After falling the year after a title, Maryland's back

Kristi Toliver and the Terps take on Nebraska next in the NCAA tourney. Manny Millan/SI

By Jessica Garrison, Special to SI.com

Perhaps we should consider this Maryland squad as something more than a team.

In the aftermath of the Terps' improbable run to a title in 2006, headlines writers exhausted their supply of team superlatives. This scrappy, young ACC team had barged into the championship through several nail biters with cheerful disregard for conference status quo -- what other explanation could there be, except the superiority of five very good players in sync at the right time?

But last year, whether they were out of sync or off their timing, the Terps were something different. They faltered in the second round, dashing their repeat title hopes early and forcing a little soul searching.

Then they found this year's Maryland team -- a scrappy, experienced and in-sync squad that looks like it could be reminiscent of the '06 team. So what's so different? This year, this Maryland team's a family.

The NCAA selection committee showed just how confident it is in the Terps family, awarding them the top seed in the Spokane region -- over a Stanford squad so miffed by a No. 2 seed that their reaction shown on the selection show on ESPN was just half-hearted applause. While many teams watched the selection show from their arena or player's lounge, the Terps took their matching warmups and headed to coach Brenda Frese's basement, allowing them to share their first top seed since 1989 with the youngest members of Maryland's family -- Frese's newborn twins.

"I come from a huge family," Frese said, making her way back to the locker room after her team rolled right over 16-seed Coppin State on Sunday. "There's five other sisters and brothers. That's the only way I know."

UConn has its super freshman Maya Moore, Tennessee has Candace Parker, Stanford has Candice Wiggins but you'd be hard pressed to find any team in this tournament that has been as successful as long together as the Terps. Their shared story has more than its fair share of color -- transfers, injuries, births -- but the core of the crew -- has been playing together for at least three years.

"They know what it takes to win a national championship," Frese said. "We have the experience factor."

This year, Crystal Langhorne became the first and only Maryland player (men's or women's) to best 2,000 career points and 1,000 rebounds. It's a testament to her consistent excellence that her 20 or more points a game led her squad to an average 82.5 scoring average.

Her consistency and leadership make Langhorne the family's obvious oldest sister -- the first star that Frese recruited, the one whose relatively successful freshman season now pales in comparison to the titles and tourney runs that followed.

Kristi Toliver is the tomboyish, tougher younger sister with an edge and a vicious will to beat an opponent one-on-one. Woe to anyone that tries to break up the Terps family -- they'll be watching a three sunk behind their heads.

Marissa Coleman can look like a Langhorne Jr. at times, powerful and forceful with great court vision, and growing more consistent every year. Laura Harper is the wacky, colorful sibling who can crack up the entire room and hold it down in the center.

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