Terps Advance to Championship Game
I know women's basketball don't get no play up in hurr, but I'll take what I can get after the loss to Manhattan in the NIT.
Also, one of the most incredible sporting events I've ever seen was women's basketball. Louisiana Tech vs. the U.S. Team with Lisa Leslie (who dunked in the game), Sheryl Swoopes, Teresa Edwards, Venus Lacey and other big time basketball players in an exhibition game before the 1996 Olympics.
The U.S. team had been making the rounds against the big NCAA programs: Connecticut, Tennessee, Old Dominion, Purdue etc., and had blown out every opponent by at least 30, if I recall. As a matter of fact, here's a portion of a story about that year:
Averaging 96.4 points and limiting opponents to 50.2 points a game, the USA's average margin of victory was 46.2 points a game overall. The U.S. reached the century mark in scoring eight times and recorded tour highs of 118 points versus Ohio State, 59 rebounds against Southwest Missouri State and 29 assists versus Colorado. The USA's largest margin of victory was an 83-point, 107-24 win against Colorado. The U.S. team also outrebounded opponents at a rate of 43.8 rebounds to 31.6 rebounds a game and was outrebounded just twice, against Louisiana Tech and Texas Tech. Averaging 14.8 steals, 22.9 assists and 4.4 blocks per game, the National Team forced 26.6 opponent turnovers per outing.
Oh crap, I even found a
page with results from that NCAA Tour. Anyway, this US Team was a friggin' monster, and I'll be damned, but with less than 10 minutes left in the game, the Lady Techsters were actually
winning.
They didn't hold on, but the final score was 85-74. A regular college squad against a pro basketball/Olympic team, and they lost by just 11 points. I was in the sold out Thomas Assembly Center, and it was absolutely fucking amazing. It was definitely one of the best basketball games I've ever seen, period. It really sucks how the La. Tech team has really slid downhill, especially since Leon Barmore left.
So big ups to the Lady Terps, and I fully expect zero replies to this whole thread, but I'm okay with that.