Rulers of the Seas

It's not like they weren't tested; they were. But tonight, in their closest home game this season, the Terps managed to beat back the attack of the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks and surface as the winners of the 2009 Sea World Terrapin Classic, 67-61.

In the first half, some good perimeter shooting by Maryland, including a flurry of threes by Kim Rodgers and Lori Bjork, gave the Terps a 7-point lead at the break. In fact, Kim put up 9 points in the first five minutes, but unfortunately sustained an injury to her left hand and never returned to the game. In the second half, with their 3-point shooting going from hot to cold frozen (0-8), the Terps were forced to go inside more, taking advantage of their superior frontcourt presence of Lynetta Kizer, Diandra T, and Tianna Hawkins. T-Hawk once again led the team in rebounds (11), while Diandra and Netta put up double figures in points (14 and 10, respectively). Lori (thanks to blistering 1st half shooting) also finished in double figures (12) . . . all of her points coming from beyond the arc.

As the winners of the Sea World Classic, the Terps were awarded a BIG trophy, while Lynetta, quite deservedly, was named MVP of the Tourney. Netta had a double-double on Sunday and was two rebounds shy of another one tonight. We have little doubt that Netta would have had an even more impressive offensive performance tonight had she gotten more touches in the first half.

While there were moments tonight when the game was a little too close for comfort, the BasketCases must admit that, as fans, we found it way more fun to watch a game that was competitive (as long as the Terps won in the end, of course), and so we're grateful to the Seahawks for giving Maryland one of their few competitive home games of the season.

But the Seahawks not only gave the fans an exciting game, they went a step further -- they also made it the most visually interesting game so far. After seeing so many contests against red-clad and blue-clad opponents, it was thoroughly refreshing to see a team take the court dressed in seafoam green! In fact, the BasketCases are hard pressed to think of any other team we've seen, ever (college or pro), with seafoam green as their primary color. Cool.

As the runners-up of the Tourney, the Seahawks, unlike the Terps, did not get to take home the BIG trophy. But the BCs think they deserve something for their effort and especially for those creatively colorful uniforms. So the BasketCases have decided to declare UNC-Wilmington the winners of the first-ever Jacques Cousteau Award for best sea-themed uniforms in the Sea World Classic.

We know we should be thinking about Sunday's game (2 PM at Comcast) against St. Joseph's from the Atlantic-10 Conference. But truthfully, we loved the water-world theme of this year's holiday tourney so much that we can't help but wonder what the theme of the 2010 Terrapin Classic might be. We were thinking maybe Vegetables. Vegans are an under-represented demographic in sports fandom . . . there could be an opportunity here. Think about it. See you Sunday.

Photo Credits (excluding Neptune): DC BasketCases