Terrapins

COLLEGE PARK -- When Dave Dickerson graduated from the University of Maryland in 1989, he put his class ring in a drawer and his Terrapins basketball uniform in the closet. He went to work as a college coach, hoping to improve on the experience he had here as a player during one of the most tumultuous and tragic periods in school history.The feeling of embarrassment that stayed with Dickerson in his stops at Gardner-Webb, James Madison and Radford has been replaced by a sense of pride. As as an assistant coach to Gary Williams, he has a perspective few hold in watching the No. 2 Terrapins ascend to their highest ranking in 22 years.

DEWEY BEACH, Del. -- Like many of us this time of year, diamondback terrapins have a one-track mind: Beat the traffic, get to the ocean, claim a spot in the sand. It's the-beating-the-traffic part that never seems to work out for the reptiles. Every year, dozens of terrapins die as they try to cross Route 1 going from their homes in the marshes of Rehoboth Bay to the high sand dunes along the Atlantic Ocean. Determined wildlife officials tried at first to stop them with fences. Now, they're trying to coax them to stay put by making their bayside digs more comfortable.

For 55 minutes Saturday, top-ranked Maryland and No. 5 North Carolina staged a heavyweight battle on the lacrosse field, time and again trading blows and forcing each other into a defensive posture. It was the other five minutes that made the biggest difference in host Maryland's 12-9 win. After not having led by more than a goal, the Terrapins opened the second half with consecutive scores by Sarah Mollison, Brandi Jones and Alex Aust, building their largest lead of the day before going on to clinch the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship.

GRASONVILLE -- The last time 8-year-old Angus Walbeck encountered a turtle like this one, he named him Oddball. Yesterday, as the governor, other politicians, scientists, teachers and pupils gathered along Prospect Bay to announce new turtle preservation efforts, the rising third-grader ran into what must have been Son of Oddball. The squirming diamondback terrapin set its cream and bluish-speckled legs to flailing furiously. But unlike a dozen or so of its cousins, who set out on a made-for-the-media dash to freedom, Son of Oddball refused to get with the program.

Sophomore Chrissy Fisher had 18 points and 13 rebounds, her first career double double, to lead the Maryland women to the Terrapin Classic title with a 97-65 victory over UMES yesterday at Comcast Center. UMES (2-2) trailed 19-17 midway through the first half, but the Terrapins (4-0) outscored the Hawks 34-11 in the final 11:08 of the half to take control. Maryland, which shot 54 percent for the game, hit the 90-point mark in back-to-back games for the first time since 1992. Freshmen Kalika France (17 points)

Kristi Toliver scored 12 points and Lynetta Kizer had 10 for Maryland, but the Terrapins were routed, 86-57, at Pittsburgh yesterday. Shavonte Zellous scored 20 of her 26 points in the second half to lead No. 24 Pittsburgh to the upset of No. 8 Maryland. "This is the biggest win in our program's history," Panthers coach Agnus Berenato told the crowd after the game. Maryland (7-2) committed 22 turnovers in losing for the first time since a season-opening defeat at Texas Christian. The Panthers handed Maryland its biggest loss since a 74-44 loss to Duke on March 6, 2005.

COLLEGE PARK -- The Maryland Terrapins couldn't stop admiring their new defense during spring and summer practices. "That defense is something else," marveled senior quarterback Chris Turner in July. "It's really something to behold." But something happened on the way to Maryland's becoming a defensive dynamo. Like a new computer with bugs in the hard drive, the system installed by new defensive coordinator Don Brown kept crashing at the most inopportune times. After three games, the Terrapins had surrendered 119 points - nearly 40 per contest.

FRISCO, Texas - This afternoon, the Maryland men's soccer team will face Atlantic Coast Conference rival North Carolina in the final of the Men's College Cup at Pizza Hut Park. Not only will the Terrapins (22-3-0) look to defeat the Tar Heels (15-7-1) for the third time this year, but they will also be seeking their first national title since 2005. "We are honored and delighted to have an opportunity to play [today]," Maryland coach Sasho Cirovski said. "It's a goal that we set at the beginning of the year, to have a chance to play on the biggest stage in college soccer.

Gary Williams had just graduated from the University of Maryland, having spent the year after his basketball career ended assisting with the freshman team and finishing up his credits. It was the summer of 1968, and Williams figured he was going to be drafted. "Not the NBA draft," the Terrapins coach recalled with a laugh, days before heading out for his second appearance in the NCAA's Final Four. Williams, then 23, went home to Collingswood, N.J., where he met up with a former high school teammate whose father had some advice.