As Toliver grows, top-seeded Maryland puts last year's disappointment aside

3/28/2008 5:07 PM

By TIM BOOTH
AP Sports Writer

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - A year ago, Kristi Toliver wanted nothing to do with basketball.

Her Maryland team - defending national champs, no less - was already sitting at home, forced to watch the remainder of the NCAA tournament on television after a stunning second-round loss to Mississippi. Toliver was questioning her own value on the floor, being benched right before the NCAAs after 49 consecutive starts.

So for six weeks after the Terrapins lost, Toliver did nothing basketball related.

``I needed that break away from basketball just to regroup mentally,'' Toliver said. ``And I think things have worked out for the best.''

That time away rejuvenated Toliver and brought into focus her need to become a leader for Maryland. She's a big reason why the top-seeded Terrapins are back in the regional semifinals, facing No. 4-seed Vanderbilt in the Spokane Regional on Saturday night.

With teammate Crystal Langhorne dominating on the interior, Toliver developed into her outside complement, running the Terrapins potent attack with the guile and confidence she rarely showed last year as a sophomore.

``If you were to look at me last year and look at me this year it's almost a 180,'' Toliver said. ``I don't think my game was bad last year by any means, but I definitely think there were things I needed to work on. And a lot of the stuff was just leadership.''

Completely across the country, the Terrapins no longer feel the burden from playing a pair of close games on their home court in the first and second rounds.

Toliver had her typical line Tuesday night in the second round against Nebraska - 19 points, seven assists and six rebounds - in the 76-64 victory, advancing the Terrapins to the regional semifinals for just the second time since 1992. Those type of performances have become commonplace, as they were often during her sophomore year. But it's Toliver's willingness to become vocal that Maryland needed, no longer timid about directing teammates on the floor or speaking up.

Toliver rediscovered her confidence last offseason taking part in the Point Guard College summer camp. Her renewal didn't go unnoticed.

``She's more of a vocal leader. She talks more which we need from our point guard,'' Langhorne said. ``Just everything that she does, I think she's a smarter point guard.''

Toliver's responsibility Saturday will be pushing the tempo against a Vanderbilt team that successfully wore down Montana and West Virginia in the first two rounds with stifling defense.

The Commodores held Montana to 47 points in the first round, then limited No. 5-seed West Virginia to 46 points in a dominating 64-46 win in the second round. Vandy has won 12 of its last 14 games, and is doing it with little expectation.

``We're so young, people don't expect a lot from us,'' said junior Christina Wirth, part of a youthful Vanderbilt roster that features just one senior. ``We expect a lot from ourselves, but it's just a different feeling because we are so young.''

Similar to Maryland, last year was supposed to be the Commodores run deep into the tournament only to fall in a second-round stunner. Vandy was filled with a senior-laden roster that was part of coach Melanie Balcomb's first recruiting class when she arrived at the school.

Balcomb acknowledges an extra emphasis was placed on rewarding those seniors, who delivered a pair of SEC titles in their time at Vandy, but could never make it out of the regional semifinals. Like the Terrapins, the Commodores were a No. 2-seed a year ago that bowed out in the second round.

``What we had talked about when I recruited them was getting to a Final Four and winning a national championship,'' Balcomb said. ``It was really one of their goals and that's why they came to play for me at Vanderbilt.''

Despite their youth, the Commodores are playing their best late in the season. Since Jan. 1, the Commodores only loss have come to Tennessee (three times) and LSU (once). Otherwise, Vandy was perfect in SEC play.

Of course, when asked who Maryland reminder her of, Balcomb was quick to respond ``Tennessee.''

``I think that we're kind of on the verge and just, with the youth of this team, I'm just excited for what we're going to continue to do this year (and) what we're going to do next year,'' Wirth said. ``(Teams) are going to see that we're improving and they can't take us lightly.''