Maryland Women

The Maryland football program landed its third commitment of the 2014 recruiting class when Johnathan Thomas pledged to the Terps on Thursday. Thomas, a three-star running back from St. John's Prep in Danvers, Mass., picked Maryland over Arkansas, UConn and Boston College, among others. The Salem News spoke to Thomas about his choice . “I loved Maryland's location, and I definitely loved the coaching staff there,” said Thomas. “The environment, the campus, and being right outside Baltimore all seemed perfect.

For the second time this season, Stony Brook forced a Maryland women's lacrosse offense that loves to run and gun into a more deliberate attack. The strategy slowed the Terps , but it wasn't enough to beat them. After giving up an early goal and struggling to find the openings in the Seawolves' zone defense, the No. 1 Terps scored six straight times to spark an 11-3 victory in the second round of the NCAA tournament Sunday at Maryland's Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex. The Terps (20-0)

Katie Rutan, a 5-foot-8 shooting guard from Xavier, is transferring to Maryland, Terps coach Brenda Frese announced Thursday. Rutan played two seasons at Xavier, shooting nearly 40 percent from beyond the 3-point line. "Katie has a chance to bring something to our team that will fill a need — a pure shooter," Frese said. "She's the kind of player who loves to be in the gym getting shots up and always thinks she's going to make her next one. " She averaged nearly 8.0 points per game as a Musketeer and was an Atlantic-10 All-Rookie selection as a freshman.

The Maryland football program landed its third commitment of the 2014 recruiting class when Johnathan Thomas pledged to the Terps on Thursday. Thomas, a three-star running back from St. John's Prep in Danvers, Mass., picked Maryland over Arkansas, UConn and Boston College, among others. The Salem News spoke to Thomas about his choice . “I loved Maryland's location, and I definitely loved the coaching staff there,” said Thomas. “The environment, the campus, and being right outside Baltimore all seemed perfect.

The Maryland women rose to No. 1 in this week's Inside Lacrosse deBeer Media poll after their impressive 15-6 win over Duke on Sunday combined with previous No. 1 Northwestern stumbling 11-8 at North Carolina on Friday. This is the first No. 1 ranking for the Terps since May 2011, when they were the top seed going into the NCAA tournament. They fell to Northwestern, 8-7, in that title game after winning the program's 10th national championship in 2010. The Terps, who moved up from No. 2, are off to a 3-0 start with wins over two Top 5 teams - Duke, which was No. 4 last week, and Syracuse, which was No. 2 when Maryland beat them, 19-11, on Feb. 17. In a big shuffle at the top, undefeated Florida moved up to No. 2. North Carolina took the No. 3 spot with its upset of defending national champion Northwestern, while the Wildcats fell to No. 4. In addition to Maryland, Loyola, Johns Hopkins and Navy all moved up one spot.

There were many reasons Thursday night should have marked the end of the Maryland women's basketball team's program-record 42-game home winning streak. Maryland coach Brenda Frese's squad is young, turnover-prone and competing without its top player at full strength. That Minnesota was the foe visiting Comcast Center as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge only thickened the plot. Before Frese became an NCAA title-winning coach at Maryland, she had a one-year stay with the Golden Gophers, whom she directed to the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2002.

The 23rd-ranked Maryland women's basketball team rolled past Massachusetts, 82-50, on Saturday afternoon in its final game of the Pirate Invitational. The Terrapins (5-1) dominated the paint, outscoring the Minutewomen (0-5) inside, 48-8. Freshman Alyssa Thomas led all scorers with 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field for the Terps. She added seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Sophomore Tianna Hawkins scored 14, as she was 7-for-8 from the field. The Terrapins led 11-9 with 15 minutes remaining in the first half; 20 seconds later, junior Lynetta Kizer made a layup and was fouled on the play.

For many women's lacrosse teams, losing their leading scorer heading toward postseason play would be devastating. For No. 1 Maryland, playing without injured All-American Karri Ellen Johnson has altered the Terrapins' style a bit, but hasn't changed the results. Johnson suffered a concussion in the Towson game on March 29. Although she finished that game, she has been sidelined ever since. Still, the defending national champions have won four games without her, running their season record to 15-0 and their winning streak to 37 games.

Maryland is ranked No. 11 in the Associated Press preseason poll, released Saturday. The Terps have started the season ranked in each of the past seven years. Maryland will play eight games against preseason Top 25 teams, including four at home, starting with a 2 p.m. matchup Nov. 13 against No. 10 Georgetown. The Terrapins, who have four of their five starters back from last season's 24-8 team, are one of five Atlantic Coast Conference teams that are ranked. Miami begins the year at No. 7, Duke at No. 8, Florida State at No. 14 and North Carolina at No.20.

Since Coach Brenda Frese arrived nine years ago, Maryland has become the area's pre-eminent women's basketball team. One NCAA title, three appearances in the round of eight and a 16-5 record in the tournament validate that. Reminders of the 2006 national championship are ubiquitous at Comcast Center, from an oversized wall painting outside the team's locker room to the banner prominently displayed high above the stands. So are flags commemorating the school's many other titles and the luminaries who have played for one of the ACC's flagship programs.

One day after the Maryland women earned the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, the Terps made a clean sweep of the major Atlantic Coast Conference awards. Katie Schwarzmann and Iliana Sanza repeated as the Offensive Player of the Year and the Defensive Player of the Year, respectively. Taylor Cummings was the Freshman of the Year and Cathy Reese earned Coach of the Year honors for a record sixth time, when the ACC individual awards were announced Monday. All four are Baltimore-area natives and former All-Metro players.

The milestones keep clicking off for the Maryland women's lacrosse team. Unbeaten regular season? Done. Fifth consecutive ACC tournament championship and 10th overall? Done. A run at an 11th NCAA championship? Stay tuned. The No. 1-ranked Terps (19-0) maintained their ACC supremacy Sunday night, dispatching homestanding North Carolina 12-8 in a steady rain at Fetzer Field. Brooke Griffin (South River), Taylor Cummings (McDonogh) and Beth Glaros (Wilde Lake) each had a hat trick, and Katie Schwarzmann (Century)

April 12, 2001: Make it 32 consecutive wins for the Maryland women's lacrosse team, which defeats No. 5 Georgetown, 13-9. Jen Adams scores six times for the Terps , reigning national champions. April 12, 1988: After losing their first six games, the Orioles fire manager Cal Ripken Sr. and replace him with Frank Robinson who, as a player, had led them to two world championships. Nonetheless, the Birds drop 21 straight before finally winning one. April 8, 1985: In an Opening Day game delayed by snow flurries, the Orioles defeat the Texas Rangers, 4-2, on Eddie Murray's two-run home run in the eighth inning before a bundled crowd of 50,402 at Memorial Stadium.

- For most of Saturday's women's lacrosse showdown between No. 1 Maryland and No. 2 North Carolina, the Tar Heels managed to keep Maryland from generating their trademark run. In a game that was tied eight times, the Tar Heels slowed the pace early with their deliberate offense, but when the Terps get rolling, they can put up goals in hurry. A four-goal spurt early in the second half provided the momentum behind Maryland's 14-13 victory in the clash of Atlantic Coast Conference rivals.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - The fourth-seeded Maryland women's basketball team has relied on junior forward Alyssa Thomas for much of the season to overcome injuries and inexperience throughout the rest of the roster. In Saturday's NCAA tournament regional semifinals, No. 1 seed Connecticut's plan was to harass the two-time Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, and the seven-time national champions followed that blueprint with nary a flaw, sending waves of defenders at her. The first-team All-American rarely found room to operate, and while Maryland stayed within reach early, a depleted bench and Connecticut's depth conspired to bounce the Terps from the Bridgeport Region, 76-50, in front of an announced 8,594 at Webster Bank Arena.

The resume of the Maryland women's basketball team during 11 seasons under coach Brenda Frese includes one national championship, four appearances in the NCAA tournament's regional finals and five trips to the Sweet 16, including this weekend in the home state of its next opponent. Yet the fourth-seeded Terrapins (26-7) arrived here as a prohibitive underdog, attempting to advance to another regional final with a win in Saturday afternoon's game at Webster Bank Arena against No. 1 seed Connecticut (31-4)

Junior Sarah Parks (Ellicott City) scored the game-winner with eight seconds left in overtime as the No. 14 Dartmouth women's lacrosse team ended No. 1 Maryland's 28-game winning-streak and dropped the Terrapins from the ranks of the unbeaten Sunday. Dartmouth (11-3, 6-1 Ivy League) had no letdown from its leagiue-championship-clinching win over Harvard Friday night, withstanding two second-half deficits to hand Maryland (18-1), the defending national champion, its first loss in more than a year.

With No. 1 Maryland leading the charge into this weekend's NCAA Division I women's tournament, here's a look at some of the numbers that stand out from the Terrapins' spectacular tournament history. The Terps are tops in these categories: championships (10), consecutive championships (seven), title-game appearances (17), years invited (26), games played (59) and games won (43). In addition, 10 years after she graduated, Jen Adams , now Loyola's coach, still holds records for most points in a game (10)