And the Beat Streak Goes On

The BasketCases confess we were feeling a little nervous about tonight's game between the Terps and the Boston College Eagles.

One of the BCs used to teach Algebra. So here's a little numerical problem to ponder: Let's say that your team (call it team A) lost to another team (call it team B) a week ago by 28 points. And then, that same team B (who beat your team A by 28) was itself beaten by another team (call it team C) three days later by 17 points. Now, if your team A (who lost to B by 28 points) plays team C (which beat team B by 17 points), which team is most likely to win? The answer should be obvious.

If you say team C will win . . . you're wrong and you get an "F"! The correct answer is team A (the team that was beaten a week ago by 28), of course. Why? Because Basketball does not = Algebra! Which, before the game, we knew rationally . . . but emotionally, we admit we were worried that the Terps' amazing home winning streak -- an incredible 47 games dating back more than 1,000 days to February 2007 -- might end tonight. But it didn't! The Terps (team A) apparently aren't very good at Algebra . . . they had other plans as they beat Boston College (team C) at Comcast tonight, 72-65.

Once again Maryland committed too many turnovers (19!), but the Terps compensated for those (mostly rookie) mistakes with a well-balanced offensive attack that saw four players end up in double figures. Diandra T led all scorers with 18, Lori Bjork put up 15 (including 4 of 6 from outside the arc), and Netta and T-Hawk finished with 12 each. Tianna also pulled down 11 boards, giving her another double-double.

The Terps also compensated for any miscues by shooting more than 57% from the field and 50% from 3-point land. Another key to this important win was the success the young Maryland team had in containing the Eagles' bigger (and far more experienced) frontcourt; holding 6'6" Carolyn Swords and 6'4" Stefanie Murphy to a meager 6 points each. And despite their height disadvantage, the Terps out-rebounded the Eagles, 38-27. Coaches are always saying that rebounding has a lot to do with effort, and the Terps got an "A+" for effort on their report card tonight.

Most of this evening's game could be described as a slugfest (7 ties & 12 lead changes). It wasn't until well into the second half that either team was able to stretch its lead beyond one or two possessions. Fortunately, the team that managed to pull away was Maryland . . . and "team A" never relinquished its late-game lead and notched its second-straight ACC victory of the season. They are now in a tie for 2nd place in the Conference. And, of course, let's not forget that this win means the amazing home win streak (now 48) goes on. La dee da dee dah . . .

* * * * * * *

A side note . . . There was another reason the BasketCases were worried about tonight's game. This afternoon, we read on ESPN sportswriter Mechelle Voepel's blog that she was planning to attend tonight's game IN PERSON. As noted in her post, Mechelle is an admitted jinx -- she writes about a team, and then they lose. So we were kind of hoping that perhaps Mechelle, being from Kansas, might get lost on her way to Comcast. She didn't. But fortunately, the only streak broken tonight was Mechelle's streak of jinxes!