It?s only a game.
In most cases, that?s all college basketball is. But when sponsorships, attendance, TV exposure and the necessity to compete with the top teams in the country are added to the mix, college basketball is anything but a game.
The Maryland women?s team, which is in the final weeks of the regular season and getting ready to defend its national championship in postseason play, is finding that out this year. The Terps started the season with the bravado and swagger typical of a championship squad that returned virtually everyone from the prior year. They looked unbeatable during an 18-0 start, in which they won most games by at least 20 points.
Duke then brought Maryland back to earth Jan. 13 in a dominating 81-62 victory, gaining a measure of revenge after losing in last year?s national title game. North Carolina brought the Terps down further 15 days later with an 84-71 win at College Park. Then, unranked Georgia Tech added insult to injury by beating Maryland, 77-72, last Thursday.
“That Georgia Tech game was our breaking point,” Maryland sophomore forward Marissa Coleman said. “We put a lot of pressure on ourselves after last year, and there are so many additional outside pressures that made things even more difficult.”
To her credit, Maryland coach Brenda Frese has not panicked. She has kept her eyes on the bigger picture and understands that winning another national title is far more important than going undefeated.
“Winning last year was a blessing and a curse,” Frese said. “We placed high expectations on ourselves in a short amount of time. People need to realize how difficult the ACC is and how the third- through 12th-place teams are all trying to position themselves for the postseason.”
Despite the recent struggles, which led to Maryland falling from first to sixth in the national rankings, there aren?t too many teams that feel sorry for the Terps right now. After Thursday?s 78-59 win over Virginia Tech, Maryland is still 23-3 and in a great position to grab a No. 1 or 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. Gary Williams, no doubt, would love to be in that position right now.
Maryland?s players have also not let their recent losing skid get them down. While admitting the defeats hurt, they prefer to look at why they lost those games and how they can learn from the experiences.
“We realized after losing to Georgia Tech that we were not a very good basketball team at that time,” junior forward Crystal Langhorne said. “We had gotten too stressed out over playing a perfect game instead of trying to have fun.”
“We wanted to go undefeated this year, but that?s obviously not possible at this point,” Coleman said. “Then seeing where we fell in the rankings hurt because I know we?re a better team than that. Still, I?d rather lose three games now because we can learn something from each of them as we get ready for the tournament.”
Ron Snyder is a staff writer for the Examiner. He can be reached at [email protected].
