Terps respond to alarm

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Maybe it was the two-week layoff after the ACC tournament. Perhaps it was the physical play, or plain old overconfidence.

Whatever the reason, Maryland looked nothing like a top seed Sunday while struggling past Coppin State, 80-66, in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

Playing at home against the 16th-seeded team in the Spokane Regional, the Terrapins trailed 20-15 with nine minutes elapsed, led by only five points at halftime and by 45-41 with 17 minutes to go.

“We didn’t want this to be our last game. That’s all we kept saying,” Maryland’s Marissa Coleman said. “We knew if we let them be close toward the end, we would be in for a battle.”

The Terrapins used runs of 10-0 and 11-1 to pull away, but if this served as a wake-up call to Maryland, then the alarm clock was the size of Big Ben.

“They did a tremendous job in terms of their scouting. I thought they were very physical and very aggressive, and did a tremendous job for 40 minutes,” Terps coach Brenda Frese said. “They really made us work.”

Maryland’s performance was uninspired, unimpressive and hardly worthy of a team that spent the entire season ranked in the top five.

“In the first half they were definitely the aggressor,” guard Kristi Toliver said. “Credit to them for putting us out of our comfort zone.”

Crystal Langhorne had 25 points and 12 rebounds, Coleman scored 17 and Laura Harper had 14 for the Terrapins (31-3), who will face No. 8 seed Nebraska on Tuesday.

Rashida Suber scored 25 points and Shalamar Oakley had 20 for Coppin State, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champions. The Eagles are now 0-12 against in-state rival Maryland.