Utah women's basketball: Utes ousted from NCAA Tournament

By Tony Jones

College Park, Md. » To have any chance at advancing to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, the Utah women needed to contain Maryland's two-headed monster of Kristi Toliver and Marissa Coleman, one of the best duos in the country.

But, in losing to the Terrapins 71-56 in a Raleigh Region second-round matchup, the Utes could stop neither. Nor could they stop any of the other Maryland players from scoring in transition, from knocking down open jumpers, or from claiming seemingly every rebound available.

As a result, Utah played its last game of the season on Tuesday night, in front of a packed Comcast Center filled with Terp supporters. And with a Maryland team too big, too

strong and too athletic for the Utes to handle, the top-seeded Terrapins took control early and cruised to a win that was as easy as the final score suggested.

"The difference in the game was physicality," Utes coach Elaine Elliott said. "They were bigger than us and stronger than us. That was not going to change. We were not going to grow, so there wasn't much that was going to be done about that."

That physical difference showed in nearly every facet on Tuesday night. Much had been made of Utah being forced to play an opponent on its home floor for the second consecutive year in the NCAA Tournament. But, truthfully, this game could've been played anywhere in the country and the outcome would likely have been the same.

The most eye-popping statistic was the 54-24 advantage that the Terrapins held in the rebounding department. Then you had to factor in Coleman, who scored 18 points and grabbed 18 of those boards, and scored whenever she put her mind to it. Toliver, one of the best point guards in the country, was money from the perimeter, especially early on when the game was still close. Demauria Liles scored 12 points, but more importantly snared 17 rebounds, as she and Coleman combined to outboard Utah by themselves.

"It's a fun game when you're in command from start to finish," Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. "I just thought we were ready to play from the opening tip."

Utah actually had the most encouraging of starts in this one. The Utes played sound defensively for the first 10 minutes, limited the Terrapins to one shot per possession, and knocked down their open shots when the opportunities presented themselves. A bucket by Morgan Warburton gave Utah a 15-8 lead, and it appeared that the Utes would be able to stay competitive.

Then the bottom fell out.

Maryland began to force turnovers and get out on the break. That's when the run began. Up 32-28, Maryland scored the final 12 points of the first half. When it was over, Utah trailed 44-28, and the game was out of reach.

"I think Maryland started hitting their shots and we started to miss our shots," junior forward Kalee Whipple said. "That was the difference. It just kind of turned around right there. I felt we came out in the second half and fought pretty well."

In a season where the Utes made second-half rallies a virtual trademark, they closed to within 59-45 with 10 minutes remaining. But the Terrapins then went on a quick 5-0 run, widened the advantage to 64-45 and spent the final few minutes receiving standing ovations for Toliver and Coleman, who were playing their final home game at Comcast Center.

For her part, Warburton scored 17 points in her final game as a Ute, but shot 7-for-21 as Maryland's defense made getting an easy look at the basket almost impossible. Whipple scored a game-high 24, but Utah never could find a third scorer to take the pressure off.

Story Source: http://www.sltrib.com/ci_11988065