Maryland junior guard Kristi Toliver doesn?t want to sound disrespectful, but she doesn?t envision Vanderbilt doing anything during the teams? game on Saturday night at 9 the Terrapins haven?t already seen this season.
That?s because the top-seeded Terrapins (32-3) arrived in Spokane, Wash., for the NCAA Tournament?s region semifinals having played ? and defeated ? many of the nation?s top teams, including Ohio State, Louisiana State, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame.
“Our non-conference and conference schedule is preparing us for right now,” Toliver said. “I think we?ve played just about every type of team there is out there. There?s not an offense or defense that we haven?t seen and that makes us confident of where we?re at as a team. This team is tough and we?ll be ready for anything.”
The Terrapins face fourth-seeded Vanderbilt (25-8) after going 15-3 against teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament, with their latest victory over eighth-seeded Nebraska on Tuesday.
Maryland left Wednesday on its 2,500-mile trip to the West Coast in order to give the team more time to adjust to the three-hour time difference. But the Terrapins already have proven they can play when traveling across the country. In November, Maryland played two games in three days in California and defeated UC Santa Barbara, 75-71, and UCLA, 79-75. The Terrapins will have to accomplish a similar feat if they want to return to the Final Four for the second time in three years. If Maryland wins Saturday, it will play either second-seeded Stanford (32-3) or sixth-seeded Pittsburgh (24-10) on Monday night for a berth in the Final Four in Tampa, Fla., on April 6.
Maryland senior forward Laura Harper said the best preparation the Terrapins had this season was opening their schedule with 14 games in 31 days. Maryland went 13-1 in that span, with its only loss coming to 2007 NCAA Tournament runner-up Rutgers.
“We know what it feels like to be tired, we know how to play on the West Coast,” Harper said. “We?ve had success under a lot of different conditions, especially after playing 14 games in 31 days to start the season. We?ve seen it all this year and we?ll be ready for Vandy on Saturday.”
