Raleigh, N.C.- It’s 27-15 Vanderbilt with 7:43 remaining in the first half. There’s no other way to describe this than completely shocking.

The Terps are getting outhustled, outworked and even outmuscled by the much smaller Commodores. Kristi Toliver and Dee Liles each have two fouls and nobody outside of forward Marissa Coleman is hitting any jump shots. Center Lynetta Kizer is struggling on both ends against the smaller, but quicker Vanderbilt lineup.

Vandy guard Jennifer Risper is a tremendous player. At 5-foot-9 one would think she would have her hands full with Coleman. But the SEC Defensive Player of the Year seemingly gets her hands on every loose ball and has caused numerous deflections.

This game could get out of control quickly if Toliver can’t provide some outside shooting soon.

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Noon start against No. 1 Virginia. It’s 2-1 in the Terps favor with with 1:26 left in the first quarter.

Grab some Bagel Place and find your favorite spot on the couch.

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Raleigh, N.C.- Welcome to Raleigh and the RBC Center, home of the N.C. State men’s basketball team and the Carolina Hurricanes. I can’t think of anything else that happens here, so if I missed something, I apologize.

No. 2 seed Baylor and No. 3 seed Louisville are going at it right now. Let’s just say they haven’t hit their stride as of yet. It’s 4-4 with four minutes gone.Ugh.

The atmosphere in the arena seems a little off. The lower deck at RBC Center is steeper than most places- so you get a more intimate feeling. Sadly, the endzones of the lower deck and all of the upper deck are completely empty.

There are a sizable contingent of Terp fans though, and I assume that bus load of students coming down will arrive shortly. More updates as the day (and probably weekend) progresses.

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First year head coach Kerry McCoy was named Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year after guiding the Terrapins to an ACC championship and a top 10 finish in the NCAA tournament, the league announced on Friday.

Along with McCoy, Terp wrestlers Brendan Byrne, Steven Bell, Alex Krom and Hudson Taylor were named to the all-conference team.

McCoy is the second straight ACC Coach of the Year, as former head coach Pat Santoro garnered the honor last season. This season marks the fourth time that a Maryland coach has won the award. With McCoy and Santoro, John McHugh won the award in 1990 and 1993.

The award is also McCoy’s first coach of the year award as a Division I coach. He guided the Terps to a 10-8-1 dual meet record and 3-2 conference record. The Terps’ finish at NCAA’s was the second best in program history.

Taylor, at 197 pounds, was placed on the all-conference team for the third consecutive season, while Bell, at 133 pounds, was named for the second time. Both Byrne, at 125 pounds, and Krom, at 141 pounds, were named to the team for the first time.

Bell, Krom and Taylor also achieved All-American status at the NCAA tournament in St. Louis last weekend.

NC State junior Darrion Caldwell, at 149 pounds, was named the conference wrestler of the year after winning an individual national title. Virginia Tech’s Jarrod Garnett was named freshman of the year.

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The Terrapin men’s lacrosse team has been frustrated by injuries this season, and they’ll need all the help they can get today against No. 1 Virginia.  

The good news is that the Terps will get back a trio of key players. Goalie Brian Phipps, defender Brett Schmidt and faceoff specialist Bryn Holmes are all in the lineup after missing last week because of injury.

– Phipps was held out of last week as a precautionary measure after he suffered a concussion in practice earlier in the week. The junior said he could have started if necessary, but the fact that it was Senior Day for goalie Jason Carter could have leaned Cottle toward giving Phipps some extra time to recover.

– Bryn Holmes is dealing with a groin injury, but will try and go at the X. Last week, the Terps managed a paltry two faceoffs wins without his services. It’s a little chilly in Charlottesville, Va., but the ground is solid, which should help. Anything Holmes can give the Terps should help and Jeff Reynolds talked during the week about how relieving it is to have Holmes back on the field.

–Finally, Brett Schmidt returns to the defense after tweaking a hamstring last week. Schmidt’s play has been a big reason the Terps have coped so well with the absence of preseason All-American Brian Farrell and the Terps are lucky to have him back against the nation’s top attack unit.

UPDATE: Reynolds took the first faceoff. We’ll see if and when Holmes gets his turn.

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In case you weren’t already confident in the No.1 seed Terrapin women’s basketball team’s ability to win Saturday afternoon in the Raleigh Regional semifinal against Vanderbilt, here are a couple stats to think about.

Since 2002, the No.1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament are 25-2 in the Sweet 16. That’s a winning percentage of .926 for teams in the position the Terps are about to be in on Saturday.

Top-seeded Duke lost by one point to Don Imus’ favorite Rutgers team in 2007, and No.1 seed Texas lost 71-55 against LSU in 2004, and both of those underdogs ended up advancing to the NCAA Tournament.

That’s it for the past seven tournaments. Those are pretty good odds.

Looking further ahead, 17 of 28 top seeds have made it to the Final Four since 2002.  In comparison, only 12 top seeds on the men’s side advanced to the Final Four in that span.

As far as achieving their ultimate goal of winning a national championship, this all might not matter if the Terps have to play undefeated Connecticut in the title game.

But there’s a better than 50 percent chance the Terps will be playing for the right to face the Huskies next weekend.

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Some observations compiled during the first half of the Terrapin women’s basketball team’s NCAA Tournament second-round game against Utah…

-Win or lose, this is Kristi Toliver and Marissa Coleman’s last game at Comcast Center. They were both pretty good here some of the time.

-I wonder what Utah is like this time of year…

-The Terps are looking a little shaky in the first few minutes. Kristi Toliver’s jump shooting is keeping it close, but none of the other Terps have shown up yet. It’s 9-6 Utah at the 16-minute timeout.

-The Terps aren’t getting out on the Utes’ jump shooters. Utah only has one player–Katie King–with substantial size and bulk, but the Utes are getting by, by keeping things on the perimeter.

-Incredible action before the 12-minute timeout, where it’s 18-16 Utah. Toliver fed Dee Liles and Marah Strickland with beautiful assists on two consecutive possessions, then got too fancy on the third possession with a pass behind her back that got intercepted. Marissa Coleman recorded a ferocious block on the other end, then hit a three the next time down the court.

-Coleman is channeling her inner Greivis, holding the release a little longer than necessary after each of her jump shots. The Terps are beginning to assert their will, and they lead 26-20 at the eight-minute timeout.

-Dee Liles has a very soft touch around the rim. She must have the best shooting percentage on layups of anyone on the team. 36-28 Terps at the four-minute timeout.

-Marah Strickland closes out the half with a fastbreak layup with three seconds to go. The Terps finished the half on a 12-0 run, and lead 44-28 at halftime. Barring an unforeseen catastrophe, they’ll be playing in Raleigh on Saturday.

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What better way to celebrate Senior Day than with an award winning performance?

That’s exactly what midfielder Dan Groot did Saturday as he paced the offense with three unassisted goals — including the game-winner — and added an assist in the Terrapin men’s lacrosse team’s 8-7 win again then-No. 11 North Carolina. 

The Canandaigua, N.Y. native scooped three ground balls and delivered a characteristically tough effort at the defensive end.

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