Maryland's Lady Terps Advance to Elite Eight

If you live in Maryland, chances are you're a Terps Fan.  Moving to the area?  Buy yourself a red tee shirt so you can help fill the stands with red!

We've been Terps football fans and season ticket holders for a number of years, and this year the Lady Terps have really grown on us.

If you watched the Sports Highlights last night (Saturday), you may have seen a segment on NCAA Women's Basketball and the one-woman show of Marissa Coleman as she scored 42 points in the 78-74 victory over Vanderbilt in the Sweet Sixteen.  She willed and worked her team into the next round, where they will play #3 seed Louisville at 7 p.m. on Monday. (ESPN and ESPN2)

Most viewers were probably saying something to themselves like "Wow, impressive!"  On the other hand, I was kicking myself for never uploading the photos so I could finish the post I started last week after the first-round game at Comcast Center.  So now I'm going to actually post it, 'cause I had fun attending and fun bragging about our ACC Champs in the post.

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March 23, 2009

Watching Kristi Toliver shoot from anywhere and nail it...  dribble from one hand to the other seamlessly, or even behind her back... or pass (or receive a pass) in a direction she's not even looking is electrifying.  At one point in Sunday's first-round NCAA Tournament game against Dartmouth, she had personally scored the same 23 points that the entire opposing team had on the board.   With Kristi's shooting wizardry they were far enough ahead for Coach Brenda Frese to sit Kristi on the bench for the last 11+ minutes and give other players some tournament experience.

The other graduating senior on the team, Marissa Coleman, wasn't quite so "on fire" with her shooting this weekend, but no-one rebounds the way she does - and no one doubts her shooting game will be "back" for the next game.  Marissa seems to jump higher and with more authority than players other women on the court and she has the ability to pull that ball under her control in the midst of many other hands time after time.  During most games this season and throughout their parallel careers, she and Kristi have enjoyed a two-woman competition for the highest points scored in a game.  (Photo:  The Comcast Center jumbotron at the buzzer.  by Mwoda)

In their last home game of the regular season, on Senior Night at Comcast Center, this duo combined for 30 points before any other Lady Terp scored, and they ended up with a total of 59 points in the 86-74 victory over Boston College.  (Photo on the right was taken at Senior Night festivities after the game.  L to R:  Marissa, Coach Frese, Kristi.  The lighting just doesn't work when I take a picture of subjects on the floor with my point/shoot camera.)

Last August, when I didn't know what to get my husband for his birthday, I purchased season tickets for the Lady Terps.  The price was certainly right (I think they were a very affordable $65 for general admission tickets for the whole season).  It turned out to be a gift of my time throughout basketball season, as we put my business and other matters aside to attend nearly every home game.  Along the way, we had the opportunity to watch the Ladies win their first ACC Championship, and I can honestly say that we enjoyed every minute!  Of course, it didn't hurt that they won every game we saw.

In case you're not a big basketball fan, let me bring you up to date:  Maryland is the #1 seed in their region for the NCAA Championship and there's nothing that Terps fans would like more than to see Kristi and Marissa bookend their college careers with another National Championship as seniors, after winning one when they were freshmen on Kristi's buzzer-beater 3 pointer.

Tonight's second-round game at Comcast will be against Utah, who we saw play Villanova on Sunday.  If both teams play the same as they did over the weekend, I suspect the Lady Terps will be headed to Round 3 in Raleigh.

We're very fortunate that Crofton is located within a half hour of the University of Maryland.  Neither my husband nor I went to school there, but we still enjoy sporting events and other activities on campus.  If there's a college or university near you, check out what they have to offer.  You just may enjoy it as much as we do the games at Maryland!

Earlier post inspired by Marissa Coleman:  The Responsibility of Being Good

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Margaret Woda is a licensed Associate Broker sharing her professional real estate experience and expertise with buyers and sellers of homes in the Washington, D.C. - Baltimore - Annapolis area including Anne Arundel, Howard and Prince George's Counties, Maryland.  If you enjoyed reading this post, check out Focus On Crofton and Your Online Relocation Package for Anne Arundel County.