Maryland Terps Loom For Lady Cards
By Sonja Sykes
You see the signs sometimes on the side of the road warning drivers about animal crossings. Tonight the University of Louisville women’s basketball team will be confronted by a major obstacle in the path to St. Louis: A mean bunch of Maryland Terrapins.
Witness Maryland’s ferocious comeback on the Vanderbilt Commodores over the weekend. Spotting Vanderbilt 17 points, Maryland slowly but sure overcame the deficit to get to where everybody knew they would be: the Elite Eight. Marissa Coleman and Kristi Tolliver scored 37 of Maryland’s 42 points in the second half to secure a 78-74 win. Coleman wound up with 42 points and 15 rebounds.
Pupil vs. Mentor
U of L coach Jeff Walz has commented numerous times about the skills he developed as an assistant coach to Brenda Frese at Maryland — the experience of winning a national title and the opportunity to become a top-notch recruiter. Walz goes against his mentor tonight and, despite knowing the Maryland offense and defense inside and out, he also knows that Maryland is the real deal.
Analysts believe Maryland may be only team capable of challenging UConn for the national championship. To do that, they’ll have to get by the most exciting player in women’s college basketball in Angel McCoughtry. They’ll have to find a way to do something only UConn has been able to do this season: Stop Angel.
A Chance To Make History
The Lady Cards won’t go down without a fight, if they do go down. The weaknesses of this Maryland team were exposed Saturday. Difficulty adjusting to multiple zone formats. Struggling when taken out of their fast break style and forced to play half court basketball. However, Maryland won’t be stymied by a ferocious Louisville defense. Maryland revealed a fierce intensity, with an ability to rally when cornered, hitting the tough shots and using their athleticism to wear out an opponent.
McCoughtry has been talking a lot lately about making history with this team. If the Lady Cards make the Final Four, she will have more than made good on her word.
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Angel Writing A Book — McCoughtry is writing a book, “The Angel Who Wanted To B-More,” according the a report in the Baltimore Sun:
She carries the book around on a flash drive, the file ready to be updated whenever inspiration strikes. McCoughtry says it’s almost finished, but even she isn’t quite sure how it’ll end. Ideally, she says, the happy ending writes itself, beginning with the Raleigh Regional final Monday night against top seed Maryland. The winner advances to the Final Four, which begins next weekend in St. Louis.
Beat Maryland, and Card Game will invest in the book.
WOOOOOO-HOOOOOO Congratulations to our Lady Cardinals !!! First Final Four in U of L Women’s history. Way to go CARDS. There weren’t many (except all of us and you and your coach)who thought you could do it….WOW! What a win. Wish our guys were going too but we are so glad that our Lady Cardinals made it to the Final Four….WOOOO-HOOOO!!!!!!! Go CARDS and keep on going. Angel, you rock and so does Bingham, Byrd and everyone. Way to go. ,o)