Leslie sends Terps packing

UM grad has 21 points, 11 rebounds to lead N.C. State into Sweet 16, 74-60

RALEIGH, N.C. — Brenda Frese knew a trip back into Atlantic Coast Conference territory would be no easy jaunt for her Maryland women’s basketball team, no matter how comfortable she was in her old stamping grounds. She knew a matchup with No. 4 seed North Carolina State would bring a hostile home crowd yearning to see its team reach its first Sweet 16 since 2007, and she knew that the one person on the other end of the court with a soft spot for the Terps would bury those feelings deep.

The only love shown between Maryland and current Wolfpack guard Kiara Leslie came in the handshake line after the final buzzer, when the former Terp hugged each of her coaches and teammates tight just moments after she helped end their season.

It was Leslie, the North Carolina native who graduated from Maryland in three years after sitting out last season with an injury, who propelled the No. 5 seed North Carolina State to a 74-60 win Sunday in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The powerful 6-foot guard unloaded 21points and11rebounds on her former team and executed the most crucial part of an impeccable defensive plan by smothering Kaila Charles as few defenders have this season. She led five scorers in double figures.

N.C. State moves on to play the winner of No. 1 seed Mississippi State and No. 9 seed Oklahoma State in the regional semifinals in Kansas City, Mo.

“Obviously, happy for Ki, happy for her,” Frese said with a smile after the game. “Not on this night, for us, but happy for her.”

For Maryland (26-8), a year full of uncertainty and growing pains — all relative, for a program Frese has taken to two Final Fours in the past five seasons — ended in familiar fashion. Maryland struggled this year on the rare occasions Charles is taken out of the game and they had no one to push them past an out-ofsync offense.

North Carolina State (26-8) not only stifled Charles, but they took senior leader Kristen Confroy away as an option as well. The guard shoots 45 percent from the 3-point line but had no points and was able to get off only two shots in her final game as a Terp, though she contributed five rebounds and three assists.

“I felt like I couldn’t even get a look at a 3-pointer, which obviously is what I’m looking to go to,” Confroy said. “Credit to them, I thought they did a great job, especially on me defensively.”

Charles, the swing player who led Maryland in scoring with an average 18.4 points per game, had just four points on 2-for-8 shooting from the field and three rebounds. North Carolina State coach Wes Moore wanted to defend Charles with a guard who could keep up with her speed and was comfortable with her tendencies. Leslie was the perfect match.

“I knew she likes to drive it right, so I tried to sit on her right hand,” Leslie said.

In Charles’ absence, Maryland depended on its more physical players to muscle the offense into gear. Junior forward Brianna Fraser led the team with 17 points and five rebounds, and sophomore forward Stephanie Jones added 14 points and seven rebounds.

Redshirt senior Ieshia Small had 15 points and six rebounds.

Frese found positives in her team’s dip back into its former league. The benefit of a young lineup is that Maryland returns everyone but Confroy and Small next year, and Charles, Jones and Blair Watson, the team’s second- l eading scorer who tore her ACL in January but is expected to be back next season, are all sophomores.

“The more games you play like this, the more experience you’re going to get, and again, we’re a very young roster,” Frese said. “It definitely bodes well for the future.”

Frese was proud of her team for winning 26 games the season after it had three players unexpectedly transfer and graduated two AllAmerica players.

“You talk about staying the course all season long, through injury, through adversity, and they just put their head down and continued to get better,” Frese said. “They did everything we asked as a coaching staff. I’m extremely proud for our seniors … two Final Fours, six conference titles and all they did with continuing to show everyone how to put your head down and work.”