It?s not often a team goes 30-3 during the regular season and enters the NCAA Tournament with a lot to prove.
But that?s exactly how Maryland?s women?s basketball players feel as they prepare to host a first-round game at Comcast Center on Sunday.
The Terrapins are the top seed in the Spokane Region and will face 16th-seeded Coppin State (22-11), which won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
If Maryland wins, it plays either eighth-seeded Nebraska (20-11) or ninth-seeded Xavier (24-8) on March 25 at Comcast Center for a berth in the Sweet 16.
Maryland is just two years removed from winning the national championship, but was upset in the second round by Mississippi in last year?s NCAA Tournament.
This season, Maryland is one of just five teams to have won 30 games, joining Connecticut (32-1), Tennessee (30-2), North Carolina (30-2) and Stanford (30-3). But Maryland is coming off a disappointing loss to Duke ? a team it beat twice in the regular season ? in the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. Maryland entered the ACC Tournament hoping to bring home its first title since 1989.
Still, Maryland feels it?s prepared for the postseason. The Terrapins went 8-3 against teams currently ranked in the top 25 and 12-3 against teams in the top 50 of the latest Ratings Percentage Index, including non-conference wins against LSU (seventh), Oklahoma (13th), Notre Dame (14th), Ohio State (34th) and James Madison (47th).
“This is the best part of the season,” Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. “Right now, the practices are easier because the players know what?s expected of them and what to expect in the tournament.”
Maryland senior forward Crystal Langhorne said she is going into this NCAA Tournament with a more aggressive mindset because she is determined to make sure her career doesn?t end negatively.
“This tournament is very different from last year?s,” Langhorne said. “Last year, we thought it was our year and it didn?t work out. Now, the seniors on this team understand this is our last go-around and we?re focused on the job.”
Maryland junior point guard Kristi Toliver said the Terrapins are playing with a sense of urgency and want to prove their doubters wrong.
“We can?t save anything for later,” Toliver said. “Right now, we know that every game we play will be one and done for the loser. We don?t want to feel that same feeling from last year ever again.”
