Here in eastern Washington state, the Maryland women's basketball team is about 27 hours away from playing Vanderbilt in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament.
Both teams, along with Game 2 participants Pittsburgh and Stanford, went through 50-minute workouts at the Spokane Arena this afternoon. The practices were open to the public but only a handful of folks were in attendance.
Maryland coach Brenda Frese made an interesting move this week. The Terps' game Tuesday night got over around 11:55 p.m., by 1:30 p.m. the next day, the team was on the bus for the airport. They arrived here nearly three full days before the game.
"For us, being the last game of the Sunday-Tuesday format, we felt it was critical to get out here and get adjusted to the time change," Frese said after practice today. "It was a quick turnaround but it was the best thing for us. Yesterday, the kids were able to hang out at the mall and go to the movies and be relaxed given how much is on their plate the next two days."
The Terps went through what Frese called an "excellent" practice Thursday at Gonzaga University.
What happened two years ago prompted Frese's decision.
The Terps played the first two rounds in State College, Pa., and bused back to College Park. They were scheduled to fly to Albuquerque, N.M., the customary two days before the regional semifinal game. Their flight out of Baltimore was delayed more than four hours. Even though the Terps won the two games in New Mexico, Frese figured the extra day couldn't hurt this time around.
