Coach Brenda Frese and the Terps are really putting out the full court press (I know, I know, terrible phrasing) in trying to draw some more students to Tuesday’s second round NCAA Tournament game against the No. 9-seed Utah Utes.

So Frese is offering up these two magic words – free pizza - to the first 100 students who show up for Marissa Coleman and Kristi Toliver’s final true home game on Tuesday night.

I personally felt that the crowd of just under 11,000 for Sunday’s first round action was quite adequate. There were a number of Maryland students around, but I could see how the people in and around the program would want more to show up.

There’s lots of extra buzz around this game and it pretty much all has to do with Terp assistant coach Daron Park, who two years ago was an assistant coach with Utah. He was on the Utes bench when the Terps outlasted the Mountain West Conference powerhouse in overtime of the 2006 Elite Eight on the way to the national championship.

“It’s kind of a double-edged sword probably,” Park said. “Being around them for three years, and being at another program in Salt Lake City for another five years before that, obviously I’ve been around that program a lot. All the great teams, even if you know what they’re gonna do, you still have to stop them.”

Then, there’s something completely different. The Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg, author of the D.C. Sports Bog, covered the women’s game on Sunday and made a batch of entries about the differences between the men’s tournament and the women’s tournament, media coverage between the two and all that sort of stuff.

But which was my favorite Terp women related bog item? This one. Easily.

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The Terrapin men’s lacrosse team escaped with an 8-7 win on senior day at Ludwig Field.

Senior Dan Groot was credited with the game-winner after his shot ricocheted high into the air off a defenders stick and spun past North Carolina goalie Grant Zimmerman with 7:47 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Terps stole the win in what was an ugly game statistically, including winning just two faceoffs in 19 tries. The Terps were outshot (36-21), outscooped (47-30 on ground balls). Fortunately, their 17 turnovers were somewhat negated by the Tar Heel’s 22 giveaways.

With the win, the No. 10 Terps (6-2) improve to 2-0 in ACC play. It was the 19th consecutive conference loss for the hard-luck Tar Heels.

“I feel for North Carolina,” coach Dave Cottle said after the game.

I don’t feel bad for the players and fans in attendance. An exciting afternoon at Ludwig beats the heck out of the watching the Terps getting torched by Memphis in Kansas City, Mo. But I digress…

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There’s always something interesting going on during these open practices/shoot arounds the NCAA hosts before the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The No. 1 seed Terps had their practice and media session today at Comcast Center. They play No. 16 seed Dartmouth (18-10) on Sunday at approximately 2:30 on ESPN.

Each team has their rituals. The women today played a large and long game of knockout to end practice. How about 6-foot-7 freshman center Yemi Oyefuwa, not known for her shooting touch, hitting a 3-pointer to knock out coach Brenda Frese? That was probably the highlight of the day.

As for the press conference- there were lots of UCONN questions, lots of “How do you make sure not to overlook the Ivy League Champs” type of questions.

My favorite sound bite of the day comes from a Frese response to a brillant question (no sarcasm intended at all) by WMUCsports play-by-play man John Willmott. It had to do with whether the Terps were being “overlooked.” :

“It reminds me of a very familiar year in 2006. The less they want to talk about [us] the better. We’ll just keep going about our business. It is amazing to me, given what this team and what this program has accomplished, but from our end we’re gonna just keep doing what we do best.”

I like the attitude. In case you forgot, that “very familiar year” was the Terps’ 2006 national championship season. They upset two ACC teams previously thought to be superior in North Carolina and Duke in the final four to take the prize.

It’s going to be an intriguing tournament with plenty of juicy story lines and a ton at stake for Coleman and Kristi Toliver, the superstar seniors. It all starts tomorrow. Keep up on the blog and at diamondbackonline.com.

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Brian Farrell has some company on the sideline today at Ludwig Field as two more Terps have been bitten by the injury bug.  Faceoff man Bryn Holmes and defender Brett Schmidt are out today.

Holmes has had an issue with his groin for several weeks, though he played last weekend against UMBC and Bryant. Schmidt tweaked a hamstring, according to SID Patrick Fischer.

Sophomore Ryder Bohlander gets his first start at close defense in place of Schmidt. In the midfield, Freshman attackman Joe Cummings is on the first line for the second week in a row. Do-it-all senior Jeff Reynolds is taking faceoffs and running with the second line.

The Terps midfield has been quiet the past couple games and perhaps Cummings can help provide a scoring punch from up top. Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see if the Tar Heels try to isolate and test Bohlander early.

UPDATE: Anthony Costanzo, a mainstay on the man-down unit thanks to his 6-foot-7 frame, has replaced Bohlander as the Terps third defender for most of the first quarter. Coach Dave Cottle is likely more comfortable with the seasoned senior.

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If you’re looking for something to watch during the countdown to Maryland-Memphis, click over to ESPN U where the tenth-ranked Terrapin men’s lacrosse team hosts No. 11 North Carolina.  

Though it’s only mid-March, the Terps are celebrating senior day. Renovations on to Byrd Stadium leave this contest as the Terps’ final Saturday home game.

Starters Jason Carter (goalie), defender Mike Griswold, midfielder Dan Groot, midfielder Jeff Reynolds, and midfielder Jeremy Sieverts are among the 14 grey beards to be honored.

Both team’s are looking to turn things around after losses last weekend (The Terps fell to UMBC 9-7, while the Tar Heels lost to then-No. 9 Duke 12-8).

I’ll be back with more later.

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