The Maryland women's hoops team reached the Sweet Sixteen in the 2009 NCAA Tournament and a date with Vanderbilt in Raleigh, North Carolina saturday afternoon. By way of their convincing 71-56 victory over the outmanned (or "outwomened") Utah Utes, the Terps are well on their way to a possible Final Four berth and a showdown meeting with the undefeated and #1 ranked Connecticut Huskies.

But first they will have to get out of their region, which still holds Vanderbilt, as well as #2 seeded Louisville and #3 seeded Baylor, both of whom face off with each other in the region's other semifinal. Once the terps take care of business in Raleigh, they'll head to St. Louis, home of this year's Final Four, and a possible date with Oklahoma. The Sooners, who feature the 6'4" Paris twins, Courtney and Ashley, represent a tall task for the Terps, but have already lost to Conncecticut earlier this season by almost 30 points. Many "experts" say that Maryland is the only team that has a chance to dethrone the Huskies on their way to another undefeated season.

The Terps seniors, Kristi Toliver and Marissa Coleman led the team once again, Toliver with 17 points and Coleman with 18 points and a career high 18 rebounds. The Terps consistently out-ran, out-hustled, out-jumped and obviously, out-scored the Utes from the middle of the first half on. This was the final game at the Comcast Center for Toliver and Coleman, whose jerseys now hang from the rafters up above.

I wanted to upload some photos I took from my seats in the second row courtside, but can seem to figure how to upload them. Sorry.