Marshall University Athletics
National Champion Terrapins to Visit Cam Henderson Center
4/6/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
April 6, 2006
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Marshall University will play host to the 2006 NCAA women's basketball national champion Maryland Terrapins during next season's non-conference schedule. The visit by the Terrapins marks the second straight season that the Thundering Herd will face the defending NCAA champs.
Marshall, which played 2005 champion and No. 5-ranked Baylor in November, will welcome the Terrapins to the Cam Henderson Center, tentatively, on Nov. 28, 2006. Last season's loss to the Lady Bears (74-47) was MU's first ever game versus a defending national champion.
The game is the front end of a home-and-home agreement between the two schools. The Terrapins will host the Herd during the 2007-08 season.
The first game of the series was played on Dec. 30, 2004, in College Park, Md. Playing in the Terrapin Classic championship game, the Herd trailed No. 17 Maryland by only two points at halftime, but succumbed to a 17-6 run at the start of the second half to fall, 83-68.
The April 4 national championship game saw Maryland overcome a 13-point deficit versus No. 1 seed Duke to pull out a 78-75 overtime win. It was the second-largest comeback in the history of the NCAA title game and gave the second-seeded Terrapins UM's first women's basketball national championship in school history.
Maryland, 34-4 in 2005-06, dropped its only games of the season to teams that were ranked No. 1 at the time - Tennessee, Duke and North Carolina. Brenda Frese's team will return all five starters next season, including All-NCAA Tournament standout Kristi Toliver and Most Outstanding Player Laura Harper.
Marshall will enter its second season as a Conference USA member in 2006-07. The Herd finished fourth in the league standings in its inaugural season.
