Spokane, Wash. ? Shhhh! Crystal Langhorne would like everyone to ignore Maryland’s convincing performance Saturday night.
The Terrapins dominating senior center would prefer to remain the No. 1 seed no one expects to advance, even if Maryland finally looked worthy of its top billing and is one step away from the Final Four.
“When no one is paying attention to us, that’s when we play our best,” she said.
Langhorne and the Terrapins rebounded from lackluster efforts in the first two rounds, using a swarming defense to overwhelm No. 4-seed Vanderbilt, 80-66, in the Spokane Regional semifinals.
Langhorne again showed why she was the ACC player of the year, scoring 16 of her 28 points in the first half.
Two years removed from their national title, the Terrapins are back in the regional finals and will face Stanford or Pittsburgh on Monday.
Maryland was so impressive that Pitt coach Agnus Bernato gave Terrapins coach Brenda Frese a head-shaking “damn,” as they passed in the hallway under the arena before the Panthers’ game.
The Terrapins looked very little like the team that lost in the second round last year, then sweated through a pair of closer-than-expected games on their home court to reach the regional semis.
“We just loosened up once we came here. We went into our defensive mode,” Laura Harper said. “We’ve started rolling now. There’s no looking back.”
