Hey, Irish . . . You Looking for a Fight?

The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame sparred fairly evenly with the Terps for most of the first half of tonight's game, by playing practically turnover-free basketball. But a flurry of three-point punches by Maryland early in the second half put the game out of reach, as the #3 ranked Terps scored a knockout of the #23 ranked Irish in tonight's semi-final of the WNIT, 75-59.

The Terps put on a three-point shooting clinic en route to the win over Notre Dame, collectively nailing 12 from behind the arc and tying the school record for three-pointers in one game. Five of those threes were made by Kristi Toliver, who missed only two of her long ball attempts. It seemed that every time the shot clock ticked down into the single digits, the Terps simply left the ball in Kristi's hands and she cooly drained a 3. Amazing! KT finished the night with 25 points and 7 assists; not quite another double double but a remarkable performance nonetheless. Marissa Coleman scored on 4 of her 7 three-point attempts, while Laura Harper recorded another double double (17 points and 13 boards). Jade Perry, starting in place of still-injured Crystal Langhorne, had another strong performance -- her numbers may not show it (in part because she wasn't feeling a lot of love from tonight's crew of officials), but her contribution to the win was obvious to the fans in Comcast.

Tonight's win sends Maryland to the WNIT Championship game on Sunday against LSU. The Tigers of LSU are ranked #4 in the nation, just behind Maryland. They've been to the Final Four for four straight years. Their team is led by 6'6" Senior center Sylvia Fowles, one of the most dominating players in college ball, and is coached by Hall-of-Famer (and former coach of the Houston Comets) Van Chancellor.

As one Terps fan remarked to one of the BasketCases before leaving the arena, "Know anybody who wants Ravens tickets?" (On the 50-yard line no less!) She is not about to miss Maryland vs LSU . . . neither should you. This game is a Don't Miss! (Sunday, Comcast, 3 PM).