Happy Halloween! Can you believe it's been an entire year since the Terps treated their fans to that fun-filled exhibition against the soon-to-be Olympic Gold Medalists? What a special night!

No game today . . . so hopefully our guest analysts (Markus and Tyler) and Junior Terrapins everywhere will get to experience their first (or annual) foray into the world of trick or treating. (We're guessing the costume of choice this year will be Turtles.)

Meanwhile, for our Senior Terrapin fans (those too old to go door-to-door begging candy), the BasketCases have some Trick or Treats of another sort in store for you today:

Treat. Have you visited http://www.marylandwomensbasketball.com/ yet? This is a new state-of-the art internet offering that provides a closer -- and more personal -- look at Coach B's program. The new site is targeting recruits, but there's plenty of interest there for all Terps fans. Be sure to add this bookmark to your Favorites!

Treat. Speaking of recruits, Matt Bracken's Baltimore Sun Recruiting Report has interesting features on Maryland's two latest verbals: Essence Townsend and Alyssa Thomas. And, if you've been wondering what happened to recruit Jackie Nared, thanks to Matt, there's no need to wonder any longer!

Trick. We've heard a rumor that the mascot of a certain ACC blue team, Duke, has undergone an off-season makeover. Reportedly, the Blue Devil's face now has a meaner demeanor. That we believe. But we've also heard that they made his head smaller! Come on now . . . we've all met plenty of Dukies with swelled heads, haven't we? Have you ever known one of those swelled heads to actually shrink? No? Neither have we! That's why we're reserving judgment on this . . . we'll believe it when we see it!

Trick. Speaking of that very same blue team, from now on we may refer to them as TTTMNBN -- The Team That Must Not Be Named. Following their recent Blue/White Scrimmage, message boards have been buzzing with speculation. Apparently (after a few rousing choruses of Kumbaya, followed by a group hug) Coach McCallie and her staff decided that player names on jerseys would a Bad Bad Thing for team-building! They might encourage individuality! OMG! Bad Bad Bad! So, we hear, the names were Scheer(ed) off the uniforms this season down in Durham. Meaning there will be no Christmas this year! And with names now on the Wane(r), those fans who actually like to know who the players are without checking a roster will no longer be merry or Gay while trying to follow the action; instead it'll be a Black day for those fans from this day forward. But who cares about the fans! Let them turn the other Cheek! What matters is that TTTMNBN will all be united as one T-E-A-M, the Duke Blue Devils. And, if the coaching staff is right, then from now on when each Blue Devil player dons her jersey before a game, a karmic sense of oneness with all things Duke will permeate every fiber of her being as she contemplates the only name on her uniform: Duke! Gosh, the thought of it almost makes the BasketCases teary-eyed. (By the way, did you know that if you scramble the letters in Duke Blue Devils it spells out "Sulk believe dud"?)

Treat. The WNBA holds an annual photo-of-the-year contest. In the first round, fans vote for their favorite photo from each team, and then those Round 1 winning photos enter the bracket for the WNBA Photo of the Year. Well, check out the Round 1 results from the Sacramento Monarchs here. And the winner is . . . Rookie Enthusiam! Recognize anyone?

Treat. Right now one of those "enthusiastic rookies" is playing alongside her former Terps teammate, Shay Doron, in Turkey. And international basketball certainly agrees with Laura -- she's currently leading the Euroleague in rebounding! Meanwhile, another former teammate, Crystal Langhorne (who, in her Mystics Pass the Ball blog several weeks ago described herself as the "only black person in the country of Lithuania"), is also finding European play to her liking. She's averaging 20 ppg (4th best in the league!) and 12 rpg (2nd best behind Harp). And, even more astounding: Lang actually hit her first (that we know of) 3-pointer! Now that's what we call a real treat! Happy Halloween!

Reminder: The Terps open their exhibition season on Sunday at 2 PM vs DT III. While it's not exactly like opening against the USA National Team, it should still be F-U-N! See ya Sunday!