March 8, 2009

Perfect as #1: With the No. 1-seed in 2009, Maryland was the last team standing winning its third ACC Championship. Maryland is now a perfect 8-0 when seeded first in the ACC Tournament. The Terps came into the tournament as the top seed two times previously (1979, 1989), winning the championship both years.

ACC Tournament MVP: Marissa Coleman played three terrific days of basketball to earn her tournament MVP honors. Coleman racked up 69 points, 29 rebounds and 13 assists over the course of the tournament. Marissa Coleman’s six assists against Duke moved her up to 5th place on the Maryland career charts. She now has 443 career assists. Coleman’s two 3-pointers in the game moved her into 3rd on Maryland’s career list. She now has 168 treys. The game was Coleman’s 36th career double-double and eighth of the season.

Clash in the Coliseum: A growing rivalry coming into the game, Duke versus Maryland fully lived up to expectations. This is the first time the Terps and Blue Devils met in the ACC Championship. The last time the two met for a title was in the 2006 NCAA Tournament finals, when Maryland beat out Duke 78-75, overtime thriller. Sunday's game saw 10 lead changes and 11 ties, including a game-tying tip-in by Chante Black with one 2.3 seconds left. Just as the NCAA Championship in 2006, the game concluded with Maryland winning a championship in overtime.

Overtime!: The game is just the second ACC Tournament finals game to go to overtime. The only other contest requiring extra periods was in 1993 as Virginia defeated Maryland, 106-103 (3OT).

Cool as a Cucumber: With 12 seconds remaining in overtime and just a one point Terrapin lead, Duke elected to foul Terp Kim Rodgers. Rodgers, who attempted only 12 free throws in the regular season, made both.

History for Toliver: With her bank shot with 3:33 remaining in overtime, Kristi Toliver became the third player in school history to amass 2,000 points. Toliver finished the game with 24 points, and 2,002 for her career. She now ranks 17th all-time in scoring among ACC players.

Stellar Starters: For the first time in Duke’s ACC Tournament history all five starters scored in double figures. Duke’s Gay had 19, Thomas had 16, Christmas had 16, Waner had 13 and Black added 11.

Duke Double: Carrem Gay led the Blue Devil effort with her 10th career double-double performance. Gay had team highs for the game in both points with 19 and rebounds with 10.

Waner Wow’s From Three: With her two 3-pointers in today’s game, Abby Warner moved into a tie for 2nd all-time for ACC Tournament career treys made. She finished the game with two 3-pointers, concluding her ACC Tournament career with 24 treys.

Working the Line: Maryland had the best free throw shooting in ACC Finals history, going 23-for-24 (95.8-percent).

Technical Foul: Maryland incurred a rare technical foul at 2:17 remaining in the first when the team had too many players on the court. Duke’s Abby Waner was chosen to take the free throws, making 1-of-2.