Women's Bball Falls to Duke

Unfortunately, it would seem like the third time was the charm for the Blue Devils.

The Maryland women lost 74-63 in the semi-final to a team that they defeated twice in the regular season. Duke is always a threat, and they'll face No. 1 seed North Carolina in the ACC finals.

The loss is disappointing, but not crippling. One thing it almost certainly assures is that Maryland, the No. 5-ranked team in the last AP poll, will be a No. 2 seed. A final showdown with North Carolina might've pushed them ahead of Rutgers for that last slot, but it was not to be.

People always say losses are good for teams because they can learn lessons from their defeat and further motivate themselves to be better. I think that's pretty cliché.

Losing is losing. Sometimes, after a loss, teams regroup and focus, but that doesn't mean it's good to lose. No ... because losing doesn't prove anything. Only winning proves to yourself and everyone else that you have the salt to hang with the big dogs. Regrouping and focusing on improving is a necessity to survive a big loss. I think you can see from the photos how distraught the team was - would you say to their faces that the loss was good for them?

So what went wrong against Duke? Turnovers. Maryland had 19 to Duke's 10. If Maryland has an Achilles' Heel, it's turnovers - it's been a terrible problem for the entire season. Duke ended up taking 64 shots to Maryland 49 attempts. Why? More opportunities caused by more possessions caused by turnovers.

The Lady Terps are going to get their tournament going in two weeks at home, a lucky turn for them. Until they get out on the court once more, they should focus on ball control, avoiding travels, and making good decisions. Their shooting and rebounding are solid facets of their game. But to take it to the next level and beat the powerhouses that will be waiting for them at the top, they'll have to aim for some mistake-free basketball.

Good luck and Go Terps!

Total Terp Breakdown

Ok people, the Terps actually caught their first real snag on Monday against the Hampton Pirates. They barely managed to escape with a 70-64 win.

How did this happen? Take a look at the stats.

- TURNOVERS: The Terps lost the turnover battle 22-15 last night. Greivis Vasquez, our top scorer with 21 points, was unfortunately the main culprit of the ball-handling bumbles with an ugly 8 turnovers. This problem was also present on Sunday night, as they gave up 20 turnovers, but it was overshadowed by the fact that North Florida gave up the same amount. Who gave up the rock the most? Greivis? Uh oh...

- BRICKS: When a team shoots 40%, that team usually loses the game. The Terps were aided by fact that they're bigger and Hampton could only shoot 41% around the long-armed Maryland defenders. They have several role players that should be shooting better: Supposed dead-eye marksman Eric Hayes (1-for-7) and Boom "The Postman" Osby (2-for-6, not to mention a Shaq-like 2-for-8 performance at the foul line). I hate to pick on this guy again (especially since he won the game) but a 6-for-15 performance from Greivis isn't going to help the team either.

- FOULS: If you look at the box score, you'll see that Landon Milbourne fouled out with 2:30 to go. He had this problem last year, I recall. As a result, Milbourne was only in the game for 20 minutes and Osby, who had 4 fouls in 28 minutes, was also close to fouling out at the end. James Gist had 3, but in general this can be a weak point for him. Against savvy bigs like Lorenzo Mata, Ben Costner, James Mays or Psycho T, he really has to be careful, especially because the team needs him to wipe the boards (12 rebounds in his first start).

- LOUSY FAN SUPPORT: Ok people, I have a horrible confession. After scanning the ticket for Monday night's game, I left almost immediately. I'M SORRY! I wanted to see the game, I really did! But I had to honor a commitment I had made previously and by the time I remembered the game, I couldn't cancel my ticket! I had no choice and I scanned and left, feeling very much like a rat scurrying away. So imagine the pangs of guilt I felt when I read Comcast was half-empty. Everyone, including myself, should go to the games to watch the games. Hampton is not even an awful team: They routinely earn an NCAA berth by winning the MEAC division. I promise that I will try harder if you will try harder. We can't have anymore games where the Terps are losing to a mid-major and no one is cheering them on. We have responsibilities too, boys and girls.

Go Terps!