Toliver impressing opponents

On a Terrapin women's basketball team full of stars, Kristi Toliver has shone brightest this season.

Toliver leads the No. 4 Terps in points, assists and steals, and while she was a solid player on a national level during her first two seasons with the Terps, the junior guard has taken her game to new heights this season.

Opposing coaches and players have taken notice.

"She's a scoring point guard that can distribute the basketball and also find her other teammates," Temple coach Dawn Staley said after the Terps' most recent win Sunday. "She's probably the best point guard, at this point, in the country."

While singling Toliver out as the best may seem like a pretty strong statement, compliments such as that are becoming the standard in opposing teams' postgame press conferences this season.

Staley, a five-time WNBA All-Star as a point guard for the Charlotte Sting and Houston Comets, was not the first person in the Comcast Center media room this season to sing Toliver's praises.

Current WNBA superstar Diana Taurasi said Toliver was the best college point guard in the nation after Toliver scored 18 points in an exhibition loss to Taurasi's USA Basketball national team in October.

Former Comets and current LSU coach Van Chancellor said Toliver's game reminds him of Taurasi's, and when he found out Toliver is a junior he said, "Oh lord. We're not scheduling them next year."

What's made Toliver so impressive this season is that she has grown into a more complete player, as a scorer, passer and defender.

She has shown the range and quickness to create her own shot and score when necessary and the court vision to find her open teammates from anywhere on the floor.

"I just think I've been in attack mode more so than I have been in the past," Toliver said.

While teammates Crystal Langhorne, Laura Harper and Marissa Coleman all played on national teams over the summer, Toliver spent a week working on her game at Point Guard College, an intense camp specifically for point guards held in her hometown of Harrisonburg, Va.

Toliver said the experience played a major role in rounding out her game.

"I just cleaned some things up in my game, as far as ballhandling and fundamentals, but also just thinking the game," Toliver said. "Understanding tempo, understanding how to get your players involved and getting them the best shot opportunities you can. I think I really embraced that and I think that's showing in my game now."

Toliver said she can tell opponents are now focusing their defenses on her more than they did in the past, but she doesn't mind.

With seasoned scorers like Langhorne, Harper and Coleman on the court with her, Toliver has plenty of options to choose from when she is pressured.

"In each game I can tell they're trying to deny me the ball and that's fine because we have so many other people - there's just so many threats," Toliver said. "It's making me better, and it's almost like it's a pleasure for [my teammates] to have me be one of the main focuses in [opponents'] game plans … because if they focus on me I can just easily distribute the basketball to somebody else and they can finish."

With Toliver leading the way, the Terps look like one of the teams to beat in their quest for a second national championship in three seasons.

At the very least, Toliver and the Terps will be giving opposing players and coaches some headaches between now and early April.

"We're a tough team to defend," Toliver said. "That's about it."

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