Worn down and out

I'm sure a bunch of you avid Terp fans heard that Maryland lost to No. 4 Rutgers on Monday. It was slightly discouraging, as the ladies gave up a 10-point halftime lead and shot an abysmal 5-for-23 in the second half. However, I wasn't that concerned because there are two teams I would not mind losing to in the regular season if we had to lose:

- Last year's championship squad from Tennessee, led by superduperstar, dunker and Shelden William's fiancee (ick), Candice Parker

- Last year's runner-up, Rutgers: The David to Imus's Goliath

But what did concern me was a close call last night to Middle Tennessee State.

The Terps needed an 11-0 run toward the end to hold back the Blue Raiders and win, 74-69. Yikes, close call. Part of it was our girl Kristi was sick with the flu, but she still played through. Truly Jordanesque. But besides Kristi, the team wasn't playing at their highest level. The top rebounding team in the country last year was outrebounded last night by a mid-major.

Anyway, what's stopped the run on opponents they had earlier this season? The schedule! Just check out what they've been saying:

"I thought we looked like we're pretty much on a WNBA whirlwind tour right now with the schedule that we're playing," said coach Brenda Frese.

"It was definitely challenging," Toliver said when asked if she felt tired during the [Pitt] game. "It definitely showed down the stretch; we look forward to a day off tomorrow."

A quick look at the Top 25 will show you that no one has played as many games as the Terps. In fact, most teams haven't played as many games as the Terps have won! They travelled to North Carolina and California before busing out to New Jersey the other night. They have the most hectic schedule in all of women's basketball, and they've already beaten four out of the five ranked teams they've played thus far.

Not too shabby. I'll spot them this loss. And even the MTS game.

They still have two more games left before next Monday against Northern Iowa and Temple. But after that, nothing for 11 straight days before heading down to James Madison. Yes, they're worn out, but I think they'll enjoy that vacation quite a bit.

Wait, atheletes have finals? Oh well...