Coleman, Liles snagged 35 rebounds against Utah
The way Marissa Coleman talked about her and Dee Liles’ plan to grab every rebound in Maryland’s NCAA second-round game against Utah, it clearly was no joke.
They were also the ones smiling after pulling down respective career-highs of 18 and 17 boards, nearly half of the total rebounds by both teams in the 15-point win over the Utes.
“It’s just pure and simple really, their strength over us and their physicality,” said Utah head coach Elaine Elliott. “We couldn’t change that. We couldn’t grow bigger. We couldn’t grow heavier.”
The fourth-seeded Commodores (26-8) face a similar obstacle in Raleigh. Vanderbilt’s leading rebound, Hannah Tuomi (11.4 points per game, 5.9 rebounds per game) has been out with an ankle injury, and neither 6-foot-1 Christina Wirth (16.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg) nor 5-9 Jennifer Risper (9.2 ppg, 5.7 rpg) average more than six boards per game, which will put a premium on good shooting.
The No. 1-seeded Terrapins (30-4) need to avoid turnovers, but with Coleman, Liles and freshman Lynetta Kizer (7.4 rpg) down low, missing shots isn’t as big of a concern.
“As a team when we are dominating the boards,” said Coleman, “That’s when we are at our best.”
