Terrapins Overwhelm Commodores, Cardinal On Tap

By Kecia Bailey: SPM CA Writer
Posted Sunday, March 30, 2008

SPOKANE, Wash. - All of the talk in the media leading up to this regional semifinal between the #1 seed Maryland Terrapins and the #4 seed Vanderbilt Commodores only served to inspire the Terrapins. Questions about their defensive ability and tenacity were abundant as pundits pointed to this matchup as one that could end in an upset. Maryland’s players took that talk to heart and re-focused themselves, and the result was wire-to-wire win for the Terrapins 80-66.

“I just think listening to different people in the media, watching ESPN and us not being the talk of things [winning the championship] mainly because of our defense," junior forward Marissa Coleman said, "We just wanted to make a conscious effort to go out there and get stops. Whoever was in the game, we communicated well, and we executed our game plan and got stops after stops.”

Vanderbilt shot 36 percent from the floor and 4-11 from the perimeter. In the second half, the Terrapin defense tightened up and the Commodores shot only nine percent (1-11) after halftime.

The Maryland defense also paid particular attention to Vanderbilt’s leading scorer, junior forward Christina Wirth. She was held to five points in the first half.

Wirth said, “They were switching on their screens so I didn’t get very many open looks. The ones I did have I just didn’t knock down.”

As if the newly revived Maryland defensive intensity was not enough, on the offensive end Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year Crystal Langhorne was too much for Vanderbilt to handle. Maryland opened the game on an 11-2 run, which was fueled by eight points from Langhorne. At the end of the half she had scored 16 points, on 8-13 shooting and Maryland led 44-29.

“Getting 42 points inside in the paint was really something that hurt us. We gave Langhorne a really, really deep position inside,” Vanderbilt coach Melanie Balcomb said. “It’s really hard to stop because of that balance where they have a great guard, all their other guards can shoot it and spread the floor -- and then you've got Langhorne inside.”

Langhorne lead all scorers with 28 points and finished one rebound shy of a double-double. Coleman (19), freshman guard Marah Strickland (13) and senior forward Laura Harper (11) rounded out the Maryland double-figure scoring,

Junior guard Kristi Toliver ran an efficient game at the point for Maryland, delivering several nifty passes to end her night with a game-high eight assists. “I felt like Tom Brady,” Toliver said with a grin. “Everybody was just connecting -- we had great chemistry and everybody was executing offensively ... ”

“I thought she was a floor general for us, really set the tone,” Maryland coach Brenda Frese said of her point guard. “The amount of touches she was able to get inside for Crystal was really key in terms of our overall game.”

Vanderbilt was lead by Wirth’s 13 points, and she was joined by sophomore guards Jessica Mooney's 11 points off the bench and Merideth Marsh’s 10.

The Commodores finish their season 25-9.

The Terrapins improved to 33-3 and advance to Monday’s regional final. This is their first Elite Eight appearance since their title run in 2006. They will face the #2 seed Stanford Cardinal. The game will be televised by ESPN at 6:30pm PDT.