Terps bear down in win over UCLA

LOS ANGELES - Marissa Coleman had played in a game like this before.

After the Terrapin women's basketball team overcame a 16-point second-half deficit with less than seven minutes to go Sunday to beat UCLA 79-75, the junior forward said the win reminded her of a slightly bigger game the Terps had played two seasons ago.

"The national championship game," said Coleman. "It was very similar to that, being down by double digits with 10 minutes left to go. I think it just shows the character of this team this season."

Unlike in the 78-75 overtime win against Duke in April 2006 when the Terps trailed by 10 at halftime, the Terps were the favored veterans Sunday, while the Bruins were led by a core of gutsy underclassmen.

Featuring five freshmen who see significant minutes, the Bruins forced the Terps to commit a season-high 25 turnovers, and even with senior center Crystal Langhorne back after missing six of the Terps' first seven games with a sprained ankle, the Bruins took the Terps to their limit.

"It kind of reminded me of us, how fearless they are," Langhorne said. "That's how we were two years ago when we had a lot of sophomores and freshmen."

Langhorne, who said her ankle is improving but still not 100 percent, entered the game Sunday with 17:32 remaining in the first half and immediately made a difference in the Terps' early dominance, as the Terps went on a 9-0 run right after Langhorne checked in to take an early 14-4 lead.

Langhorne drew double and triple teams seemingly every time she touched the ball, opening things up offensively for the rest of the Terps, or simply taking on multiple defenders to score herself.

Defensively, Langhorne took a charge less than two minutes after she got into the game.

"It's just good to be back on the court," Langhorne said.

The Terps led 35-28 at halftime, but the Bruins turned things around and made a major charge that spanned nearly three quarters of the second half.

When freshman forward Nina Earl whipped a behind-the-back pass to junior center Chinyere Ibekwe, sister of the former Terp men's player Ekene, for a lay-up to give the Bruins a 50-46 lead with 12:52 remaining, Pauley Pavilion erupted, and it appeared for the first time the Terps might be in trouble.

"Our character definitely was tested, and our composure was tested," Terps' assistant coach Daron Park said.

The Bruins kept going after that, building their lead to 69-53 with 6:47 remaining as the Terps simply couldn't find a way to stop the Bruins, neither in their halfcourt offense nor in transition.

Offensively, the Terps looked disjointed during the Bruins' surge, unable to take many quality shots and committing 12 of their turnovers during the run.

But the Terps didn't panic.

"Every time we were in the huddle when they were going on their run we'd say, 'We got this,'" Coleman said. "As soon as you think you're defeated you're going to lose the game, so we just stayed positive."

Right when it may have seemed like the Bruins' lead was too big to overcome, the Terps snapped out of it and went on a furious 19-2 run.

When senior forward Laura Harper made a lay-up on a backdoor pass from Coleman with 2:20 remaining, the Terps had come all the way back and led 72-71 for the first time in nearly 12 minutes.

The Bruins momentarily regained the lead 73-72, but Toliver hit a three from the left of the top of the key with 1:07 remaining to give the Terps the lead for good.

"The way this team battled back and understood what needed to be done to get back in the game, and then what needed to be done to win the game, just says so much about the players we have," Park said.

The Terps also survived a major scare Friday night, holding off UC-Santa Barbara 75-71 after trailing by three in the second half to another underdog.

Head coach Brenda Frese did not make the cross-country trip with the Terps, as she is five months pregnant and was advised not to by her doctors.

She plans to travel to the Terps' next road game at Rutgers Dec. 3.

"I think she might be passed out somewhere right now if she was here," Coleman said jokingly after Sunday's win. "But I think she'd be proud of us, how we fought back and stood together as a team. I think she'd be proud of us right now."

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