UCLA-Maryland Live Blog!

John here. I'll be live blogging this game since we can't be there. Feel free to leave comments. I'll make sure to answer them as we go.

7:04 PM: UCLA turns it over on the offensive end, and the Terps survive, 79-75. What an amazing comeback for Maryland, and what a trial by fire for Daron Park. If Maryland had waited much longer, they almost certainly wouldn't have been able to make the comeback, but they flipped the switch at just the right second.

Thanks for following along! Later tonight or tomorrow, someone (likely myself) will be back to break all it down. Keep reading, and make sure to tune in Tuesday night at 6:40 when the Terps come back home to face Pittsburgh!

7:02 PM: And the second one. 79-75 Maryland, 10.8 seconds left to go. Maryland likely has escaped with one here. Wow.

7:01 PM: UCLA makes it 77-75, but a good 10 seconds were wasted not trying to foul someone. Marah Strickland at the line - first one rattles in.

6:59 PM: CRUCIAL turnover for Maryland to pick up. UCLA fouls Kristi Toliver, she hits both. 77-73 Maryland.

6:58 PM: Less than a minute to go, Maryland leads 75-73.

6:57 PM: UCLA hits a circus shot to take the lead back, but Agent Two-Zero (OK, I'll bite) nails a three to put Maryland back up by two with about a minute to go.

6:56 PM: Blow to the Terps, as Laura Harper fouls out. 12 points and 9 boards sitting on the bench.

6:55 PM: Terps lead! How is this happening?!?!?!

6:53 PM: Laura Harper cuts it to 1 with a couple of free throws, and Maryland gets the ball back on the other end. Unbelievable. 2:50 left to go, and the Terps have completely turned the tables on UCLA.

6:52 PM: 71-68 UCLA. Terps on a 15-2 run at the final media timeout. Maryland can definitely win this one, but what a stolen victory this would be if they could pull it off.

6:49 PM: 25 turnovers for Maryland, but they've cut the lead down to just five. UCLA now needs a timeout. By the way, a little bit of history - the last time the Terps had this many turnovers? Their last loss, as well, against Ole Miss. Hmmmm....

6:46 PM: Toliver's three is certainly a good start. The defensive needs to step up as well, though, and the quick buckets UCLA are getting aren't helping. 71-60 UCLA leads.

6:44 PM: Now the Terps can't even get past midcourt - Ashleigh Newman just threw a frustration elbow to draw an offensive foul. This is not insurmountable, but Maryland needs to throw the switch FAST.

6:42 PM: Another turnover, another fast break, another foul. It's been the same formula all game long for the Bruins. There's no reason to change anything, though - why change if the Terps can't stop it?

6:39 PM: 64-53 UCLA at the under-8 media timeout. If they continue to play as sloppy as they have been, Maryland has no chance of coming back to win this one.

6:37 PM: UCLA is shooting 70% from the field in the 2nd half. Maryland has 10 turnovers in the 2nd half. UCLA is up 12. There's your story right there.

6:34 PM: Maryland now down 10, with UCLA on a 17-4 run. Daron Park has no jacket on. Crisis mode? Probably.

6:31 PM: The broadcast crew is talking to Brenda Frese right now, and she sounds amazingly calm for a coach whose team is in the position it's in. All while carrying twins. "Impressed" doesn't quite describe my feelings.

6:29 PM: Jinx.

6:26 PM: 52-50 UCLA at the under-12 media timeout. Jade Perry finally gets on the board with her first points and gets fouled in the process. What a break - Perry's pretty close to automatic at the charity stripe.

6:25 PM: 50-46 UCLA, and Maryland looks completely lost right now.

6:22 PM: Maryland doesn't have an answer for Regina Rogers thusfar, and it's killing them when she's on the floor - 8 points in just 10 minutes.

Pluimer lays it up to make it a 48-46 UCLA lead.

6:20 PM: Lindsey Pluimer makes a three-point UCLA lead.

6:17 PM: Free throw no good, so the game's still tied, but UCLA will have the ball after a Crystal Langhorne foul. Under-16 media timeout, and it's a much-needed one for the Terps. UCLA is perfect from the field in the half, and all of the stat advantages Maryland held are quickly closing.

6:16 PM: Another turnover, another UCLA basket. Tied at 38, and Nina Earl can put UCLA ahead with a free throw. Look for Maryland to try and slow the tempo down here.

6:13 PM: Marah Strickland stops the bleeding with a three; it's her first basket of the game. Timeout, Maryland leads 38-34.

6:12 PM: And now it's down to 1, and the Terps couldn't respond on the other end. They look really sloppy right now. Timeout needed. Badly.

6:10 PM: UCLA starts out with two quick baskets, and Maryland follows up with a turnover. Daron Park needs a timeout.

6:09 PM: And welcome back, for half #2.

5:51 PM: 35-28 Terps at the half, and the turnovers are the story so far. 12 for Maryland, versus just 7 for UCLA. Everything else is heavily in Maryland's favor: 51.7% versus 34.4% from the field, 24-15 on the boards, 4-of-8 compared to 1-of-4 from 3-point range. It's very simple - hold on to the ball, and Maryland can start to run away with this one. Continue to give it up, and UCLA will continue to hang around. Considering the heart attack that UCSB provided, you know that Daron Park will do whatever it takes to bury UCLA quickly after halftime.

5:48 PM: First three for UCLA to cut the lead to four, but Toliver answers back with one of her own. HUGE for Maryland. With about 30 seconds left, they need to finish strong going into the half.

5:45 PM: 10 turnovers for Maryland. UCLA only has five. You would think that aside from the basketball ramifications, the incredibly annoying PA announcer, who gets waaaaaay too excited at every Maryland turnover, would be enough motivation to hold on to the damn ball.

5:41 PM: 30-19 Maryland at the final first-half media timeout. At this point, Maryland is leading solely because of the fact that they're shooting much better (52% for Maryland, 29.6% for UCLA). The Terps have zero offensive balance right now - only four Terps have scored, including 14 for Marissa Coleman.

5:39 PM: Speaking of Terp players down low, Crystal Langhorne is apparently fine. Great use of the pivot foot to spin down low and pick up two points. Six in the first half for Crystal.

5:38 PM: Fun fact: UCLA's Chinyere Ibekwe is, in fact, related to former Terp center Ekene Ibekwe.

5:35 PM: 28-15 Maryland. How appropriate that the Terps just picked up another three doing what they do best - working the ball around to the open shooter, grabbing an offensive board when the shot doesn't fall, and then going right back into the offensive flow and finding an open Marissa Coleman.

5:30 PM: 23-12 Maryland at the under-8 media timeout. Every time UCLA looks like they might be able to get back into it, the Terps are there to put together a couple of scores and extend the lead.

5:24 PM: You know, I love Marah Strickland and what she's done offensively, but she just hasn't displayed the same shooting touch that she had earlier in the season. She just sent one off the side of the backboard that was five different kinds of ugly.

5:21 PM: 16-10 Terps. Under 12 media timeout. Nice little 6-0 run by UCLA to get back into it. This game is going to be won or lost down low for the Bruins.

5:17 PM: UCLA was having some early success down low, but that's really started to dry up on the offensive end. Defensively, they're keeping Maryland from scoring easily, but they're still giving up too many offensive boards.

5:13 PM: Wow. Pauley Pavilion is EMPTY. Never thought I'd see the day. It was disappointing to see so few people in Chapel Hill, but that was a neutral-site matchup. This is a UCLA home game against one of the best teams in the nation.....

5:11 PM: 12-4 Terps, and we have a Crystal Langhorne sighting! Awesome news. I'd say that I hope they didn't rush her back, but considering that she didn't even dress for the biggest games of the Preseason WNIT, that's almost certainly not an issue.

With that charge, we're at the first media timeout. Terps looking good to start.

5:09 PM: 10-4 Terps. Another Toliver three. More importantly though, the offensive boards are there early on, which was a big issue against UCSB.

5:07 PM: 5-2 Terps. Toliver knocks down a three. Ho-hum.

5:05 PM: No surprises in the Terps' lineup. Also no surprise that Daron Park is the head coach for today's game, with Coach Frese still in College Park.

5:03 PM: Maryland, of course, is 7-0 coming into this matchup, last playing UC Santa Barbara to a disappointing (for this squad) 75-71 win. UCLA is 3-0, coming off of a 24-point win against Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo.

4:59 PM: This ought to be fun. A big hello to everyone who'll be following along. Game should be starting soon, so we'll get going then.