It took a 2,500-mile trip across the country, but Maryland?s women?s basketball players finally feel at ease. The top-seededTerrapins arrived in Spokane, Wash., for their region semifinal tonight at 9 against fourth-seeded Vanderbilt no longer worrying about last year?s debacle in the NCAA Tournament when they were upset in the second round by Ole Miss.
“We’re at ease right now and ready to play anybody,” senior center Laura Harper said. “I feel good about going out west, getting into a comfort zone and hopefully winning two games.”
And for the Terrapins (32-3) it all starts against the Commodores (25-8) in a game in which the winner will advance to Monday?s night region final to face either Stanford (33-3) or Pittsburgh (24-10) for a spot in the Final Four in Tampa, Fla., on April 6.
A major reason Maryland advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since claiming its first national title in 2006 was the play of junior forward Marissa Coleman in the second half against Nebraska. She scored 15 of her 19 points in the final 20 minutes, becoming just the ninth Terrapin to score at least 1,500 points.
“In the first half, I wasn’t playing as well as I’d like to,” Coleman said “Coach [Brenda Frese] kept pulling me aside and motivating me. We wanted to get out of College Park. That’s all we’ve kept talking about. I was getting the ball in the right places and being aggressive. I definitely think my defense helped my offense.”
The Terrapins have proven they can win in College Park, as they tied the NCAA single-season record for home victories by going 21-0. Now, Maryland?s season will be defined by if it can maintain its success on the West Coast by persevering a three-hour time difference and a Commodores squad that has won 11 of its past 12 games.
Vanderbilt has been more impressive in the tournament than the Terrapins, as they cruised to a 66-46 victory over fifth-seeded West Virginia in a game in which it held the Mountaineers to just 17 points in the second half. The Commodores of the Southeastern Conference employ a relentless defense that has limited the opposition to just 55.9 points per game.
Offensively, the Commodores are led by junior forward Christina Wirth, who averages 13.1 points and 4.9 rebounds and senior center Liz Sherwood, who averages 11 points and 4.4 rebounds and game.
But the Terrapins, who averages 81.9 points per game ? second-most in Division I ? are unfazed. Maryland freshman guard Marah Strickland said playing in a close game like on Tuesday against Nebraska ? the game was tied with 14:55 remaining ? helped put the Terrapins in the right frame of mind heading to Spokane.
“We’ve won a lot of games easily,” she said. “But we’ve also played in anumber of close games, and it feel good to know we have the ability to grind out a win if we have to.”
