"Fear the Turtle" no more. The new battle cry for the 2007 NCAA Tournament just may be "
Fear the Rebels." Entering the tournament as the lowest seed of the five SEC teams in this year‘s NCAAs, #7 Ole Miss took on the #2 seed in the Dayton region and defending National Champion Maryland on Tuesday night in Hartford, CT and put the fear into the Terrapins. It was a fright they never fully recovered from, and Ole Miss defeated Maryland 89-78.
With all five starters returning from last year’s championship team, and with the added depth of Tennessee transfer Sa’de Wiley-Gatewood, Maryland looked to be a serious threat to repeat their championship run. But Ole Miss had other ideas. Anyone who thought this game might be a repeat of the 31-point shellacking the Terps handed the Rebs back in November (a 110-79 win for Maryland in a tournament in the Bahamas) was sadly mistaken. This is a whole new Rebel team. Ole Miss coach Carol Ross said that early season loss was before her team had found its identity. I’d say they know exactly who they are now: a team on a mission to win a championship.
Ole Miss knows their strengths and they play to them, using a running/pressing/trapping style of defense that made Maryland look young and inexperienced. Ole Miss forced Maryland into 29 turnovers, scoring 42 points off those turnovers. Ole Miss had 15 steals for the game, despite being outrebounded 39-27. Ole Miss senior Ashley Awkward said, "It was all about our defense, all about trapping, all about stealing and about making plays." Ole Miss trailed 6-2 early, but then went on 18-0 run. They led by as many as 23 in the first half, and were up 47-30 at the half. Maryland proved to be a worthy opponent, cutting the lead to 79-72, but that was as close as the Terrapins ever came.
