Courtside Banter :: Maryland Women's Basketball

The End of the Road

Willmott — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:24:00 +0000

Well now, this wasn't supposed to happen.

The really disappointing part of all of this is that Maryland didn't even play a bad game - on the contrary, they played pretty well. It just so happened that Stanford played out of their minds. Even after having seen lord knows how many games this season, including some of the marquee matchups featuring some of the best teams in the nation, the Cardinal may have played the best game I've seen all year. Period. Obviously it's tough to keep up the same momentum for another two games, especially with a week off in between, but if Stanford plays this way in Tampa, you've got your national champions. Nobody could have beaten them last night, and nobody will beat them if they play up to that level again.

There's no doubt that the Terps are left feeling unfulfilled - after all, the goal this year was a national championship, and nothing short of that. If anything, that shows the growth that this program has undergone in the last few years, because only a couple of teams in the nation can legitimately say that their seasons don't live up to full expectations if they don't win the whole damn thing. With that said, Maryland should still hold their heads high. A 33-4 record is nothing to scoff at, and all four losses were to teams who were among the final 12 teams still playing in the tournament.

Still though, we're all left wondering what might have been.

Obviously this marks the end of the road for us as well. One thing's for sure: It's been one hell of a ride. Scott and I are going to collect our thoughts and come back for an epilogue of sorts to completely cap off the season in a day or two.

Congrats to the 2007-2008 Maryland Terrapins for all they accomplished, even if it wasn't quite what they wanted the ending to be.

Final Chance to Pray to the Deity of Your Choice

Willmott — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 01:09:00 +0000

The fans are starting to file in, the media has taken their places, the cheerleaders are warming up, the bands are playing for the crowd, the coaches are preparing their final strategies, and the players are shooting around. If there's anything left to be done, this is the only time left to do it.

Tip time has been moved to 6:42 local time - that's 9:42 for all of you back in Maryland. We'll be here. Make sure you are, too.

Judgement Day is Upon Us

Willmott — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 22:56:00 +0000

In approximately four and a half hours, both Stanford and Maryland will be getting ready to head back to their respective campuses. One will head back overjoyed and preparing to head to the fun and sun of Tampa, as well as a bid to the Final Four. The loser will head back feeling rather disappointed and unfulfilled, having their dreams end one step short of the promised land.

Recent history is not on Stanford's side. The Cardinal have not made it to the Final Four since 1997, despite being in the tournament each of the years between now and then, including a trip to the Elite Eight every year since 2004 except for last season. In fact, no team further west than Oklahoma has made it to the Final Four since Stanford's trip in 1997.

While it's not because of the recent inability for western teams to make it further than this round of the tournament, Scott and I both seem to think that this game looks good for a Maryland victory, especially if they play like they did against Vanderbilt. Why? Well........you'll have to listen in for that. Hal DeCoursey, Dave Vatz and Rob Dawson start off the festivities at 8:30 ET/5:30 PT for an hour-long pregame show, with Scott and myself taking over at 9:30.

Giant Dessert 1, Scott Sudikoff 0

Willmott — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 06:27:00 +0000

What you see above you is Red Robin's "Mountain High Mudd Pie," which is described as a "special creation of chocolate and vanilla gourmet ice cream, peanut butter cookie bits, chopped peanuts, fudge and peanut butter in a chocolate cookie crust; served in a pool of chocolate fudge and caramel sauce topped with whipped cream, chopped peanuts and a cherry." All for just $5.99! What you also see is Scott's hand behind said dessert, almost completely obscured. To put it simply, this thing was friggin' huge.

Credit has to be given here, because Scott really did a number on the.....thing......considering that he (and I) thought that the picture on the menu just made it look deceptively large. Save for a spoonful that I stole from him on the classic "hey, look over there!" trick, this was all that remained:

Scott described his feelings afterwards as "pain.......yeah, pretty much just pain. But I'd do it all over again if I had to."

As a side note, Maryland baseball SID and Friend of the Station Joey Flyntz also got the same dessert, and did a far better job of finishing it. Sadly, there is no photographic evidence of this point.

It's just about bedtime here at the WMUC Pacific Northwest Bureau. We're going to get some sleep. So should you! After all, it's just under 19 hours until tipoff.

EDIT: Scott reports that he received no cherry on his dessert. The photos support this claim. Scott is pissed, and is currently preparing his lawsuit against the Red Robin restaurant chain.

The Only Analysis That Really Matters

Willmott — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 19:26:00 +0000

You know, we can and have spent tons of time breaking down the matchups of each different game. What we haven't done yet, however, is take a look at the most important matchup of the Spokane regional.

That's right, folks: we're talkin' mascots!

Now this may come as a little bit of a surprise to some of you, that I'd be willing to discuss mascots at all, considering what happened during HokieGate a couple months back. For those of you who aren't in the loop, during the Terps' win at Virginia Tech, the Hokie Bird unplugged our equipment no less than three times during the broadcast. I've not had much of a taste for mascots since then.

Until now.

Let's take a quick look at each of the four mascots here representing the competing teams. Mascots will be judged on three criteria: creativity, energy when performing, and likelihood that it'll kill me in my sleep. You can also click each picture to get a larger view of each mascot.

Pittsburgh - Roc The Panther: Blah. Admittedly, you don't have much to work with when your nickname is the Panthers, but there's really not much here that's too terribly memorable about Pitt's mascot. Credit is due, however, in the energy category; Roc certainly does work for his......uh......what do panthers eat, anyway?

And let's also make it clear, Roc isn't some cutesy panther, either. Props to Pitt, whose mascot scores very high on the "holy crap, it's going to eat me" scale.

Vanderbilt - Mr. C: What the heck is this? An old man? Vandy's nickname is the Commodore; sirs Merriam and Webster define this as a captain in the navy in command of a squadron. I can see that with the hat, sure. But the warmup shirt and the shorts? Does anybody else see that and think of their senile grandfather who sits around talking about how much harder it was back in his day?

And what's with the nickname in general? What navy is Vanderbilt supposed to command in Nashville, Tenn.? Awful mascot, awful nickname, although I suppose it gets creativity points because nobody else is dumb enough to have an old man as their mascot.

Stanford - The Stanford Tree: Making a tree as Stanford's mascot actually makes some sense, since there is a big ol' tree in the middle of the "S" in Stanford's logo, but why is there a tree there to begin with? Oh well. The creativity here really soars off the chart, almost to a fault. Is it possible to look at this thing and not think that somebody had some......chemical assistance......when they designed it?

Where Stanford really scores high is in the energy category. The only reason I couldn't get a great shot of the Tree is because it was constantly moving around. Bravo, Stanford. Bravo.

Maryland - Testudo: If you don't know who Testudo is, you're not a Maryland fan. Period. The clear winner here in creativity, since it's original in a non-"what the heck were they smoking?" kind of way. Testudo also does pretty good in the energy category, pumping up the crowd without overdoing it.

Scott does, however, point out that Testudo could use a little bit more bulk on his frame. "Not steroid-ish, but just a little more flattering. A little more muscle mass. Meat."

Now I realize that Testudo looks so cute and adorably cuddly, but don't be fooled. Get too close to that beak (yes, it's a beak, not just a mouth), and you'll be one-handed for the forseeable future. Fear the turtle - literally.

And the winner is......: Call me biased, but Maryland's beloved turtle has to come out on top here. Roc and Mr. C lose out based on their lack of creativity and general suckitude, respectively. In the battle between the Tree and Testudo, the Stanford Tree is just simply too friggin' weird to come out on top here.

Will the actual game hold to form? We'll have to wait until tomorrow night to see, but I think I hear Testudo sharpening his axe as we speak......

Ya Gotta Be Kiddin' Me...

Scott — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 19:20:00 +0000

John and I awoke today inside the WMUC Pacific Northwest Bureau only to discover that there is another winter wonderland occurring outside. This is a joke right? What happened to spring? Can we please go to Tampa, now? This may be the most snow I have seen in a few years (and that is surprising because my home base is Massachusetts).

Now, I always get the comment/question from people: "Aren't you used to the snow/cold?" or "Don't you like the snow because you're from the northeast?" Simple answer to that is:

NO!

I don't like snow, I don't like the cold, I don't care if there is a white Christmas (note from John: Scott's Jewish). Being from Massachusetts doesn't make you automatically enjoy snow.

Getting back on point here, it looks like we won't be making any 15 minute walks to Sonic for any food today, which will break our streak of 2 straight days of Sonic in Spokane. We did have dinner at a great local placed called "ClinkerDaggers" last night after the game. It was delicious (artichoke and king crab dip, teriyaki beef tenderloin, lemon garlic prawns, kobe meatloaf sliders, spicy calamari), and we hope to go back on Monday night to celebrate a trip to a warmer climate next weekend.

This may be a surprise to you, but we do need to do SCHOOL WORK today. I know, right? So Sunday in Spokane will be very tranquil as we prepare for tomorrow night. Pregame coverage begins at 5:30 (PT)/8:30 (ET) on WMUC Sports. Game time is scheduled for 6:35 (PT)/9:35 (ET) between the Terps and Stanford. Winner goes to the Final Four in Florida...

...and if the Terps win and we go to Tampa...and it snows...I will quit.

We Apologize For the Technical Difficulties

Willmott — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 08:15:00 +0000

For those of you who were listening in last night, you may have noticed that our much-ballyhooed (underrated word) postgame interview with assistant coach Daron Park kinda didn't happen on-air. No, we weren't pulling your legs; it was simply a case of our connection dying at the absolute worst time. According to Hal DeCoursey, who was back in College Park in the studio (high above the South Campus Dining Hall!), it went out right as we were starting to go into the interview. Ain't technology great?

The worst part about this is that our hands are somewhat tied in the situation. We didn't notice the connection had gone out until after the interview was over, but even if we had, we still would have had to go on without being on the air, due to an NCAA regulation that strictly limits the amount of time the media gets with the coaches and players immediately after a game.

Luckily for you all though, we make a point of recording every single broadcast, and Saturday's game was no exception. The never-before-heard audio from the interview is available on the front page or, for those of you feeling particularly lazy, can be heard here.

As much as I'd love to talk more, it's nearly 1:30 a.m. here on the left coast, and since neither Scott nor myself has completely adjusted to the time change yet, it still kinda feels like nearly 4:30 a.m. We'll be back with you all tomorrow.

Langhorne to Vandy: My Better is Better Than Your Better

Willmott — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 07:24:00 +0000

There were more than a couple of questions raised after the opening weekend of the tournament regarding the Terps' play. Were they actually worthy of that #1 seed? How could they let Coppin State and Nebraska hang around for so long? How could they be playing basketball this mediocre at this point in the season?

Guess what? They heard everyone. Loud and clear, it would seem.

Let's not beat around the bush here: Maryland has not looked this dominant against a team of Vanderbilt's caliber possibly since the win over LSU. I'm not going to jump the gun here and guarantee a trip to the Final Four here, but you cannot possibly read this and say, along with Stanford's struggles for much of their game against Pitt, that Monday's game against the Cardinal looks a lot more winnable.

Crystal Langhorne obviously led the way with 28 points, but here's what's the most impressive part: Vandy plays a matchup zone that, in theory, causes headaches for players down low. And give the Commodores credit, because they surrounded Langhorne all night long. Crystal did not, however, let it bother her, as she fought through the increased attention like an A-list celebrity working their way through Hollywood paparazzi.

That's not to say that she did everything for this team, though: Kristi Toliver had one of her better games as a point guard since fully assuming the duties this year, dishing out eight assists against just one turnover, and Marah Strickland finally seemed to come out of the shell she was in during the first two rounds, not being afraid at all to pull the trigger on her jumpers, along with solid performances from the other two starters.

The fact, however, is that against Vanderbilt, it was Crystal Langhorne's world, and we were all just living in it. She's so good, her spin move smells like French toast.

......French toast?

Less Than an Hour to Go!

Willmott — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 00:12:00 +0000

As we sit here at Spokane Arena, the Terps are directly in front of us warming up and stretching, and there's about 41 minutes or so until the tip. We'd normally have some sort of fancy pictures here, but the wireless here in the arena seems to be kinda flaky, and the images aren't loading. Sorry. We'll try and get a bunch of pictures up later, once we get back to the WMUC Pacific Northwest Bureau.

We're going to take off our blogger hats and put on our broadcaster hats (note: we do not actually own these two hats). Not that you should be too terribly upset - the pregame is going on RIGHT NOW on WMUCSports.com. Go listen!

EDIT: We're back, photos are up. See? Fancy, shiny photography!

"All of them."

Scott — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 23:21:00 +0000

Interesting note that we found funny from checking into the hotel yesterday afternoon. (By the way the Red Lion Hotel at the Park is a fine establishment and a 10 minute walk to the Arena, as well as a 15 minute walk to Sonic.)

The gentleman that was getting us our keys to our room started asking us questions when he noticed our "Terps" gear. He must not have thought we were a part of the media, which is strange because this hotel is the "Official Media Hotel" of the Spokane regional. Anyways in a simple question he asked us:

"Do you guys know someone on the Maryland team?" My response to this could not have been any more deadpan and to the point:

"All of them."

Of course we then explained that we were the radio crew for the Terrapins and we were gearing up to call the action tonight (and hopefully Monday). We'll be back with more throughout the day so keep on refreshing this page!

"Happy Days" Icon Loves WMUC

Scott — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 06:10:00 +0000

The celebrities have begun to roll into Spokane for the 2008 NCAA Tournament Regionals. Henry Winkler, better known as "The Fonz" (or Barry Zuckerkorn for you Arrested Development fans), sought out John for a photo-op. You wouldn't believe the kind of response celebrities have when they meet a WMUC personality live and in person.

Henry didn't want to pay the special fee I charge for pictures and/or autographs, so unfortunately there is no visual evidence that I personally saw "The Fonz."

Apparently later on Winkler ran into the Terrapins at the team hotel and save for Emery Wallace, no one knew who this man was.

Well it is only 11:18 PM here in Spokane, but to us it feels like 2:18 AM after that whole time change phenomenon. We will check back in tomorrow, as we plan to wake up at 9 AM (PT) to watch North Carolina take on Jeff Walz's Louisville squad.

Be sure to check in for more from WMUC's Pacific Northwest Bureau.

Ode to Sonic

Willmott — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 02:09:00 +0000

So if any of you reading out there know a WMUC broadcaster personally, you might know that Sonic (America's Drive-In!) has a little bit of a cult following at our station. Why? It's really simple, if you think about it.

First, consider that we are talking about college students here, and cheap food is always good food. And while it may not be gourmet cuisine, it's really freaking good for what it is. Besides, you haven't really lived until you've had a cherry limeade with your burger and tots (tots!).

Since there isn't a Sonic within an hour's drive of the WMUC Sports studios (high above the South Campus Dining Hall!), it's almost required that we make a stop at a Sonic whenever we take a road trip that takes us near one. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, we usually go all out. It's not unusual for us to eat two meals there during one day.

Imagine, then, how excited Scott and I were to discover that there was a Sonic within half a mile of the hotel (or, as it will now be known, the WMUC Pacific Northwest Bureau).

So, despite the elements, Scott and I trudged out in a driving snowstorm to eat at our beloved drive-in. I won't mince words here - it wasn't pretty. It was cold, wet, and pretty miserable. It was also completely worth it.

Even compared to usual Sonic standards, Scott was rather impressed by his Chicken Club Toaster Sandwich (as you can see from the picture to the right), which was washed down with his tots (tots!) and the always sublime Cherry Limeade. My Bacon Cheeseburger Toaster was just as tasty. Yeah, it's fast food, but I know I've paid more money for lower quality food in traditional sit-down restaurants.

Are we crazy for our devotion? Yeah, probably. OK, certainly. But hey, don't knock it until you've tried it.

The City that Spring Forgot

Willmott — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 01:06:00 +0000

Don't adjust your monitors - that's snow. From where, you ask? Just outside Scott's and my hotel room here in Spokane, Washington. Meanwhile, the high in College Park was apparently 75 today.

Anyways, the two of us will be checking in multiple times a day during the weekend to bring you tons of analysis and amusing anecdotes from the weekend (and trust me, there will be plenty of both). All in all, it should be a pretty good time. Make sure to follow along, and of course make sure to listen in tomorrow night at 8:30 p.m. on WMUCSports.com - or 5:30 p.m., for those of you also up here in the Northwest.

The Most Important Game of the Year. No, Really.

Willmott — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 02:58:00 +0000

I know what you're thinking. "A home game against Virginia is the most critical game that the Terps have played this year? John, you're off your rocker!" You certainly might be right about that. Hear me out, though.

Nobody reading this would disagree that Monday's game against Virginia Tech was anything short of a disaster. Yes, Maryland won the game, but the Hokies shouldn't have been in the game anywhere near as much as they were. Plain and simple, the Terps got a major wake-up call in Blacksburg on Monday night.

Now, here's the big question - will the Terps answer the call?

Three of Maryland's last four games - Georgia Tech, North Carolina, and now Virginia Tech - were unconvincing performances to say the least, and almost certainly among the worst outings the Terps have had this season. Worse yet, this downturn comes as the calendar turns to February, and teams start gearing up for the NCAA tournament.

This brings us to Friday's game. Virginia is no pushover; in fact, you may not even have realized that the Cavaliers, not Duke, are currently sitting in the 3rd spot in the ACC. The Terps beat the Cavs a few weeks back at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va., so logic says that a win shouldn't be too terribly difficult. That's not what's important, though.

The Terps have to look at this matchup as a statement game. On a national perspective, the combination of the recent lackluster performances and Maryland's lack of a win against the biggest programs in the land right now (save for LSU, which is on a slightly lower pedestal than UConn, Tennessee, North Carolina and the like) has the Terps hurting for some positive attention. To appease both themselves and the nation, Maryland has to flat-out destroy Virginia. No questions can be raised about the performance - the Terps have to go out and dominate the third-best team in the ACC for all 40 minutes.

As the season winds down, the stakes are going to be raised higher and higher. The Terps need to bring the intensity to match - otherwise, March may be far shorter than Maryland fans would like.

Terps Taken Down in Tarheel Land

Dave — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 08:01:00 +0000

The #4 Terps put up a strong fight, but the #3 Tarheels proved too strong in the end, taking home the victory 96-87 in Carmichael Auditorium.

In a game that started with the Tarheels surging ahead 20-10, Maryland took advantage of bad matchups and pulled within a tie at 31-31. UNC would regain the lead at the half 37-33, but the Tarheels had a problem, senior forward Erlana Larkins, who obtained eight points and six rebounds thus far, had three fouls. The Terps had their own problems; they were 1-10 from beyond the arc and had allowed 10 offensive rebounds.

Maryland focused their play on the frontcourt and tied the game at 46-46. From there, Maryland pulled off a huge 11-4 run that silenced the crowd with around 10 minutes left. The Tarheels called timeout, and Coach Hatchell made her adjustments. Thanks to strong play from freshman point guard Cetera DeGraffenreid and Larkins, UNC had back the lead within two and a half minutes. Maryland would get back the lead with key baskets from Kristi Toliver, but both Laura Harper and Jade Perry now had four fouls. With 3:35 left in the second half, a jumper by Toliver put Maryland up 71-67. Despite strong defensive play from the Terps, UNC managed to tie the game, but missed the final shot, so the game went to overtime.

The signs "Overtime is Our Time" were held up by two people from Maryland's marketing department as overtime began. Maryland's last game was a double overtime thriller with Georgia Tech, but this situation was different. Maryland had foul trouble, where as UNC did not. The first overtime went back and forth. Despite that Harper fouled out, the Terps had a chance to make the final shot with the score 79-79, but Toliver's shot missed, and to a second overtime this game would go.

With Harper out, the Terps knew they had to be careful. They were still running 7-deep. Disaster struck when Perry fouled out five seconds in. Coach Park decided to adjust the 3-2 to put Marissa Coleman in the frontcourt and put Ashleigh Newman in back with Toliver and Marah Strickland. Despite a valient effort, the Tarheels dominated the frontcourt with LaToya Pringle and Larkins with good shooting and offensive rebounds, and the Terps fell in the end.

Although this is a hard loss to swallow for the Terps, it may turn out very beneficial. The Terps playing 7-deep finally came back to hurt them when Harper and Perry fouled out, severly hurting the front court play. The good news for Maryland is that the next two games, against Miami (8-12, 1-4 ACC) and at Virginia Tech (13-8, 0-6 ACC) shouldn't be difficult contests. Drey Mingo may see a lot more playing time now to help relieve this problem, as well as Kat Lyons and Emery Wallace. Maryland has time to make adjustments to the issue. Even though this probably needs to be fixed, the Terps are still 22-2 and one of the best teams in the nation despite going 7-deep through many games.

Maryland may have lost against UNC, but I doubt this will be the last time the Terps see the Tarheels. Whether it be the ACC Tournament or the NCAA Tournament, they'll face each other again.

Rollin' through the ACC

Dave — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 06:38:00 +0000

Maryland has been enjoying their winter break. They've gone 5-0 to start their ACC stretch, including three road wins and a home win over 12th-ranked Duke.

Crystal Langhorne is averaging a double-double per game in ACC play, with 18.8 points and 11.8 rebounds per contest. Kristi Toliver has been the leading scorer in ACC play with 19.4 points and 7.2 assists per game.

Maryland's contest vs. Duke was considered by many to be the loudest they had ever heard the Comcast Center at a women's basketball game. Now keep in mind this was a 4th-ranked Maryland vs. a 12th-ranked Duke. There have been bigger matchups rankings-wise in the Comcast Center in the last two seasons, including 2-UNC vs. 3-MD and 1-Duke vs. 6-MD last season, and earlier this season 3-MD vs. 4-LSU to end out the Preseason WNIT. It was Duke, and a close game, but with classes out of session and on a Monday evening, it is certainly suprising. Duke guard Abby Waner even said about the fans that "They are enthusiastic, not exactly the sweethearts of the country, but I'd like to have them as my fans. I think they are a great sixth man for Maryland."

Coming up, Maryland has two of their toughest ACC challenges coming up, starting with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

Georgia Tech (16-2, 3-1 ACC) may not have a big win, but they don't have a bad loss either, losing road games to Georgia and North Carolina. Last year, they reached the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament and upset Maryland in a 77-72 victory in Atlanta during the regular season. The Yellow Jackets play a 3-guard, 2-forward offense led up front by senior forward Janie Mitchell (16.9 ppg, 6.8 rpg) and senior guard Chioma Nnamaka (16.1 ppg). Look for the 6'4'' Laura Harper to be a big part of this game; no one in Georgia Tech's starting five is over 6'1''.

Listen in to today's game, pregame at 1:40, game at 2:00, live from the Comcast Center on wmucsports.com!

A New Year is Upon Us

Willmott — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 23:01:00 +0000

First of all, a very happy and healthy new year to you and yours. Hope you're as excited as I am for 2008, and hope you're enjoying your January 1, whether you're spending it with family, alone in disbelief that you actually had that much to drink, or (like me) with a comfortable spot picked out on the couch to watch the 30 million bowl games that are on today.

Thursday marks the start of ACC play for the Terps. They closed out the non-conference slate with a bang, throttling UMBC and Richmond in the Terrapin Classic. Admittedly, there were some great individual performances by the Terps' opponents, but this past weekend was essentially an exhibition for the team. They weren't ever truly challenged, and frankly, the final scores showed that. I don't think anyone seriously expected any sort of a test.

Wake Forest will be an interesting start to the ACC season for Maryland. Which Wake team will show up? Will it be the one that pulled off nice wins against Texas A&M and Indiana en route to a tournament victory in the Virgin Islands in the Paradise Jam? Or will it be the Wake team that sandwiched that tournament victory with losses at James Madison and at home to Radford? If it's the former, Maryland is possibly in for one heck of a fight. If it's the latter, this game might be over by halftime.

That's not to say that Maryland's performance is completely dependent on how their opponent plays Thursday. Undoubtedly, the four worst games (or, at best, four of the five worst) the Terps have played so far have been true road games - a loss at Rutgers, a rocky road trip against UC Santa Barbara and UCLA, and a scare at James Madison. Plain and simple, Maryland needs to play well on Thursday to establish that they've got a strong road presence. They can't afford to head into the conference slate being uncertain of how they can play outside of Comcast.

So how will things play out? You'll have to wait and see. Norm Carter and I will be on WMUCSports.com live from Winston-Salem, NC, at 6:40 PM on Thursday, getting you ready for a 7:00 tip. Be sure to listen in!

Terps Survive Toliver's Homecoming, defeating JMU 71-65

Dave — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 01:44:00 +0000

James Madison gave Maryland quite the holiday scare. But the Terps survived, barely.

Maryland came into this game 13-1 and on 12 days rest after playing all 14 of their games in a span of 31 days. As John Willmott said, they were probably some of the few people who looked forward to finals because it meant they could rest and not play basketball. The James Madison Dukes, a 9-seed in the NCAA tournament last year, entered with a record of 6-2 having won their last 30 games in the Convo, at the time an NCAA record for games won at home in a row.

Kristi Toliver came back to her hometown of Harrisonburg, Virginia to a loud 5,000 person crowd in the Convo and was hit with taunts of "Traitor" by the courtside student section and a "Go Home Kristi" sign from the band but was given a loud ovation by the crowd when introduced in the starting lineup. The crowd was very active through most of the night and sometimes threw Maryland off their game.

The first half started out poorly for the Terps. Despite starting on a 6-0 run, Toliver quickly received two fouls which affected the flow of the offense, putting Marissa Coleman (who shot 2-11 in the half) on the point. JMU countered with an 11-0 run and at one point led by nine. Maryland got their offense together thanks to good shooting down low from Crystal Langhorne and Laura Harper and tied the game 33-33 at the half. Despite not getting a three and having quite a few fouls from guards, Maryland could look forward to having Toliver back in the second half.

JMU came out quickly in the second half with a 7-0 run. Tamara Young was playing very well, hitting key shots, drawing fouls, and ending with 28 points. The Terps did eventually regain the lead, but with nine minutes left, the Dukes were up by 10 points and looked like they had the game. Toliver was still struggling, and James Madison was clicking on all cylinders. Maryland then came alive, led by Toliver, Coleman, and Harper, climbing back to take the lead with 3:40 left. Great defense by the Terps kept the Dukes to only two points in the last four minutes, and Maryland was able to pull away in the final minute. A real scare, but the Terps improved to 14-1 on the season.

Harper was on fire in the front court, nearly scoring a double-double with 24 points (8-10 from the field) and nine rebounds. She also hit 8-10 free throws.

Langhorne surpassed the 1,000 rebound mark with a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Despite a bad first half, Coleman came on strong in the second half with a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds.

Although this game was a scare, the Terps showed a lot of heart in this game. Maryland was down by nine and ten in times during the game and had to deal with an intense JMU crowd, but they pulled it out.

Maryland will have some questions from this game. The Terrapin offense didn't look fluid without Toliver, and the bench still isn't much of a factor in games. But for now, things are going well in College Park.

Maryland will come home for the Terrapin Classic, hosting Richmond and UMBC on the 29th and 30th respectively. Tipoff is at 2:00 PM for each game, tune in the wmucsports.com for the action.

From all us on the women's basketball crew and WMUC, we wish you all a happy holiday.

Terps Take Down Temple 64-46

Dave — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 09:21:00 +0000

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

From Cats to Birds

Scott — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 05:34:00 +0000

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bouncing Back

Scott — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 22:03:00 +0000

After Monday's tough loss at Rutgers, the Terrapin women's basketball team plays host to the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders tonight at Comcast Center. If you remember, last year the Terps opened the season with a nail-biting win in Murfeesboro against Middle. This time they hope for no drama.

Monday's first loss of the season may be a bit of a reality check for the team, who had previously reeled off 10-straight victories. The Scarlet Knights proved to the Terps and the country that there are other teams to be reckoned with. There is no reason for Maryland to hang their collective head though because they lost to a very strong team.

Crystal Langhorne became the all-time leading rebounder in Maryland history during the game, passing Vicky Bullett. Langhorne is also on pace to become the all-time leading scorer which is held by Bullett. Kristi Toliver became the third Terrapin this season to score her 1,000th point. There is no question though that these players have only one thing on their mind and that is to come back tonight with a strong victory.

Tonight's game is the second game in a stretch of four games in seven days, so the Terps have to avoid any type of lull. Tipoff is at 7 o'clock on WMUCsports.com, so don't miss it!

Terps ready to go...

Scott — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 19:18:00 +0000

The #3 Terrapins will face off with the #5 Scarlet Knights of Rutgers tonight, and they are ready to rock "The RAC". They just completed a spirited shoot-around and now the waiting begins until tipoff. It should be a fantastic atmosphere here in New Jersey as the 8,000 seat Rutgers Athletic Center is expected to be full.

Myself and Hal DeCoursey will be on the call tonight, starting at 6:40 with the pregame. We played an intense game of one-on-one during shoot-around in which I took a nasty fall, but I should be 100% for the broadcast. The coaches are thinking about bringing me aboard as a shooting coach, too...

Turn the volume down on ESPN2 tonight and crank up your computers as it is sure to be an interesting game. Rutgers has three All-American candidates that are looking to stop the freight train known as Maryland.

Maryland-Ohio St. Live Blog!

Scott — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 23:52:00 +0000

Hey everyone, Scott here. While you listen to the game on WMUCsports.com or watch on ESPNU you can follow here as I will be following the game live here at the Comcast Center. Feel free to post your comments and ask questions. I will try to answer them as the game goes along!

FIRST HALF

20:00 -- The Buckeyes come into tonight's game at 5-1 and a #19/17 ranking in the country. Their last game was Sunday night, a loss to Auburn 67-58. They are led by senior guard Marscilla Packer, averaging 17.7 points per game. Watch out for freshman center Jantel Lavender, 6-foot 4 out of Cleveland averaging over 16 a game.

16:45 -- Terps jump out to an 11-2 lead. Balanced attack so far, Laura Harper has four points, Marah Strickland with three, and both Crystal Langhorne and Kristi Toliver have two. If you were wondering, Langhorne is starting her 2nd consecutive game.

15:30 -- Media timeout. The Buckeyes are a chilly 1/9 from the field, and just had about three chances from point blank and couldn't score. Terps up 14-2. Toliver hit her first 3-pointer of the game. Probably won't be her last.

13:30 -- Maryland defense has been stellar. 18-4 Terps. Ohio State on the year is averaging 72.8 points per game... and at this rate they will come nowhere close to that mark. Jade Perry has come into the game for the first time along with Ashleigh Newman. Not much lost when these players come into the game.

11:53 -- 18-9 Terps at the under-12 media timeout. The Buckeyes are starting to put it together, as Brittany Johnson hit a three pointer followed by a silly turnover by Marah Strickland. State has the ball coming out of the timeout looking to inch closer.

11:35 -- Funny note: The stat I gave of 72.8 points per game for the Buckeyes was actually the number for the Terrapin men's team's home games... Don't ask. The real number is 76.5 for the Buckeyes.

10:51 -- Star Allen, starting forward averaging nine points and seven rebounds for Ohio State, just picked up her 3rd foul so she'll have to sit.

6:59 -- Outstanding hustle play by Toliver. After the Terps turned it over she hustled back down an stole the ball away from Leslee Mason-Cox and was able to get a timeout in before she slid out of bounds. Buckeyes hanging around though, 27-16 Terps, as they are trying to utilize the 3-point shot more.

6:41 -- 27-16 Maryland at the under-8 media timeout. Marscilla Packer has been invisible for Ohio State, scoring nothing so far, which is 17.7 away from her average. They just showed the video of how Brenda Frese broke the news of her pregnancy to the team, and it was a job well-done by her, kept the team in suspense throughout. The twins are due March 11th.

3:33 -- 34-21 Terps at the final media timeout of the half. Marah Strickland hit her 2nd 3-pointer of the contest and the same can be said for Buckeye sophomore guard Maria Moeller. Ohio State is trying to avoid the knockout punch before the halftime break.

0:00 -- Halftime score is Terps 39, Ohio State 25. Toliver tries her patented step-back 3-pointer at the buzzer but cannot connect, which is quite a surprise to me. Marscilla Packer still scoreless, but she does have four assists. Turnover battle is even, 10 for Maryland, 11 for Ohio State.

SECOND HALF

20:00 -- About to get started. Let's see if the Terps come out blazing here and try to put the Buckeyes away. If Packer and Lavender can get their heads on straight for Ohio State though, this one could come down to the wire.

16:09 -- The 14-point halftime lead is now 18. Langhorne's ankle looks fine from here as she leads the Terps in scoring with 11. Marissa Coleman has picked up her 3rd personal foul, we will see how her playing time is affected in the coming minutes. Terps shooting 51% for the game while O.S.U. is down in the high-20's. Jantel Lavender leads the Buckeyes with eight points.

15:17 -- The Terps pushed the lead to 20 for a moment and then Packer scored her first points of the game on a 3-pointer. 49-30 now. Harper with six second half points, pushing her game total to 10. By the way, do opponents know that Langhorne's favorite low-post move is the spin? Or is she that good?

10:58 -- 52-35 Terps up 17. Jade Perry just said "no you don't" to a Brittany Johnson shot, which got the crowd up on it's collective feet. I have yet to mention this, but Kristi Toliver is on her away to another double-double with nine assists... the only problem is that she is deferring on her shot so much that she only has seven points. One quick 3-pointer could solve that problem though.

7:22 -- Maryland up 16 at the under-8 timeout, 60-44. Langhorne is piling it on with 10 second half points and 17 total. Marissa Coleman, who has been quiet the past two games after being unstoppable on the west coast swing, has just six points. Freshmen Drey Mingo and Kat Lyons have not seen any action tonight after seeing extended minutes in Tuesday's 90-77 home win against Pittsburgh.

2:19 -- Well the rout is on. 75-51, Terps up by 24. Toliver is one point shy of a double-double and has 11 assists. Buckeyes are praying for rain now, as the A-C-C chant begins from the crowd in this Big Ten/ACC Challenge game.

1:28 -- Langhorne has 17, Coleman 14, Harper 13, Perry nine, Toliver nine, Strickland eight and Newman rounds out the scoring with five. Nice solid attack by the Terrapins. Kat Lyons has checked in for the first time. Looks like K.T. will fall shy of the double-double with nine points and 11 assists.

0:00 -- That will do it. Terps go to 10-0 on the year with a 77-53 victory over Ohio State. Another win against a Top 25 team, the 4th to be exact. Drey Mingo entered late as well for Maryland and dropped in the final two points for good measure. Maryland now gets ready to head up I-95 to New Jersey to take on #5/6 Rutgers in the Jimmy V Classic. The game starts a stretch of four games in seven days. The amount of games the Terps are playing right now is unprecedented.

Next Game: #3 Maryland @ #5 Rutgers - Monday @ 6:40 on WMUCsports.com.

Thanks for following along. If you have any questions for me please leave them here or you can e-mail me personally at scott.sudikoff@gmail.com Please join myself and Hal DeCoursey this coming Monday night for the Rutgers game. Pregame begins at 6:40 with tipoff to follow at 7 o'clock. Have a good night everyone!

Welcome Back Langhorne

Scott — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 05:17:00 +0000

A sight for sore eyes was seen Tuesday night at Comcast Center, as Crystal Langhorne started only her second game of the season. Langhorne looked like her old self after missing six of Maryland's first eight games. The ankle sprain that she has been dealing with for almost a month now is to a point where she can get out there and play extended minutes.

She admits that she is not at 100%.

"I think I did OK," she said, "but it's going to be a while until I really get back in the flow, get my wind back."

75% for the two-time All-American is good enough for now for this Maryland team. Against Pittsburgh she tallied a double-double, a typical occurrence during her career, with 15 points and 13 rebounds. She used her patented spin move in the lane on more than one occasion and at no point showed any discomfort.

Langhorne saw action Sunday night against UCLA but she did not start that contest. She did tally 12 points. In her only other game of the season, November 11th vs. Oklahoma, Lang only scored two. Clearly in that game she was not ready to see playing time. But, after two extra weeks of rest, Crystal is poised to belatedly get her senior season going in full swing.

Jade Perry did more than enough to fill the void left by Langhorne during the early season stretch, and can now move back to the bench where she can provide a punch.

Tuesday's double-double was the 45th of Langhorne's career. The former ACC Rookie of the Year and two-time All-American seeks that second National Championship. This Terrapin squad has the pieces to make a memorable run to Tampa. We are all just glad that Crystal is back out on that court bringing her intensity and leadership to a team with unrivaled potential.

UCLA-Maryland Live Blog!

Willmott — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 21:58:00 +0000

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.