U-G-L-Y! WE AIN'T GOT NO ALIBI! It was ugly. Ugly!

No, today's game at Temple was not pretty, not by a long shot. In fact, for a few moments there in the second half, the BasketCases were worried that they were about to see the first Maryland loss since the finals of the ACC tournament. But the Terps emerged with a win, proving once again that they never, ever give up.

In the low scoring first half, Maryland pulled out to a 28-18 lead, only to see Temple close the gap to two points (30-28) at halftime. The Terps emerged from the locker room firing on all cylinders, quickly extending their lead to double digits. But the feisty Owls applied a pressure defense that clearly rattled the Terps, who committed 21 turnovers in the game. (Maybe they've had too many creampuff opponents of late?) An 18-1 run by Temple put the Owls up by 4 with fewer than 6 minutes left to play. However, in the words of Crystal Langhorne, the Terps "are very experienced and have an advantage down the stretch." They put that experience to good use, finally settling down and responding with a 13-point run of their own, winning by a score of 77-66.

Coach Frese used only 7 players today (Christie and Aurelie never got off the bench against the very quick Owl lineup). All 5 starters scored in double figures, and (ticket taker?) Marissa Coleman had another double-double (16 points and 10 rebounds). Philly-area "local Terps" Laura Harper and Crystal Langhorne scored 17 pts and 16 pts respectively in their "homecoming."

Despite all the double digit scoring, however, the BasketCases give today's MVP award to the UM Dept. of Transportation Services bus driver, who managed to maneuver a huge University bus onto and through one of the narrowest, one-way, parked-in streets you could find in any urban area in the United States. He also gets the award for the best one-liner of the day. When one of the Rebounders told the driver "I had my eyes closed when you were doing that," the driver replied, "So did I."

Photo Credit: DC BasketCases