Small crowd greets Terps

For the Terrapin women's basketball team, there was no grand celebration on the steps of Comcast Center, no triumphant cheers.

After a loss in the elite eight to Stanford on Monday night, the Terps arrived in College Park to little fanfare less than a week after leaving for the regional game in Spokane, Wash.

"It just shows how hard it is to get to the final four," coach Brenda Frese said. "That our upperclassmen have done it once is something special."

The team bus pulled around to the back of Comcast Center. No more than 10 fans waited, friends of the team, comforting rather than cheering.

The players looked worn down as they exited the bus after the long trip home and the emotional highs and lows of the weekend, in which the No. 1-seeded Terps played two games in three days.

Even Kristi Toliver, coming off a career high 35-point performance against the Cardinals, only managed a few "thank yous" before joining her teammates in grabbing her bag and slipping into a car, making a quick and subdued exit.

Frese remained, thanking each of the few there to greet the team.

"The trip back was quiet," Frese said. "We had a tough night last night. It was our last opportunity to play with this team."

After beating out Stanford for the final No. 1 seed when the bracket was set, the Terps seemed well positioned for a run to the final four in Tampa, Fla. And with upperclassmen only two years removed from a national championship, the notion did not seem far-fetched.

But it was not to be, as the Terps fell one game short of Tamp.

"You always want to go as far as you can," Frese said. "With this class especially it's tough, because it was their last chance to win."

Though she and the team were disappointed, Frese kept her tone positive.

"We were one of the last eight teams standing," Frese said. "It's still a tremendous accomplishment."

She said she was proud of all this senior class, including forward starters Crystal Langhorne and Laura Harper, has done in their four years.

"I keep reminding them that only four teams in their careers got the chance to win the national championship," Frese said. "And we were one of them. I'm incredibly proud of all of them."

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