COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The No. 1 seeded Maryland Terrapin women's basketball team advanced to the "Sweet 16" this evening with a win over the No. 8 seed Nebraska Huskers.  Nebraska, who won a solid victory over Xavier on Sunday, could not contain the Langhorne, Toliver, Coleman connection as the 3 combined for nearly 56 points during tonight's 76-64 win over the Huskers. "I'm just so proud of them to be able to go and be undefeated at home and display the toughness that they displayed tonight against a very tough Nebraska team." said Maryland Head Coach Brenda Frese.

Maryland took the hill first with an 8-2 opening drive that featured free throws by Kristi Toliver, a fast break layup by Marah Strickland, and a jumpshot by Marissa Coleman.  Nebraska countered with a bucket by Kelsey Griffin and Cory Montgomery, who led the Huskers in scores on Sunday evening in their matchup against Xavier to make it an 8-7 Maryland lead.

The Terps stretched it out to a 19-14 lead but with 8:42 a questionable call made by the referees drew protest from the Terrapin bench and resulted in a technical foul.  With the red lines illuminating the backboard signifying the delay of game a Nebraska player let fly a diving shot.  The referees failed to signal the deadball whistle and even though the Terrapins captured the rebound the bench rose in protest.  Referee Mary Day promptly signaled the technical foul and put Nebraska's Kaitlyn Burke on the line.  She finished 1 of her 2 shots.

The Terrapin squad responded to the technical foul with a 13-2 run over the following 3:30 that gave them a 13 point 32-19 lead with 4:45 remaining.  Inspired by screams of encouragement from Head Coach Brenda Frese after the technical the Terps showed why they took the No. 1 seed in the brackedt.  However, as the first half began to sunset the Huskers regained their strength and capitalized off the sloppy play the Terrapins slipped into after their 13-2 run.  In the closing 4:45 of the first half the Terrapin lead melted to a 1 point game as all 5 starters missed shots and Kristi Toliver and Crystal Langhorne both committed turnovers.

Nebraska capitalized on the 4:45 Maryland scoring drought with up-tempo offense that caught the Terps off guard.  As the closing seconds drew off the clock the Huskers had a chance to head into the locker room up by a digit but a block by senior Jade Perry with 0:03 left denied them the pleasure, and Nebraska headed off down 34-33.

Maryland's shooting in the first half was lousy (33.3%), but all players scored in the opening 20 minutes.  Jade Perry was flawless from the field as she scored 8 points (4-4).  Senior Crystal Langhorne and Junior Kristi Toliver were a perfect 4-4 each from the foul line, and shots by Laura Harper and Marissa Coleman gave the Terps a 13-14 free throw tally (92.9%).

The Terps leaned heavily on the Nebraska starting 5, forcing 9 turnovers in the opening frame.  To that the Terps added 4 steals.

Both Nebraska and Maryland came into the second looking to establish their tempo of play, and both teams were successful at putting points on the board.  When it appeared as though the Terps gained some steam at 41-35 the Huskers responded with a 3 pointer by Yvonne Turner and followed it up with a jumper by Kelley Nu to make it a 1 point game.

Both teams battled to the 45-45 knot until Maryland blew the lid off Comcast Center with a quick run.  With 14:38 remaining Coleman found her mark and laid down a long 3.  Kelley Nu then missed a 3 pointer on the opposite end and Coleman came up with the defensive rebound.  She took it coast to coast before drilling a long 2 to give the Terps a 5 point lead.  Cory Montgomery then missed a jumper on the Huskers side that fell into the arms of Crystal Langhorne who dribbled it up and found Kristi Toliver on the wing for 3.  In 1:21 the Terps ushered in a commanding 53-45 and Nebraska Head Coach Connie Yori decided it was time to talk things over.

From there onward the Terps maintained a confident lead as the shots seemed to fall from all over the court.  Maryland was also solid in their defense, shutting down jumpers with blocks on numerous occasions. 

Marissa Coleman finished with 19 points, while Crystal Langhorne tallied 18 points of her own.  Kristi Toliver, after a good start with 8 points in the first half, finished with 19 points.

Crystal Langhorne summarized the Terrapin euphoria that emerged after the game by saying "We're just thrilled to get out of College Park."