times in the 2nd half before cruising in to the finish to win by 25.

The most noteworthy part of today's victory would have to be Marah Strickland. She and Coleman tied for a team-high 17, but Strickland did it on 5/10 shooting from three point range. She had been slumping as of late (including some UGLY shots on Friday), so this was a huge game to get her confidence back going in to the ACC and NCAA tournaments. Traditionally a slow starter and especially as of late, Strickland scored the first points of today's game on a three and had 8 points in the first half. Her fifth and final three of the day capped a 13-2 run over 2:48 in the second half to get the lead up to 68-43 with 11:36 to go to basically sew up the first regular season conference title in two decades.

Toliver:

"It's nice to finally win an ACC title. We've achieved so much as a program but had not yet won (an ACC championship). It feels great to have gotten through the ACC regular season on top."

As for the aforementioned Marissa Coleman, she "only" had 17 today (on 8/11 shooting), but she more than made up for it with a career-high 16 rebounds. I don't think it's a stretch to say she's been the best player in the country over the past two weeks or so. Yes, that includes Maya Moore, Courtney Paris, and whoever else you wanna throw out. She's set new career highs, put her team on her back at times, and done absolutely everything to spark Maryland's best stretch of basketball this season. I expect her to be rewarded with yet another ACC Player of the Week tomorrow afternoon.

All in all, five Terps reached double figures with Dee Liles and Kim Rodgers coming within a point each. Rodgers got 14 minutes off the bench today, which is huge for her, and not only that, she was productive during that time span. I was at Loyola when she went ballistic with four threes off the bench in 12 minutes, so today isn't the first time she's shown that she can produce when she's given the minutes. Granted, this Maryland team has an embarrassment of riches at guard with Toliver, Coleman, Strickland, Anjale Barrett, and Sa'de Wiley-Gatewood (prior to last Sunday) so Rodgers has only seen garbage time, but next year three of those five won't be around so she will be asked to play a key role off the bench.

She might be this year's Anjale Barrett, who averages almost 6 points off the bench and is third on the team in assists (behind guess who) in 17 minutes per game. Today, Barrett had 10 points and 4 assists in 28 minutes, hitting a couple of threes. She's a much better shooter than people give her credit for; when you look at her, she seems like the kind of guard who might play a more physical game and who may not have the height to shoot over people, but she can really stroke it from deep. Like I said, her two threes were huge against BC and while they weren't as important today, they proved that she can put the ball in the hoop just like pretty much everyone else on the team.

A few other notes:

-Drey Mingo chipped in 6 points in 11 minutes. Nothing wrong with that. That's a good start to hopefully shutting up the critics, such as myself.
-Yemi Oyefuwa only got 4 minutes today, which was disappointing. Granted, there was zero need to go big as Miami was simply outclassed in terms of size. Maryland outrebounded them 52-35 and Kizer/Liles (which I typed as "Kiles" at first...interesting, maybe I should start calling them that?) combined for only four personal fouls.
-52 rebounds...and Dee Liles only had two of them? What kind of odds could you have gotten on that before 2 PM yesterday?
-Her partner-in-crime Lynetta Kizer had 10 boards, however, to go along with her 10 points. That's only her 8th double double of the season, matching Liles for the team lead, but with her size (6'4 compared to Liles and Coleman, who has 6 double-doubles, at 6'1) and potential, I get the feeling she could be doing better than eight double doubles and 7.3 rebounds per game, and having watched her and Liles/Coleman numerous times in person and otherwise, I can testify to the fact that those two are definitely more aggressive and hungry than her at times, especially on the glass. I'm not going to come out and say that "if she wanted it as much as they did, she could be averaging a double-double or close to it" because granted, both of those players have a few years on her both age and experience-wise (and because that would be irresponsible speculation in regards to Kizer's work ethic) so I'll just say this: once she continues to learn the college game and how to fight in the blocks with players she can't just always naturally overpower with her size, she will become a much more dominant force on the boards and in general. Today she was able to naturally overpower the Miami big girls (none bigger than 6'2) with her size. It's when she starts beginning to dominate against the girls more on her level that she will begin to truly tap in to her potential. Now that's a scary thought for other teams.
-Remember how I went on about Shenise Johnson in the pregame? Well the Canes' leading scorer was held to just 5 points on 1-of-7 shooting. That's another thing to thank Strickland for; she locked down the freshman sensation all game long. Everyone thinks offense and three pointers when they think of Marah Strickland but her defense can really be underrated. Like most everyone else on Maryland, when she turns up the defensive intensity, she can really stop some people. The challenge is just getting that intensity turned up more frequently.
-Going back to rebounds, the Terps converted 21 offensive rebounds in to 24 second chance points. After having seen a bunch of games recently where the Terps gave up tons of second chance points, it's nice to see them dominate that category for a change. Of course, Miami's not exactly trotting out the Paris twins in the low blocks but it's still big for Kizer, Coleman, and everyone else to more or less have their way on the boards.

So the regular season is over and the Terps did just about as good as could be expected. In fact, they did even better. I know I honestly wasn't expecting an ACC regular season title in this year of all years, after the Terps had been unable to win them when players like Doron, Langhorne, and Harper were still in school along with your Tolivers and Colemans. I can also say I wasn't expecting one in the preseason, or when the Terps got humiliated on opening night at TCU or when they got humliated even worse at Pitt on December 7 or when North Carolina started out the year unbeaten and # 2 in the nation until January 19 or when # 10 Duke beat the 15th ranked Terps 68-65 (in a game that shouldn't have been that close) on January 12 or even when Maryland suffered a second half collapse in Charlottesville on January 31 to fall two games back in the ACC title race. But they rebounded from each and every one of those pratfalls, not to mention some other ones in there including injury (Strickland, Coleman) and personal (Strickland, Wiley-Gatewood) issues among players and the institution of an entirely new and green frontcourt that has far exceeded expectations throughout the season. Every single player, coach, and member of the program has worked their butts off to fight through it all and get this team to where it is today and to win this championship that they now own.

Coleman:

"At the beginning of the year, the coaches told us more so than anything, that's probably one of the biggest things you can accomplish. That shows a team has brought it for the whole conference season. That's what we did."

Congratulations to the Maryland Terrapins, your 2008-2009 ACC regular season women's basketball champions.

GAMEDAY: # 5 Maryland @ Miami (FL)

This shouldn't be too difficult.

Shouldn't.

Fact # 1: With a win this afternoon in Miami, Maryland wins its first regular season ACC championship since 1988-1989.
Fact # 2: Maryland is ranked 5th in the nation and is 24-4, 11-2 in the ACC. Miami is 13-15, 2-11 in the ACC.
Fact # 3: Miami hasn't come within 40 points of Maryland since the 2005-2006 season.

It would be easy to just take a look at those things and write this one off as an easy Maryland victory. But we won't do that here for a couple of reasons. One, we're not that lazy. Two, it's paramount to note that the Terps are playing for a regular season ACC championship. That's something they haven't achieved in two decades and that's something that the most decorated senior class in the history of the program-you know, the one that's won 119 games including a national title-has never achieved. It's been a goal of theirs since stepping foot in College Park and they have yet to achieve it. There will be an enormous amount of pressure on not just Marissa Coleman and Kristi Toliver, but also the other nine players on that sideline, six of whom should see significant time on the court today. It's most likely all or nothing today; if the Terps don't win, they need Wake Forest to beat Florida State or else it's wait till next year for that elusive regular season conference crown. With the way the Demon Deacons have played lately, that's not exactly likely. And finally from Maryland's end, this is their second game in 48 hours. They flew in from College Park yesterday and have had little time to rest from the emotional Senior Night win on Friday. It would not shock me to see a very slow start if the legs are tired or if the team just comes out flat.

Oh and there's one other big problem: Miami's playing a lot better as of late.

Yes, the Hurricanes have lost four in a row since their last conference win at Virginia Tech on February 12. But take a deeper look at those games. The first loss was by seven at home to Boston College in a game that was tied at the half. The second was an overtime loss in Charlottesville to Virginia; a game they controlled almost entirely until Lyndra Littles bailed out her team at the end of regulation. The third was a 59-58 loss in Tallahassee to Florida State on two free throws with 8.7 seconds remaining to cap a 40-25 second half comeback from a 33-19 halftime deficit. The fourth loss was a little uglier; 90-76 in Chapel Hill on UNC's Senior Night, but that's still not exactly the 90-50 beating the Terps put on the Canes last year or the 113-55 annihilation from two years ago.

The point is that Miami has improved and they've shown that they can go toe to toe with the best in the ACC. This game will be Senior Day for LaToya Cunningham, Latoya Drake, and Lamese James. Obviously that will be emotional and could lead to a fired-up Hurricane team all day long.

Speaking of that team, there's one key component it has that it didn't in previous years: Shenise Johnson.

The superstar recruit out of Henrietta, N.Y., has more than lived up to her McDonald's All-American-induced expectations, averaging 13.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.7 steals, and an .848 free-throw percentage. She's first among ACC freshman in points, steals, and free throw percentagea and second in rebounds and assists. Not surprisingly, she's won the ACC Rookie of the Week three times this year, including this past week when she nearly tallied a triple-double against Virginia. She scored 25 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and dished out 10 assists. No wonder the Canes nearly pulled off the stunning upset. Obviously Maryland is going to have to make sure that they don't let Johnson carry her team. Aside from her, there aren't too many threats on this Miami team; otherwise they'd be a bit better than 13-15 (2-11.)

Maryland's playing too good of basketball to blow it now and the Canes simply aren't good enough to pull the upset. This might be close for about half the first half before the Terps finally wake up and start to run away with this thing. No TV coverage for this one and not even radio coverage as WMUC was unable to make it down to Miami with the team. If I'm around a computer during the game, I'll post some periodical updates; if not I'll be back later today (probably after the men are done playing in Raleigh) to recap it.

PREDICTION: Maryland 84, Miami 52

REACTION: Maryland 86, Boston College 74

One win away.

So I was at times busy and at times lazy this weekend and the result has been no recap of the Boston College game. Let's take care of that now.

On Friday, the Terps beat Boston College 86-74. Their FIRST THIRTY POINTS were scored by guess who. Never did I ever, ever think that Kristi Toliver and Marissa Coleman would top what they did at the start of the second half last Sunday against Duke but boy did they. 27 points in a row? Pfft. 30 in a row is where it's at. Maybe they'll score 35 in a row later today. They're just unbelievable players. The first 15 minutes or so of that game was like watching NBA Jam. Anyone else remember NBA Jam? You had the 2 on 2 and that's basically what this was from Maryland's standpoint. No one else even did anything. It's almost like the other three players didn't exist. In fact, I'd go so far to say that Dee Liles, Lynetta Kizer, and Marah Strickland played extremely nervous for most of the first half. They didn't want to screw up Kristi and Marissa's Senior Night. Strickland missed some shots badly and Liles/Kizer were ineffective on the low blocks. Yemi Oyefuwa got some run off the bench in the first half but she too looked lost. Still, it's good to see her getting PT. That's exactly what she needs. She's not going to get any better in game action without seeing more game action. Small improvements were seen as she played more, which is always good. I'll make the comparison for the billionth time: she's like Hasheem Thabeet as a freshman at UConn. All the raw talent and the height, just needs to put the tools together and figure out how to play at the college level.

For BC's part though, they didn't allow themselves to get blown out. I'm not on the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, but I saw a tournament team in the visiting uniforms on Friday night. They prevented Coleman and Toliver from going on quick runs like they did to start the second half against Duke and they never panicked or put their heads down, despite KT and MC absolutely going bonkers to start the game. Heck, even when the Terps pushed the lead to double digits late in the first half and the crowd got in to it, the Eagles scrapped back. Unfortunately for them, they could get no closer than three in the second half and the Terps were able to coast in the final couple of minutes to a double digit victory.

A few final thoughts:

-Coleman a new career high with 32 on 12/19 shooting. Oh and she was 2/4 from three, 6/6 from the line, grabbed 9 boards, and dished out 3 assists. At this point, I'm not even fazed when I see her put up a game like that. I mean of course it's amazing and stuff since it's her career high but I'm not awestruck like, say, I was in the Duke game last year. I'm used to her doing this kind of thing by now. Seeing her dominate in person is just unbelievable but it's something I've come to expect. Doesn't make it any less amazing.
-Toliver went for 27 on 8/16 shooting but just 3/9 from three. She, unlike Coleman, cooled considerably after their hot start. Granted, the two only combined for 5 points the rest of the half after their 30 point outburst to begin the game (a credit to BC's adjustments) but Coleman came out and dominated in half 2 as well. Not as much on Toliver's part. She was still unbelievable.
-Man, those first 15 minutes or so were unreal. I'm gonna miss these two.
-Anjale Barrett only had 6 points but boy were they a big 6 points. A contested three from the corner at the 13:22 mark pushed a 4 point lead back to 7, and a three at the 4:14 mark extended the Terp lead to double digits, giving them the breathing room they'd utilize to hang on at the end. She's really going to have to step up next year and Friday she proved that she can make big plays when the team needs her to.
-This is really mean, but Drey Mingo is well on her way down the Sa'de Wiley-Gatewood path as opposed to the Crystal Langhorne path. If that confuses you, it means she's much more likely to end up as a highly touted bust (and what a bust Wiley-Gatewood was; she might be the Ryan Leaf of women's college basketball. More on this some other time) as opposed to a highly touted success story. Remember, Mingo was among the top 20 or so high school players in the country coming out of Atlanta, Ga. last year. Despite seeing her minutes slashed as the season went on, she was expected to play a huge role this season with the losses of Langhorne and Harper. Now she can't even get significant playing time for the second straight game when Lynetta Kizer gets in foul trouble. With all due respect to Yemi, there's no way Mingo should have let her lap her on the depth chart and in playing time at this point in Yemi's career. I really hope Mingo shuts me up by making some key contributions in the ACC or NCAA tournament.
-I didn't like writing that so let's write about fun things. I missed the pregame ceremonies for Toliver and Coleman but most of the good stuff happened postgame. Brenda's speech was great. Told a couple of nice anecdotes. One was that after some high school tournament in her senior year, Marissa came over to her and told her that she'd take the Terps to the Final Four next year and Brenda thought she was crazy. Nice. Another was that Marissa couldn't do a single pushup when she came to campus; a trait we shared (and one I still have.) My favorite though was learning that Marissa and Kristi came to campus together on Memorial Day weekend in 2005 and both gave verbal commitments. They have literally done everything together from the moment they both simutaniously decided to come here. That's amazing.
-The ovations that Toliver and Coleman got during lineup intros and then during the ceremonies deserve their own bullet point. The banners were a nice touch, too, though I would've preferred a slow unfurling. They both made short speeches; Toliver promised that the team would do "everything in their power" to bring home another national championship, which she called the most important banner hanging up. So they're going to get UConn kicked out of women's basketball now? I KID I KID. But seriously, can Maryland beat UConn and/or win the whole thing? Most people say "no." I say: "maybe." We'll explore this a lot more in the future.
-Calling this now: Boston College is next year's Florida State. They'll sneak in to the tournament as a 10 or 11 seed or something and push someone really good in round 2 before making a huge splash next year. First of all, that's a deep basketball team. It's not just Carolyn Swords who can play. She only had 9 on Friday (but did grab 11 boards) and the Eagles were there all the way. Mickel Picco can really shoot it from deep; she was 7/10 from the field and 4/6 from three to lead the Eagles with 18. Lauren Whitehurst chipped in with a huge 16 points off the bench on 7/11 shooting, and the player who impressed me the most was Stefanie Murphy, a 6'4 giant who scored inside and out, totaling 15 points on 6/16 shooting. She really worked Kizer and Liles down low, even during stretches when Swords was on the bench with foul trouble. Heck, Jaclyn Thoman was EXTREMELY quiet, scoring only 3 points on 2 shots and the Eagles still got incredible offensive production. Ayla Brown added 9 as well. By the way, every player I've mentioned in this paragraph is back next year. Only Corey Rusin (who torched the Terps in Chestnut Hill; she only had 3 on Friday), Victoria Jones, and Brittanny Johnson graduate and none of those three are key contributors. Everyone who matters is back and most of them (Picco and Brown excluded) are sophomores are younger. That's a very young, VERY scary team that can beat you with a number of different players and in a number of different ways. Look for them at or near the top of the ACC in the next year or two. Don't say I didn't warn you.
-BC shot 46% and got way too many open looks but I don't think Brenda's girls were going too hard on defense. They never trailed, had a comfortable lead of 6-10 points most of the way, and were never severely challenged. After the craziness from the two seniors to start, the rest of the team kind of just went in to cruise control. That's not entirely a bad thing; being able to do that and still beat an NCAA team by 12 is pretty amazing, but the Terps are going to need much more intensity in the coming weeks.
-34 in a row. One win away.