RALEIGH, N.C. | Sooner or later, the Maryland women were going to face a test in the NCAA tournament. The top-seeded Terrapins routed Dartmouth and Utah in the first two rounds.
Saturday in the Raleigh Region semifinals, No. 4 seed Vanderbilt provided such a challenge to the Terps. And their answer was simple: Marissa Coleman.
Coleman set a single-game Maryland record with 42 points and added 15 rebounds as the Terps survived a scare from the Commodores, winning 78-74 to advance to the regional final. Her scoring output was the fifth-highest in NCAA women’s tournament history.
Maryland will face No. 3 seed Louisville on Monday for the chance to advance to the Final Four in St. Louis.
“It was a lot of fun to watch [Coleman] play today,” fellow senior Kristi Toliver said. “It was nice to be her teammate, to be a part of it. She put on a show, and I think she showed the country that she is one of the premier players and she has the ability to take over the game.”
The 6-foot-1 Coleman was locked in a battle with 5-9 Vanderbilt guard Jennifer Risper most of the afternoon. She made full use of her size advantage, doing most of her scoring inside 15 feet. Coleman finished 15-for-27 from the field and 10-for-11 from the free throw line; Risper fouled out with 9.6 seconds remaining.
“[Coleman] did a really good job using her body,” Vanderbilt coach Melanie Balcomb said. “With Risper getting into foul trouble, I kept telling her to stay in the game and not to be as aggressive because we needed her out on the floor. We had nobody else that could defend her but [Risper].”
Vanderbilt’s swarming defense caused problems early for the Terps, who had four turnovers in their first six possessions as the Commodores jumped out to a 12-2 lead. Toliver’s foul trouble added to Maryland’s problems. She picked up two early charging calls and headed to the bench with 13:41 left in the first half. Toliver didn’t get on the scoreboard until she hit a 3-pointer 16 minutes in the game.
Meanwhile, Vanderbilt’s lead ballooned to 18 before Coleman shouldered the load. She scored nine points during a 16-2 run to close the half, getting the Terps back in the game. But the Commodores maintained their lead throughout the second half. They had four players score in double figures, led by SEC tournament MVP Christina Wirth, who seemingly had an answer for every Maryland comeback attempt.
Until Coleman switched onto Wirth defensively in the game’s closing stretch, that is. Wirth, who finished with 28 points, had used her quickness against bigger Maryland defenders to get good looks.
“To be honest with you, I didn’t understand why they had [center Lynetta] Kizer on her,” Balcomb said. “Tina plays like a guard, and the fact that they had a slow post player on her to start the game was surprising to me. To put Coleman on Tina, a big guard who matched up with her, was a good adjustment.”
Toliver and forward Dee Liles executed a perfect pick-and-roll to give Maryland its first lead at 72-71 with 2:07 remaining. Two Wirth free throws tied the score at 74-74, but Coleman gave the Terps the lead with a jumper in the paint with 28 seconds to go. Wirth misfired on Vanderbilt’s next possession, and Coleman was there to grab the rebound and secure the win with a pair of free throws.
“I just didn’t want my career to end,” Coleman said. “I love playing with this team and I love wearing a Maryland uniform, so that’s what I told myself at every timeout. I was going to do everything I could to keep my career going.”
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