Maryland women begin defense in Hartford

Ice and snow delayed by a day Maryland's arrival in Connecticut for the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. But a bracket that includes Tennessee, Oklahoma and Ohio State is expected to be a bigger obstacle as the Terps (27-5) try to repeat as national champions.

"We don't whine, we shine," said Maryland coach Brenda Frese. "We're all about not looking at the negative. We want to look at what the positives are, and if people deem this as the toughest bracket you've got to get through, more power to the team that is able to get through it."

A winter storm that dropped several inches of snow and ice on the Northeast forced Maryland to cancel its charter flight on Friday. So the Terps didn't arrive at the Hartford Civic Center until about 1 p.m. Saturday, some 26 hours before their first-round game against No. 15 Harvard.

"We are obviously ready to get on the floor, get through practice, get back into our routine, and prepare for a very difficult Harvard team," Frese said.

The Crimson (15-12) finished the season on a 12-game winning streak, and is a program with some NCAA tournament success. In 1998, Harvard pulled off the biggest upset ever, beating Stanford 71-67 as a No. 16 seed.

But barring a similar shocker, Maryland, which has won 30 consecutive non-conference games, will get the winner of Saturday's game between seventh-seed Ole Miss (21-10) and No. 10 TCU (21-10).

Both teams lost to Maryland earlier in the season. The Terps beat TCU 84-62 on Nov. 18 and routed Ole Miss 110-79 on Nov. 25.

"I look at it as like a revenge," said Ole Miss guard Ashley Awkward. "I look at it as we get another chance, another shot at defeating teams that have defeated us early on this year."

Connecticut, the No. 1 seed in the Fresno bracket, also opens its tournament at the Civic Center, one of the Huskies' two home courts.

UConn (29-3) would earn a trip to sunny California, and a possible date with Stanford if it can beat 16th-seed UMBC (16-16) and either No. 8 New Mexico, the Mountain West champions, or No. 9 Wisconsin-Green Bay.

The Huskies have not played since losing the Big East conference championship game to Rutgers, 55-47 on March 6.

"The loss just made us come more prepared and ready to play every day at practice," said guard Mel Thomas. "We have that fire to come back, and we want to show it when we go out there and play."

Thomas is one of five Huskies who average over 10 points per game. But there are no seniors on the team, and that means none of the Huskies have been to a Final Four. UConn won the last of its five national titles in 2004.

"Sometimes when you're young, you don't know what you are doing and you don't know enough to be nervous, and that's not a bad thing," said coach Geno Auriemma. "I don't think these guys feel that not having been there is something that will keep them from getting there."

Wisconsin-Green Bay (28-3) has three senior starters and comes into Hartford with a 25-game winning streak. New Mexico also starts three seniors. The Lobos (24-8) earned their sixth straight trip to the tournament with a 63-49 win over Brigham Young for the Mountain West championship.

"I think we are mirror images of each other," said Green Bay coach Kevin Borseth. "We like to think of ourselves as having the same caliber talent that New Mexico has. We like to think our players are well-coached, smart, play hard and play together.

New Mexico coach Don Flanagan is from East Hartford, and expected a lot of local support for his team.

"Even my brother, who graduated from UConn, I think he's going to cheer for us if we play UConn," Flanagan said.

Maryland (27-5) won the national championship as a No. 2 seed last season. And just like a year ago, the Terps are coming into this one off a loss to North Carolina in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. Frese called that "eerie."

"I'm hoping for some deja vu," said senior guard Shay Doran. "If this is lining up like last year, I'll take it, no problem." The Terps were not the only team with travel problems.

It took Harvard over four hours to take what is normally an hour-and-a-half bus ride to Hartford on Friday.

But, that was nothing compared to UMBC's 15-hour trip. The Retrievers, who won the America East tournament as a 7th-seed, were on the New Jersey Turnpike in middle of Friday's storm when their bus broke down. The team spent several hours at hot dog stand inside the Grover Cleveland rest stop, playing charades and a version of American Idol, and didn't get into their hotel until 3 a.m.

"It actually helped us, it was like forced team bonding," said senior forward Sharri Rohde. "I think we entertained a few people and ourselves."

Just over 6,000 tickets were purchased in advance for the four first-round games and Tuesday's two second-round games at the Civic Center, which can seat up to 14,836 for each game.