2008 Woodie Awards
'Phase three' begins with Wolfpack
Greg Schimmel
Issue date: 2/29/08 Section: Sports
The Terrapin women's basketball team is officially entering "phase three."
In preparing for their regular season finale Sunday at N.C. State (17-10, 5-7 ACC), the No. 5 Terps (28-2, 12-1) are trying to make sure they are on top of their game as they head into the postseason.
"Phase one was the beginning of the season, our nonconference [schedule]," junior guard Kristi Toliver explained. "Second was ACC play, and now it's tournament time, and this game we're considering tournament time."
The Terps are locked into being the No. 2 seed in the ACC tournament, scheduled to begin on Thursday, but a win Sunday and a loss by No. 1 North Carolina against Duke would give the Terps a share of the regular-season conference title.
The Tar Heels would still have the seeding tiebreaker for the tournament because they beat the Terps in the teams' only head-to-head meeting, on Jan. 26.
"There's still a reason to play this game," said assistant coach Daron Park, who will continue to fill in for head coach Brenda Frese this weekend. "We still have a chance to win a conference championship."
But perhaps more importantly, Sunday will be the Terps' last chance to work out any remaining issues they still have before starting postseason play.
The Terps have won 18 of their last 19 games, but have faced some close calls in recent weeks - playing four overtime games, including the loss to North Carolina - and have struggled to limit turnovers in some games.
"I think we're going to begin to peak at the right time," Toliver said. "We're still focusing on specific things to help us down the stretch, but I think we're in pretty good shape right now."
The Terps took the day off from practice yesterday, and planned to begin practicing their gameplan for the Wolfpack today.
The Terps have beaten the Wolfpack in the teams' last three matchups.
"They're very set-oriented, so the more prepared we are with knowing their sets, then the better we are against them," Toliver said.
The Wolfpack are stuck in the middle of the pack in the ACC after beginning the season with some high expectations and a national ranking in the ESPN/USA Today poll.
Senior forward Khadijah Whittington, a preseason All-ACC selection, leads NC State with averages of 17.0 points and 11.1 rebounds per game.
"She's a really good low-post player. She can shoot the 15-foot shot," Toliver said. "She's just extremely physical and strong, so we know that she's going to be a huge factor for them and a big presence."
And so begins phase three.
"We're going to prepare to win this game and we're going to go out and battle and play hard and compete just like we've done for 30 games this year," Park said. "Hopefully then we'll have a chance to win it at the end, and then we'll take that momentum into next week."
schimmeldbk@gmail.com
In preparing for their regular season finale Sunday at N.C. State (17-10, 5-7 ACC), the No. 5 Terps (28-2, 12-1) are trying to make sure they are on top of their game as they head into the postseason.
"Phase one was the beginning of the season, our nonconference [schedule]," junior guard Kristi Toliver explained. "Second was ACC play, and now it's tournament time, and this game we're considering tournament time."
The Terps are locked into being the No. 2 seed in the ACC tournament, scheduled to begin on Thursday, but a win Sunday and a loss by No. 1 North Carolina against Duke would give the Terps a share of the regular-season conference title.
The Tar Heels would still have the seeding tiebreaker for the tournament because they beat the Terps in the teams' only head-to-head meeting, on Jan. 26.
"There's still a reason to play this game," said assistant coach Daron Park, who will continue to fill in for head coach Brenda Frese this weekend. "We still have a chance to win a conference championship."
But perhaps more importantly, Sunday will be the Terps' last chance to work out any remaining issues they still have before starting postseason play.
The Terps have won 18 of their last 19 games, but have faced some close calls in recent weeks - playing four overtime games, including the loss to North Carolina - and have struggled to limit turnovers in some games.
"I think we're going to begin to peak at the right time," Toliver said. "We're still focusing on specific things to help us down the stretch, but I think we're in pretty good shape right now."
The Terps took the day off from practice yesterday, and planned to begin practicing their gameplan for the Wolfpack today.
The Terps have beaten the Wolfpack in the teams' last three matchups.
"They're very set-oriented, so the more prepared we are with knowing their sets, then the better we are against them," Toliver said.
The Wolfpack are stuck in the middle of the pack in the ACC after beginning the season with some high expectations and a national ranking in the ESPN/USA Today poll.
Senior forward Khadijah Whittington, a preseason All-ACC selection, leads NC State with averages of 17.0 points and 11.1 rebounds per game.
"She's a really good low-post player. She can shoot the 15-foot shot," Toliver said. "She's just extremely physical and strong, so we know that she's going to be a huge factor for them and a big presence."
And so begins phase three.
"We're going to prepare to win this game and we're going to go out and battle and play hard and compete just like we've done for 30 games this year," Park said. "Hopefully then we'll have a chance to win it at the end, and then we'll take that momentum into next week."
schimmeldbk@gmail.com
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