COLLEGE PARK -- From the sideline, the first hint coach Brenda Frese gets about her team's game-day fate often can be discerned by the first offensive possession. She watches her point guard, Kristi Toliver. Is the defender aggressive? Is the referee quick to the whistle? How does Toliver respond?

"It's no secret that's a team's game plan," Frese says, "to rough her up - start at the top, start at the head and work their way through."

Though the Maryland women's basketball team has many weapons, tough, physical teams have frazzled Toliver around the perimeter at times, which is why as the Terps begin their NCAA tournament run this afternoon, she will be the focal point of many curious eyes.

That teams think they can assume the bully role doesn't seem to worry Frese at all, not as far as Toliver is concerned. She knows how far her point guard has come, and she knows that's a key reason Maryland stands to fare better in this year's tournament than their premature, second-round exit a year ago.

Cue the flashback sequence. March, 2007. Frese juggles her starting lineup before the NCAA tournament. After 49 straight starts, Toliver is suddenly coming off the bench. It was a shocking move at the time, criticized in many basketball corners, including this space.

The move might not have benefited the Terps last March (though even that's up to debate, as Toliver scored a team-high 24 points in that season-ending loss to Mississippi) but a year later, the decision sure feels as if it might have served as a wake-up call to Toliver.

Yesterday before the team's shoot-around, Toliver reflected on how much has changed over the course of a year.

"It was a conflict between minds, I guess. Between what I thought I should be doing and what the coaches thought I should be doing," Toliver said. "We just had different opinions on it, and obviously their opinions override mine."

It's easy to reflect on now, obviously, as Toliver has pieced together a great junior season, putting up plenty of envious numbers but just as important, assuming the role of a more vocal floor leader. She was unable to hide her frustrations a year ago - a March she says was marred by distractions, conflict and butting heads - and she either didn't know what was expected of her or was unwilling to consent, which resulted in the benching.

With her confidence at an all-time low, Toliver spent some time away from basketball in the offseason. She said she needed to reflect, to find out where her passion went. She credits her time at Point Guard College, a training camp near home in Harrisonburg, Va., where she worked with former Virginia star Dena Evans.

"I just wanted to be happy again and enjoy basketball. And I was going to do whatever I had to do to make that happen," Toliver says. "When I went to Point Guard College and got my act together, got my head together, that's when things started feeling OK for me. ... I needed to shape some things up in my game, fundamentally, confidence, leadership. It was then that I really got the passion back and kind of did a 180."

Last year's struggles seem like ages ago. Objects in the rearview mirror are not always closer than they appear.

"I'm just so proud of watching the process unfold," Frese said yesterday. "She's in such a great place and is doing a tremendous job leading this team."

Toliver's numbers are all up - minutes, points, assists, rebounds, steals, and yes, turnovers - but the biggest change, she says, is that she understands what's needed of her night to night. And if the Terps hope to make a run these next couple of weeks, what is needed right now is some toughening. It's been a focal point, in fact, of practices the past couple of weeks.

"In some of those games where we struggled, we let our opponents get the best of us, push us around and dictate what was going on in the game," Toliver said. "In order to be successful, especially in the tournament, you have to be the aggressor at all times."

Good teams are standing in their way - Vanderbilt, Stanford and Baylor, among others - and you can bet those opposing coaches know that a few bumps, tugs and pushes can offset Maryland's comfort level. It starts and stops with Toliver at the point. She realizes that, and says she's ready.

"This year we're so loose and free. Everything feels more focused," Toliver said. "This year it's just been clear sailing. We've had some adversity - Coach B having [twins], her being away, new coaches - but we're a mature bunch. We've done it all - we've won a championship and we've also exited out in the second round. We know where we want to be at the end of all this and we know what it takes to get there."

rick.maese@baltsun.com

David Steele -- Points after

One can only hope there will be enough money and resources left for the federal government to investigate the breaches in the passport information on the three presidential candidates, once it's done pursuing Barry Bonds for possibly lying about using "the clear."

If you ever believed that winning a national championship guarantees anything for that coach in future seasons, ask how Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Calhoun, Jim Boeheim, Billy Donovan and, yes, Gary Williams feel about that. That covers six of the past seven titles, and all either are done in this year's NCAA tournament or never got in.

Meanwhile, if Randy Monroe's and Milan Brown's phones aren't ringing soon, then athletic directors are more short-sighted than they should be.

Throw Todd Bozeman's name in there, too, but not until this time next year.