Sports Correspondent

University of Maryland, Baltimore County, is about 30 minutes up the road in Catonsville, and it's never been known as a basketball power. But women's coach Phil Stern is slowly trying to change that, and he'll be taking the first major steps this weekend.

The Jewish coach guided the Retreiver women to a shocking run that led to the America East championship last weekend and an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament. UMBC then drew the No. 16 seed in the Fresno Region (the lowest one possible), and is preparing for a date with No. 1 seed and longtime national powerhouse Connecticut on Sunday night.

That game will be played in the Huskies' backyard of Hartford, Conn., but Stern and the Retrievers could have cared less. UMBC was seeded seventh in that tournament, but knocked off the top three teams, including top-seeded Hartford, 48-46, on Sunday. The Retrievers had everything fall their way in that game also, not scoring a point in the final 6:06 and seeing Hartford miss four free throws in the final 14 seconds to help the cause.

But that all seemed miles away Monday night as Stern and the team held a party as they waited to see where they were going in the NCAA tournament. They knew that, with a 16-16 record, they'd be seeded low, but Stern was happy just to be going. It's the first time any UMBC team has ever been to the Division I tournament, men's or women's.

"It's by far the most overwhelming thing I've ever been a part of," Stern said at the party. "When that buzzer sounded ... it's almost like you don't know what to do. You see it on TV, you see everybody else doing it and you dream about it, and we actually got to live it. It was great."

Stern told the fans who showed up Monday night that the enormity of winning the conference championship actually brought him to tears after the game.

UMBC came into the tournament with a 13-16 record, but the wins over Stony Brook and Vermont set up Sunday's championship encounter.

"We had a lot of confidence going into the weekend," Stern said. "We were playing our best basketball at the end of the year."

Stern was clearly trying to take it slow at the start of the week. The school has never made it to the NCAA tournament before, and Stern wants his players to soak up everything good that this week will bring ‹ even including the media.

"We do want to enjoy it, and we want to make sure that we appreciate every moment," Stern said. "Then, later in the week, we'll start getting ready to play another basketball game. Right now, we're just on cloud nine."

Stern said he'll never forget the craziness and outpouring of emotion that he and his players experienced after the Sunday night game. He couldn't stop smiling when talking about it.

"We got home late, and I laid down for a little bit, but I got up here real early today," Stern said. "We had so many text messages and calls before we even left the court last night. It was amazing. It was unbelievable."

And as for the dreaded Connecticut Huskies, UMBC will just get ready to do its thing, running the Princeton-style ball-control offense that can slow the pace of a game when working well.

But no matter what happens, they'll never forget this week.

"We're just going to go out and compete," Stern said. "We'll just let whatever happens happen."

Doron's final trip

Shay Doron will make her final NCAA tournament appearance as defending national champion Maryland is headed to the Dayton Region and will meet Harvard in a first-round game in Hartford on Sunday.

Maryland goes in this year as a No. 2 seed and ranked sixth in the nation. Doron told the media that the Terps will have plenty of confidence despite losing to North Carolina and Duke a total of five times.

Maryland's been playing much better recently and practicing strongly, the things any good team needs heading into the NCAA tournament.

"We feel like we can beat any team, honestly," Doron said. "When we go out on the court and play, we feel like we match up well with anybody. It doesn't matter who you are."