Associated Press
GREENSBORO, ó Using the tip in a pep talk by former Terrapins football star LaMont Jordan, Maryland’s players converged at midcourt before the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game Sunday and started to scuff the league logo.
“He said every time he went into New York he always went to the 50-yard line and marked his territory,” senior guard Kristi Toliver said. “So that’s what we were kind of doing in North Carolina.
After knocking off four-time defending champion North Carolina and rival Duke on consecutive days, Tobacco Road ó and the ACC ó belong to the fourth-ranked Terrapins.
Marisa Coleman had 28 points and 15 rebounds, Toliver added 24 points and Maryland captured its first ACC title in 20 years with a 92-89 overtime victory over No. 8 Duke on Sunday.
A day after ending the Tar Heels’ run of dominance, the Terrapins (28-4) likely locked up a No. 1 seed for the NCAA tournament by holding off the Blue Devils (26-5).
In that game, Toliver drilled a tying 3-pointer to force overtime in Maryland’s victory, and this time the top-seeded Terrapins recovered after the Blue Devils capped regulation with a 7-0 run, forcing OT on Chante Black’s tip-in with 1 second left.
“To beat two teams of that caliber in the state of North Carolina is huge for us,” Toliver said. “We’ll take that confidence into the NCAA without a doubt.”