During the Terrapin women’s basketball team’s final possession of the first half, with her team trailing by two points and in need of a spark, forward Marissa Coleman wouldn’t be denied.
After grabbing a missed layup by forward Drey Mingo, Coleman tried to muscle up a shot among a crowd of mostly taller North Carolina defenders. She missed but managed to get her own rebound.
The senior, who finished with 10 boards, missed again but fought for and won possession of the ball for a third time before finally drawing a foul. She hit two free throws to tie the game at 34 going into the locker room.
The 41-second sequence before halftime of the No. 12 Terps’ 77-71 win, in which the Terps totaled seven offensive rebounds, only yielded two points. But it represented a highly physical Terp presence in the paint and on the boards that led to a 51-38 rebounding advantage and the upset of the No. 2 Tar Heels.
“You saw the different runs,” coach Brenda Frese said. “When we were really successful was when we were dominating the glass. When we allowed them to get two, three, four opportunities on the glass, then they were having a lot of success.”
In past matchups with North Carolina, including last January’s 97-86 double overtime loss, Frese’s team allowed too many of those second-chance opportunities.
While key post players on both sides of last year’s matchup have gone on to professional careers, the Terps knew they couldn’t afford to allow the 26 offensive rebounds that doomed them in Chapel Hill, N.C., last year.
“The team knew it at halftime,” Frese said. “They went into the locker room knowing it was going to come down to rebounding.”
In the second half, the Terps (16-3, 4-1 ACC) allowed only four North Carolina second-chance points, as opposed to 11 in the first half, and took control of the game heading into the final minutes.
Forward Dee Liles grabbed seven offensive rebounds and 15 total. Center Lynetta Kizer had nine. But also critical in the team’s effort on the glass were five and four boards from guards Sa’de Wiley-Gatewood and Kristi Toliver, respectively.
What made the Terps’ board work even more impressive was that Tar Heel coach Sylvia Hatchell made rebounding the primary focus of her team coming into the game, as well. Hatchell said she started the five players who had performed the best at rebounding drills in practice throughout the week.
n YOW REMEMBERED
The college basketball world is still mourning the death of former N.C. State women’s coach Kay Yow, who died Saturday at the age of 66 after a long bout with breast cancer.
During Sunday night’s game, both Frese and Hatchell wore upside-down pink ribbons in memory of Yow, who won 737 games and the 1988 Olympic gold medal in her Hall of Fame career. The Tar Heels wore specially made pink uniforms originally to be worn for the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s Pink Zone campaign for breast cancer awareness later this season.
The Terps wore pink warm-up shirts before the game and on the bench. After the game, Frese remembered Yow, whose survivors include her sister Debbie Yow, this university’s athletic director.
“Personally, she’s mentored the young coaches coming into the league from day one,” Frese said. “She’s always embraced us, and it didn’t matter who you were with or who you were competing against. She always did a tremendous job embracing us. Our hearts go out to the entire Yow family.”
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