And Then There Was One . . .

With their commanding, 90-71 win over the #21 Cornhuskers on the road in Lincoln, Nebraska tonight in the 6th annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge, Maryland emerged as the only team in either Conference to have gone undefeated in every Challenge game they've played. Six in a row! (Georgia Tech, undefeated in the previous five Challenges, lost to Purdue tonight, 73-85.)  Great job, Terps -- that's quite an accomplishment!

It was also great that the BCs were able to watch this exciting, high octane game (from our own comfy couch) thanks to the Big Ten Network (BTN). The Huskers "welcomed" the Terps to the B1G with a BIG, noisy crowd, who were treated to a close, competitive contest for most of the first half. But about sixteen minutes into the game, in that loud arena with rows and rows of red seats that reminded us of Comcast, the Terps shifted into another gear. In those final four minutes of the first period, Maryland turned a 1-point deficit into a 9-point half-time lead. In the second half, the Terps extended that lead early and never looked back.  Helloooo, B1G . . . Maryland is here!

Alyssa Thomas, in her best game of the season thus far, did just about everything on both ends of the floor, scoring a game-high 25 points to go along with 8 assists, 7 boards, and 6 steals. Tonight, Alyssa most certainly lived up to her pre-season All-American selection.  And, just like old times, Tianna Hawkins was right there with her, notching another double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds. T-Hawk is simply a beast under the boards.  WNBA scouts must be salivating.

Laurin Mincy was also having a fantastic game (16 points, including 4 of 4 threes) until she went down with an injury to her right knee early in the second half. Laurin did not return to action, a big hit for Maryland's already injury-depleted roster.  Things slipped from bad to worse when Chloe Pavlech, who was having a solid game in her second collegiate start, went down too, apparently from a cramp. She also did not return to the game.  She returned briefly, late in the game.* Fortunately, the Terps had enough firepower to keep things going and secure the win, even without those two critical backcourt players for most of the second half.  Obviously, we hope that Laurin is okay; she will surely be needed for Maryland's next game -- on Monday against some team up in Connecticut called the Huskies.

After the 8 Challenge games tonight, the ACC is leading, 5-3.  The Challenge will conclude tomorrow night with the remaining 4 games.  The future B1Gers -- women and men -- did their parts for the ACC; now it's up to other teams in the Conference to close out this year's Challenge.

Go ACC . . . Beat the B1G!

*thanks xwomynjoc for the correction!