Today in Women's Basketball History: March 28
3/28/2020 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
(NCAA Regional Semifinal, Spokane)
- The top-seeded Terps beat fourth-seeded Duke, 65-55, and advanced to its second straight Elite Eight in a matchup in Spokane, Wash.
- Sophomore Shatori Walker-Kimbrough scored 18 of her 24 points in the second half, fifth-year senior Laurin Mincy scored all 15 of her points in the first half. Sophomore Brionna Jones scored 10 points with 10 boards.
- Mincy scored 12 of Maryland's first 24 points, all on 3-pointers, but she deferred to Walker-Kimbrough in the final 20 minutes as the sophomore got hot. Walker-Kimbrough made 8 of 11 shots in the second half.
- Duke cut Maryland's lead to 42-41 with 12:55 remaining. That's would be the closest Duke would get. Walker-Kimbrough hit a jumper in transition, Brene Moseley came off the bench to hit a 3 and Walker-Kimbrough knocked down her second 3 of the half to push the Maryland lead back to 50-41 with 10 minutes left.
- Quotable: "Yeah, I don't know what it is, but I think we just love being able to beat Duke in the NCAA Tournament," Brenda Frese said. "Just so many classic matchups, obviously, with both teams and really just I think we make each other better.
(NCAA Regional Semifinal, Raleigh)
- Senior Marissa Coleman scored a program-record 42 points to carry top-seeded Maryland into the Elite Eight with a 78-74 victory over Vanderbilt.
- Maryland used a late 15-3 run to erase an 11-point deficit and didn't lead until Demauria Liles hit a layup with 2:07 left. Coleman scored the go-ahead basket with 27.9 seconds left, as Maryland rallied from 18 down.
- Coleman finished 15-for-27 from the field, made 10-of-11 free throws, and grabbed 15 rebounds.
- Quotable: "I just didn't want my career to end," Coleman said. "I love playing with this team, and I love wearing a Maryland uniform. That's just what I told myself, that every time I walked onto the floor, I was going to defend, rebound, do whatever I needed to do to keep my career going."
The Coleman Show
Published: March 28, 2009
RALEIGH, N.C. - When the final buzzer sounded and top seed Maryland had finally put away fourth seed Vanderbilt, 78-74, in a heart-stopping NCAA Raleigh Regional semifinal Saturday afternoon, senior Marissa Coleman dropped to the RBC Center floor and squatted with her head down for a couple of seconds. The normally exuberant senior forward needed to catch her breath and rest for a moment.
"I was exhausted," she said. And with good reason: Coleman played all 40 minutes, scored 42 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and made countless clutch plays in a game in which Maryland trailed by 18 points and didn't take its first lead until 2:17 remained.
Fellow senior Kristi Toliver scored 17 points. She and Coleman, the only two holdovers from the 2006 NCAA championship team, combined for 37 of the Terrapins' 42 second-half points, with Coleman scoring the decisive final four points.
"What more can you say about Marissa? I mean, just her will to win," said coach Brenda Frese, whose team will be playing in its second straight regional final. "Both of these two, every game they just step up with that will, that heart, that determination. What a phenomenal performance by this team."
The Terrapins (31-4) will face third seed Louisville at 7 p.m. Monday in the Raleigh Regional final. The Cardinals (32-4) are coached by former Maryland assistant Jeff Walz.
Coleman, who made 15 of 27 shots from the field and 10 of 11 from the foul line in setting a program record for points in a game, is usually one of the most expressive players on the court. But she rarely smiled Saturday; instead, she gritted her teeth and kept her jaw set in a determined line.
"I think she had that kind of persona today because she understood that if we didn't pick it up, this could possibly have been her last game," said redshirt freshman Kim Rodgers, who had five points and 12 rebounds.
Vanderbilt (26-9) has two standout seniors of its own, forward Christina Wirth (28 points) and guard Jennifer Risper (13), and that pair helped the Southeastern Conference champion control most of the game. Wirth made five three-pointers, and Risper, the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, caused problems at times for Coleman and Toliver.
But ultimately the Commodores had no answer for Coleman. They built a 33-15 lead over the first 13 1/2 minutes, but Coleman scored 13 points in a 21-6 Maryland run that closed the half. After she pulled up for a long jumper to bring the Terrapins to within 39-36 shortly before the break, she ran down the court, shaking her head.
Maryland trailed 68-57 after freshman center Lynetta Kizer was assessed a technical foul and Merideth Marsh (12 points) made both free throws. Then Coleman took over; she drew the fourth foul on Risper and then backed her down to score inside. Toliver made a three-pointer from the right side, and Wirth countered with one from the left. Coleman scored seven straight points, attacking the basket each time, to cut the Commodores' lead to 71-69 with 3:44 to play.
Maryland took the lead, 72-71, and Wirth tied the score at 72 with a free throw. Toliver responded by knifing through the defense for a layup. Wirth again tied the score on free throws; Coleman scored on a soft pull-up jumper in the lane with 27.9 seconds left to give Maryland the lead for good.
"It probably started when Kristi and I were freshmen, all the close games we had, all the overtime games that kind of defined us there," Coleman said. "This team is never out of a game. It doesn't matter how many points we're down, we're going to fight. ... We're never going to fold, we're never going to give up."
| 42 | Points - School Record |
| 32 | Her Previous Career High |
| 23 | Points in the Second Half |
| 15-for-27 | Shooting from the Field |
| 10-for-11 | Shooting from the Free Throw Line |
| 15 | Rebounds |
| 18 | Terps' Biggest Deficit |
| 2:07 | Time left when Maryland took its first lead |
| 27.9 | Seconds left when Coleman hit winning basket |
