The No. 8 Maryland Terrapins trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half to the fifth-ranked Duke Blue Devils. But the Terps fought back to make it a 29-28 Duke lead at the half. In the second half, the Blue Devils led by as many as seven, but once again, the Terrapins fought. Tianna Hawkins scored a layup to give Maryland a 63-61 lead and Alyssa Thomas blocked Haley Peters’ three-point shot as time expired to give the Terps the victory.

Curtis Holmes won 19-of-20 face-offs with nine groundballs while also chipping in a goal to lead No. 8 Maryland by No. 19 Hartford in the Terps’ first game of the season, 12-6.

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Maryland thought they would have stability at the point guard position for the remainder of the season when Pe’Shon Howard returned to action after missing the first nine games of the season with a broken foot. However, this would not be the case, as Howard tore his ACL during practice a couple two weeks ago. With no true point guard on the roster behind Howard, the Terps had to hand over the reins at point guard to freshman Nick Faust.

With Howard in the lineup, Faust got to play his natural position on the wing and looked like he was starting to make positive strides. However, Faust has been thrust back to the point with Howard’s season-ending injury.

During the first nine games of the season, Faust didn’t look comfortable at the point, understandable considering he’s a young player being inserted into an unfamiliar role. That seemed to change Thursday, as Faust looked at ease recording 14 points, six assists and five steals in Maryland’s victory over Boston College.

“I think he’s a lot better today then when Pe’Shon got hurt the first time,” Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon said.  “I think he got a little dribble-happy in the second half, but Nick is going to do what I tell him to do which is nice.”

There will be a couple of dud games along the way, like Saturday’s performance against Virginia when Faust turned the ball over five times and had no assists.

Turgeon still sees Faust as a better option running the point, than fellow guard Terrell Stoglin, Maryland’s leading scorer.

“Nick is our point guard because if we put Terrell on the point, we might go 17 possessions where nobody else touches the ball,” Turgeon said. “At least when Nick is our point, we’ve got a chance of one other guy touching the ball.”

Faust is a young player on a young team and as they’ll grow simultaneously. With the season winding down and the Terps’ postseason hopes fading, Maryland fans hope that growth happens sooner rather than later.

Terrell Stoglin scored 16 of his 24 points in the first half while James Padgett added all 15 of his points in the second half as Maryland cruised by Boston College 81-65.

The University of Maryland Women’s Lacrosse Team made their presence known early in Thursday afternoon’s game against Delaware as senior Karri Ellen Johnson scored off of an assist by senior Kristy Black only a minute into the game. Freshman Kelly McPartland drilled a shot into the net less than a minute later, bringing the score to 2-0 Terps and achieving one of Maryland head coach Cathy Reese’s season goals.

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“I was really happy with the way that we played today,” said Reese.  “One of our goals when we got started was we wanted to step on the field and really take control of the game from the opening draw and I thought we did that.”

From there, the shots kept flying in. The Terrapins scored seven more times before allowing a Delaware goal, with goals from Johnson (2), senior Kristy Black, redshirt freshmen Brooke Griffin (2), and McPartland (2). The scoring streak secured hat tricks for Johnson and McPartland and raised the Terps’ lead to 9-0.

With 12:50 left in the first half, Delaware freshman Caitlin McCartney scored the team’s first goal and decreased the gap to 9-1 Terps. Within a minute, however, the Terrapins were back in the groove with a goal by sophomore Beth Glaros. Junior Alex Aust then scored three straight goals, notching her the game’s third hat trick and leading the Terrapins to a 13-1 dominating lead with 3:38 left in the half.

Griffin earned her own trick with a goal assisted by Black with just 44 seconds left in the half, raising the tally to four hat tricks and 14-1 Maryland at halftime.

“That’s what we want to see,” said Reese.  “Any time we step on the field, we’re going to put a team out there where anybody can score.  We’re totally confident in all of our players and everybody that’s on the field and what they can contribute.  I think you can see that we have a very balanced offense and as we continue through this year, that’s what we’re shooting for.”

The Blue Hens started the second half off strong, securing two goals within the first five minutes from sophomore Chelsea Fay and McCartney, respectively.  The Terrapins returned with six straight goals from Griffin (2), junior Katie Schwarzmann, Black, freshman Megan Douty, and Johnson. Johnson’s goal, her 188^th since arriving at Maryland, makes her the third-highest scoring player in Maryland women’s lacrosse history.

“I actually had no idea [I was in the running] until someone said something today at lunch,” said Johnson.  “I had no idea… but I’m honored.”

With two minutes left in the game, McCartney of Delaware secured a hat trick for her team and brought the score to 20-4 Terps.  One minute later, Maryland freshman Mattie Meredith drilled an unassisted shot into the cage, settling the final score at 21-4 in favor of the Terps.

The Terps outshot the Blue Hens 37-10 and controlled 20 draws to Delaware’s 11.  This win marks Reese’s 100^th win as a Maryland lacrosse coach.

“It’s just a number and I hope we’re able to keep going as we continue in the season,” said Reese.  “I’m just really proud to be a part of this program.  I’m proud of the girls that represent Maryland and I’m proud of what they do every day, stepping on the field and continuing our tradition.”

After leading for much of the game, the eighth-ranked Maryland Terrapins women’s basketball team fell to No. 6 Miami 76-74 in the final minutes on Sunday.

Despite attempting 11 more free throws than Miami and outrebounding them 41 to 31, the Terps committed 21 turnovers, 13 more than Miami.

Maryland also had the misfortune of trying to stop Miami point guard Stefanie Yderström, who scored 26 points and shot a perfect eight-for-eight from the free throw line. Yderström played great defense on Terps point guard Anjale Barrettas well, holding her to five assists and forcing her into four turnovers.

“Stephanie Yderström had an awesome performance today, an incredible focus, and her shots were as versatile and complex as they have been all year,” Miami head coach Katie Meier said. “I don’t think there is a scout on her anymore, she’s broken through the mold and become such a versatile scoring guard.”

“She is having a tremendous season,” said Terrapins head coach Brenda Frese  of Yderström. “She is a source of energy for them and she played a flawless game.”

The Terps led by as much as eight points in the second half, but could not put the relentless Hurricanes away.

“Late-game free throws, missed layups, turnovers, those are costly to put a team away in your building,” Frese said. “When you go into a game giving your everything and leaving it all out there, it definitely hurts,”

“But we’re just going to keep on rolling,”  said Maryland center Lynetta Kizer. ”You take these lessons, learn from them and move on.”

Sunday’s victory also completed the season sweep of Maryland for Miami, after winning the first meeting January 12 in Coral Gables.

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They were up 66-60 with just six minutes to play but in the end No. 8 Maryland just couldn’t quite hold off hard-charging Miami Sunday afternoon in College Park, as the Terps fell to the sixth-ranked Hurricanes 76-74.  The loss drops the Terps (21-4, 8-4 ACC) a full two games behind the Hurricanes (22-3, 11-1 ACC) in the race for second overall in the ACC standings.

The Terps were hoping to exact revenge against the Hurricanes Sunday after Miami handed Maryland its first loss of the season on January 12 by a score of 75-63. For most of the game it looked like the Terps might just get their wish. Backed by a crowd of over 11,000, Maryland had five players in double figures and seemed to be on its way to a win.

Miami was not to be silenced. Stefanie Yderstrom scored a career-high 26 points and Shenise Johnson added 20 more to rally the Hurricanes from a late second half deficit. Johnson hit a jumper at the 2:07 mark to put Miami up by one, then hit two foul shots in the final minute to stretch the lead. Three missed shots by Maryland in the final minute, including a potential game-tying 3-pointer by Laurin Mincy, helped seal the win for the Hurricanes.

Tianna Hawkins had 18 points and 10 rebounds to finish with her 10^th double-double of the season.  Lynetta Kizer added 16 points and 12 rebounds. Overall, the Terps out rebounded the Hurricanes 44-33 and outscored them 38-32 in the paint. But fundamental errors seemed to be Maryland’s biggest undoing Sunday.

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The Terps only shot 66.7% from the foul line, including a dismal 10-for-17 in the second half. They also lost big in the turnover battle, 21-9. Many of those turnovers were unforced as the Terps committed uncharacteristic mistakes.

Maryland head coach Brenda Frese said the good thing is that the team can work on fundamentals during practices.

“It allows us to focus more, obviously, on free throw shooting and finishing layups, all things we need to get done,” she said.

“Sometimes we had a lot of unforced turnovers; it was just us throwing it out of bounds,” said senior guard Anjale Barrett, who scored 12 points in the loss. ”That’s something we can work on. We still have the rest of this season to go. We’ll recover and after we watch film we’ll get better.”

Maryland will next play at Virginia (18-8, 6-6 ACC) on Thursday at 7 p.m.  Maryland previously defeated the Cavaliers 68-61 on Jan. 16 at the Comcast Center.

The Terrapins welcomed back Alyssa Thomas into the lineup from an injury and then returned to their winning ways, smashing Boston College 86-44 at Comcast Center.

The Maryland women’s basketball team took on ACC bottom-feeder Virginia Tech, but couldn’t beat the Hokies without their star forward Alyssa Thomas.

If you heard about a young basketball player who was seven-foot-one and had an above average jump shot, you would think we were talking about a superstar. Instead we are talking about Alex Len, a freshman from Ukraine who has an unconventional reason for his recent struggles.

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According to coach Mark Turgeon, Len was struggling with nerves and his confidence level. On Saturday we may have seen the breakout performance Len needed. Although his box score line was average, Len made a much bigger impact, even in a loss to North Carolina. The Terps were upended after leading the Tar Heels for most of the afternoon. The Tar Heels left Comcast Center with a 83-74 victory after a strong performance from future NBA draft pick Tyler Zeller.

Zeller had his way for some of the afternoon, but it seemed that when Len was guarding Zeller he was forced to alter shot after shot after shot. Len also had his way with Zeller on the offensive end of the court. Len had 12 points and nine rebounds and was a force offensively all day long. This performance was not necessarily about helping the Terps win on Saturday, but helping Len with the confidence issue he’s had this season. He has the physique and the talent to be an NBA draft pick once he can overcome his confidence issues.

As Jay-Z said “Everyday a star is born, clap for em”. There is no doubt Len has the talent to be a star, but he needs that confidence from his players, his coaches and his fans. He is the type of college player who needs that pat on the back. When he misses a shot, he needs Terrell Stoglin or Pe’shon Howard to tell him to keep shooting. He needs the fans to keep supporting him during games. The bottom line, is that we have a budding star here at Maryland, and as long as Alex Len continues to improve on and off the court, we’ll have a 7’1″ superstar here.