Dedicating one for the ladies...

One of Maryland's most dominant teams is always underappreciated.

Even by the writer of this column.

The Lady Terps defeated No. 6 Oklahoma tonight and sealed their status as title contenders once again. They effectively shut down the normally beastly Courtney Paris and played their best despite the obviously gimpy Crystal Langhorne. Four starters scored in double figures and Marissa Coleman, Kristi Toliver and Laura Harper all earned double-doubles. What a win. Even the mighty ESPN is paying tribute.

Toliver scored 16 and dished out 11, but one troubling statistic: 7 turnovers. Ball-handling is something to watch on this team, as Sa'de Wiley-Gatewood seems like she might not play many minutes this year and the only backup after her is a frosh. Otherwise, the Terps out-everythinged the No. 6 team in the country that suddenly looks very common after all.

Nice job ladies.

Other notes:

- The Maryland men also showed a lot of character tonight, beating down North Florida to where they belong, 79-50. Vasquez (that's "vas kez" for all those inept announcers out there who are unfamiliar with hispanic names) led with 18 points, 6 assists and 7 rebounds. Nice. Eric Hayes, Boom Osby and Adrian Bowie also scored in double digits and had nice overall stats. Even walk-on Jason McAlpin scored. Good to see Boom in the cornrows: He does it for big games. Reminder: they did it without two starters. I know Michael Wilbon isn't impressed yet, but we'll see what happens if we get to play UCLA.

- Also, I met Michael Wilbon.

- About the BC game: Yes, that was not the actual Terps. It was a team of superheroes dressed like college football players with Bill Walsh calling the offense. Honestly, that game was like a breath of fresh air to football fans that thought Maryland was dead in the water. And taught them a lesson. Even though I called out Matt Ryan several weeks ago, I did not expect such a dominant performance (up until about 7 minutes left). A while back, Chris "Sunshine" Turner told me he didn't eat breakfast. Well he's a liar: I know he ate his Wheaties on Saturday morning.

Oh yeah, Maryland! Good weekend!