Strickland happily plays fifth fiddle on team of stars

Maryland’s Marah Strickland sometimes feels overlooked on the basketball court – and she doesn’t mind one bit.

The freshman guard is surrounded by All-ACC performers, but she provided a big lift in the first half, scoring 10 of her 13 points as Maryland opened up a comfortable lead and coasted to an 80-66 NCAA women’s tournament victory over Vanderbilt on Saturday night at the Spokane Arena.

The victory propelled top-seeded Maryland (33-3) into the Spokane Regional final against Stanford.

Strickland had scored just three points on 1-of-6 shooting in 53 minutes in Maryland’s first two NCAA wins. That all changed against the Commodores as Strickland made her first three shots, including a pair of 3-pointers.

Strickland scored 10 points in a 19-7 run that hiked Maryland’s lead to 34-16 with 4:41 remaining.

“She played great,” said junior Marissa Coleman, one of four Terps starters who played key roles when Maryland won the 2006 NCAA title. “She has been struggling in our last couple games and she came up big for us. She hit key 3s for us when they were going on their runs and a few of those were definitely demoralizing for them.”

Strickland said scoring opportunities open up for her because opponents typically focus on Coleman, senior forward Crystal Langhorne, senior forward Laura Harper and junior guard Kristi Toliver. Those four combine to average more than 64 points per game.

“My teammates helped me get involved,” said Strickland, who wore a bandage to cover up four stitches near her left eye after taking an elbow from the 6-foot-4 Harper at a recent practice. “They told me to stay focused, that the ball would find me on the rotation and to be ready to shoot and be ready to attack.”

Langhorne was the ACC player of the year. Harper, a senior, was the most outstanding player in the 2006 NCAA tournament. Coleman made second-team All-ACC and Toliver was a first-teamer.

“I have a team full of All-Americans that I’m playing with so whenever I step on the court, they have all these other aspects to focus on,” Strickland said. “Sometimes I slip into the corner and I’m open.”

Strickland made her third 3-pointer with 13:50 left, which answered a Vanderbilt basket by Jence Rhoads. Strickland also added two rebounds, two assists and two of Maryland’s seven steals.

“Our defensive intensity, focus and hustle got us going on the offensive end,” Strickland said. “We played very well together, team defense, and we had each other’s back on every play.”

Strickland believes the Terps are playing more relaxed and closer to their potential after some shaky moments in the first two rounds.