Two and a half hours before the Maryland women’s basketball team took on Indiana at XFINITY Center in College Park on Sunday, something special was happening on the practice court.
Ten players from the 2005-06 national championship women’s basketball team, along with coaches and support staff, gathered for an event for season ticket holders and supporters.
There were lots of laughs, hugs, and countless stories — most of them true, with some embellishments. If you looked up, you could see the scoreboard displaying the final score of the 2006 championship game in Boston.
For many of the players, the celebration brought back vivid memories of the greatest moment in Maryland women’s basketball history, an overtime win over Duke in the title game.
Freshman guard Kristi Toliver hit a dramatic 3-pointer — probably the most famous and important shot in program history — to send the game into overtime. It was the sixth overtime game of the season for the Terps, who held on to win 78-75.
“It’s cool just to hear what other peoples’ stories were, where they were when they were watching, how excited they were, jumping on the bed, knowing College Park went crazy that night,” Toliver told WTOP.
“I can’t believe it’s been 20 years,” Marissa Coleman, who was also part of the championship team, said. “I don’t think that’s quite set in yet, but it is amazing to be here with everybody that made it so special. Winning it was great, but what made it even better was the people we did it with, so it just feels great to be here and to see everybody.”
Laura Harper, who was honored as the Final Four Most Outstanding Player, was also among the former players present Sunday.
“It’s special, it’s humbling,” she said. “The best feeling of my life thus far in accomplishing something like this. We’re etched in history and that’s something we really worked toward and we can always say that we did that.”
Shay Doron, coach Brenda Frese’s first ever recruit at Maryland, told WTOP: “I tell people all the time, I don’t know if we were the best team but we were the most cohesive team that just loved each other. That kind of tipped us over the edge and allowed us to do things even bigger than we thought we could do. I think that’s what differentiated our national championship team.”
The players spoke glowingly about team comradery.
“Just how connected we were, we were each others’ best friends, each others’ sisters, and that was like a real, genuine thing,” Toliver said. “I think that’s why it showed so well on the court, because we were best friends off the court.”
Toliver got to hold the championship trophy when the team came out on the floor in front of the fans for a loud, standing ovation.
“We genuinely loved each other and we were happy for each other’s success and our leader just made us believe we could fly, she truly did,” Harper said.
Frese, in her 24th year at Maryland, spoke after the Indiana game — an 82-67 win — about what the reunion festivities meant to her.
“It was a really special day/weekend honoring our 2006 national championship team,” Frese said. “I told our group in the locker room what made this team so special was just how close they were, how they played for each other and really believed in each other.”
“Coach B is the reason we’re all here,” Coleman said. “She had a vision. She sold us on that vision. We all came here, we wanted to win for her. It’s amazing that she’s here after all this time and that we can come here and we still have that family atmosphere.”
“This is Maryland pride,” Harper said. “It sounds cliche but there’s a level of pride and joy of, excitement of just knowing we were part of it and it’s not over. It continues.”
