Maryland women begin Final Four quest
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland Terrapins hope their road to the Final Four takes them across the country and back. The Terps' journey will begin on their home court against a local rival.
Maryland, the No. 1 seed in the Spokane Regional, opens tournament play against No. 16 Coppin State Sunday afternoon at Comcast Center. The two teams enter the game with a gulf in expectations that exceeds the 30 miles that separate their campuses.
Maryland (30-3), the 2006 national champion, hasn't been ranked outside the top five all season and has been waiting a year to erase the memory of its second-round tournament loss in 2007. Anything less than a Final Four appearance will be regarded as a disappointment by the Terrapins.
"This is what every team plays for, the NCAA tournament," Maryland guard Kristi Toliver said. "We are really excited, especially with how it ended last year. We are an elite team (and) we are extremely talented. Last year we weren't able to show people that."
Excited isn't a word that Coppin State coach Derek Brown (22-11) has uttered very often since the tournament bracket was announced.
The Eagles, making their third NCAA appearance in the last four years, face a daunting challenge against a Maryland team that is 19-0 at home this season.
"This is our third time being David against Goliath" in the tournament, Brown said. "We know we aren't going to be favored and the crowd is going to be against us. We are going to go out there and give it all we have as long as we can."
More bothersome to Brown is the experience he feels his team was denied when it was slated to play so close to home. Coppin State's campus is in Baltimore.
"I think it's just, spend as little as money as you can and get the lower seeds out of the way, and let's go on from there," Brown said.
The Terps, who are 11-0 all-time against Coppin State, have won 30 consecutive nonconference home games, a streak that dates back to a second-round loss to Ohio State in the 2005 NCAA tournament.
The Maryland-Coppin State winner will face the victor of No. 8 Nebraska (20-11) against No. 9 Xavier (24-8), the day's first game. The Cornhuskers and Musketeers both rely on strong interior play.
Nebraska, which enters having lost six of its last 11, is led by forwards Kelsey Griffin - a two-time, first team All-Big 12 selection - and Danielle Page, both of whom are 6-foot-2.
Xavier, the Atlantic 10 tournament champion, is one of the nation's emerging young teams, led by 6-foot-6 freshman Ta'Shia Phillips and 6-foot-5 sophomore Amber Harris.
"Their post players are much different and will present a difficult matchup," Nebraska coach Connie Yori said. "We're giving up a lot of size inside, in height and weight."
The evening session will be headlined by Duke (23-9), the No. 3 seed in the Oklahoma City Region, and No. 14 Murray State (24-7). The Blue Devils are public enemy No. 1 in College Park, but they are 6-1 all-time at Comcast Center.
"In terms of the location, I think it's nice because we have a lot of players from around here," Duke's Abby Waner said. "On the flip side, we aren't exactly Maryland's favorite team."
Murray State, led by the high-scoring duo of Amber Guffey and Ashley Hayes, the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year, is making its first tournament appearance.
The nightcap pits sixth-seeded Arizona State (21-10) against No. 11 Temple. The Sun Devils, hoping to replicate last year's Elite Eight run, are led by point guard Briann January, who led the Pac-10 in assist-to-turnover ratio and was the conference's defensive player of the year.
Temple received one of the tournament's final at-large bids and is making its fifth consecutive appearance. The Owls (21-12) played one of the nation's most difficult non-conference schedules, facing six ranked teams, so coach Dawn Staley's squad won't be daunted by the matchup.