Monday, March 30, 2009

Lady Terps Aim For the Final Four

On the women's side of the NCAA Tournament, the 1-seed Lady Terps are one game away from the Final Four in the Raleigh Bracket. At 7:00 PM they will go against 3-seed Louisville for a trip to St. Louis.

Against 4-seed Vanderbilt, Maryland nearly blew it, going down 18 points early. But Marissa Coleman took over, scoring a clear career high 42 points and the Terps got the lead just in time, winning 78-74 over the Commodores. This was the second straight year the Lady Terps defeated Vanderbilt in the Sweet 16. Last year they lost to Stanford in the Spokane bracket, this time they face Louisville in the Raleigh.

Louisville has a very big weapon, their head coach Jeff Walz. Coach Walz was Maryland's primary assistant to Brenda Frese just two years ago and was a key recruiter of the 2006 National Championship team. Most of the current Maryland players that were recruited during Walz's time in College Park still talk to him and even attended a Louisville game this season. These players include Marissa Coleman and Kristi Toliver. Although Walz did not recruit a few of Maryland's key players, including the down low players Lynetta Kizer and Dee Liles, Coleman and Toliver are the main players on this team. It will be interesting to see if this relationship is a big factor.

The game tonight is at 7:00 PM. The winner goes to the Final Four, and the Terps are looking to defend their one seed.

(Photo credit: AP)

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