SPOKANE, Wash. -- Perception, in basketball, as in life, can be as powerful as reality. To wit, a week ago, the Maryland women's basketball team appeared to be listless and on the ropes in an 80-66 win over Coppin State in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Six days later, the Terps held the same 80-66 advantage in a regional semifinal win over Vanderbilt, but while the score was the same, the lasting image left from the win could hardly be more different.

Last night, a Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena crowd saw in Maryland (33-3), the region's top seed, a team that looked as dominant as the team that ran through a grueling stretch of 14 games in 31 days in November and early December with just one loss, though no one seemed to remember how long it had been since the Terps had played such a complete game.

"I have a bad memory," Crystal Langhorne said. "I can't remember. It was probably in the last few games. I'm not exactly sure when it was. I'm just happy we're playing like that now."

Said junior point guard Kristi Toliver: "I have a bad memory, also. It was probably against LSU and against Oklahoma [in November]. I think we played tremendously from start to finish for all 40 minutes. We executed the game plan. We played loose and free, and that's exactly what we did [last night]."

More importantly, for a team with an occasionally fragile psyche, the Terps played confidently and with a sense of swagger.

"I loved our defensive intensity and our hustle throughout the game," Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. "We came out really inspired and wanted to come out and play as aggressive and as focused as we could on the defensive end. It was just a credit to this team. We were excited, and we were ready to come out and play some of our best basketball."

The Terps led by as many as 20 through stretches of the second half and essentially toyed with the Commodores (25-9), allowing them to feel as if they could get back into the contest, but then pulled away. Maryland shot 50.9 percent from the field while holding the Commodores to 38.7 percent.

Langhorne, a senior All-America forward and the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, led the way with 28 points, and junior Marissa Coleman scored 19 and freshman Marah Strickland (Towson Catholic) added 13, including three three-pointers.

Strickland, the two-time Sun girls All-Metro Player of the Year, had struggled in recent weeks, with just four threes in the past six weeks, covering seven games, but she hit clutch shots to help keep the Commodores at bay.

"I think I just got a little flow going," Strickland said. "The girls are still confident in me. They just kicked it out, and I got relaxed and I stroked it."

Said Coleman: "Marah played great [last night]. She had been struggling our past couple of games. She came up big for us. She hit key threes for us when Vanderbilt was going on their runs. A few of them were demoralizing for them and put daggers in their hearts."

Meanwhile, Toliver, who like Langhorne is a finalist for the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's Player of the Year award, had eight points, her lowest point total since scoring seven against Miami on Jan. 31. However, she posted eight assists.

"We have the best post players in the country, and we were just trying to distribute to everybody," Toliver said. "And [last night], I felt like [New England Patriots quarterback] Tom Brady."

The Terps advanced to tomorrow night's regional final to meet the winner of the Stanford-Pittsburgh semifinal, and though they might not be winning over converts among the national pundits, they've put themselves on the doorstep of a second Final Four trip in three years.

"I love [the national talk] right where it's at," Frese said. "It reminds me of two years ago, and it's just amazing that you can continue to dismiss this team ... and not see the positives of how this team plays. I hope it just continues right along the path that it's been. I think we work better that way."

milton.kent@baltsun.com