No Experience Necessary

BOSTON One team had all the experience, and the other had none. All Maryland had going for it was a bunch of beautifully consciousless kids. "We're too young to know better," Kristi Toliver had said entering this national championship game, and she was right.

Too young to know that a freshman point guard isn't supposed to hit a brilliant step-back three-pointer with 6.1 seconds left to force overtime -- and do it against Duke's massive 6-foot-7 center Alison Bales. Too young to know that a 13-point second half deficit is too much to fight back from in a national title game. Too young to know that the Terrapins had no business upsetting the Blue Devils, a more accomplished and mature opponent that had been all but christened the national champions before the ball ever went up.

Maryland's title was a testament to the power of blank, optimistic youth. It was also a testament to the shimmering intensity of their pure freshmen, the point guard Toliver and forward Marissa Coleman. It was Toliver and Coleman who started the Terrapins' second-half charge, and it was Toliver and Coleman who simply wouldn't rest until they were holding a championship trophy after defeating Duke, 78-75, in what was only the second overtime ever in the women's NCAA final.

There were countless plays that made the difference, and contributions from all over the floor, with all five Maryland players scoring in double figures. But the single biggest difference-maker was undoubtedly Toliver, who found a way to knock down a shot when the Terrapins most needed one and finished with 16 points. With the Terrapins trailing 70-67 and just 15 seconds left, Toliver dribbled to her right, looking for a screen. Instead, Duke's center, Bales, loomed in front of her. Toliver hesitated, and then faded back and pulled the string on a perfect arc.

"In my opinion, big-time players want the ball in big-time situations," she said afterward. "So I wanted to take the shot . . . as soon as it left my hands, I knew it was going in."

Midway through the second half, Toliver and Coleman suddenly lost their minds. That's the only way to describe what happened. With 10 minutes 5 seconds to play, with the Terrapins down 51-43 and with hope fading after they had been outplayed all game by their bigger and more veteran opponents, Toliver suddenly juked and flung up a hasty three-pointer -- that went in. Next, it was Coleman, who suddenly pulled up and hit an off-balance, 10-foot leaner that fell gently through the net. That was the start of a stretch in which Maryland outscored Duke 15-7, with Toliver and Coleman combining for 11 of those points. When they were done, it was a brand new ballgame, and Duke never regained the momentum.

The Terrapins cut down to size a team that was vastly more experienced than they were. Nine of the 11 players on the Blue Devils' roster had played in a region final at least once, and four of them had appeared in a previous Final Four.

Senior Monique Currie played in the 2002 Final Four, watched another from the bench with a knee injury in 2003 and made the region final in last two years. Seniors Mistie Williams and Jessica Foley played in the 2003 Final Four as freshmen, as did junior Lindsey Harding. Junior Bales had also played on two region finalists prior to arriving in the championship game.

None of the Terrapins had ever been past the second round of the NCAAs -- one reason why they were only a No. 2 seed coming in. The team on the floor comprised two freshmen, two sophomores and one junior.

No prognosticators favored the Terrapins. But that fact only seemed to inflame them. Throughout the Final Four weekend, they dwelled on the perceived lack of respect. "They seem to have a chip on their shoulder while they have been here," Duke Coach Gail Goestenkors observed.

They brooded on perceived slights, and fixated on earning respect. They dwelled on the fact that no one believed a program that was a mediocre 10-18 three years ago could win a championship so quickly.

"Nobody in the country can say they've gone from a 10-18 team to three years later playing in the Final Four," guard Shay Doron said. "I love bursting people's expectations and proving them wrong and this team does it day in and day out, every single year I've been here."

At their first practice session at the TD Banknorth Garden, they gazed up to the rafters where a row of banners was hanging, representing the Final Four teams of the last few seasons. They discussed with each other the fact that at least one statistic was on their side: A No. 2 seed had won the tournament the past two years. Now it's three years in a row. But surely, no team has been a bigger dark horse than this one.

"Maryland is hot right now," Coleman said. "We're hot right now."