Maryland surges past WVU
Terrapins take seeding snub out on Mountaineers
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Maryland was already enjoying a heck of a second quarter when Destiny Slocum scrambled in position to take a buzzer-beating shot.
Squaring up from just outside the opposite arc, Slocum stretched both arms behind her head and let the ball fly. Swish!
Slocum’s 70-foot shot capped a pivotal run, and the Terrapins blew past West Virginia, 83-56, to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.
Brionna Jones had 22 points and 11 rebounds, Slocum scored 21 and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough added 19 for third-seeded Maryland (32-3), which will next face the winner of Monday’s game between No. 2 seed Duke and Oregon.
The Terrapins will be hard-pressed to play better than they did in this one.
“On a scale of 1 to 100, today was 100,” coach Brenda Frese said.
Teana Muldrow led West Virginia (24-11) with 16 points. Leading scorer Tynice Martin was limited to 10 points on 3 of 18 shooting.
The game turned in the second quarter, when Maryland outscored West Virginia 26-8 to take a 38-24 lead.
“Why not?” Slocum said. “Just throw it up and see what happens. Watching that thing was crazy. I was in shock. [I] am still.”
The 5-foot-7 freshman was immediately swarmed by her teammates while the fans in Maryland’s home arena stood and cheered.
“That’s her range,” Walker-Kimbrough said. “I was surprised she made it, but a part of me wasn’t.”
The unlikely basket capped a 10-minute stretch in which Maryland made 12 of 17 shots.
“What they shoot in that quarter 70 percent?” West Virginia coach Mike Carey said. “Believe me, that shot didn’t hurt us anymore than any of the other shots they made.” Actually, it did. “It was a tough shot to see,” Muldrow said. “But we can’t really do anything about that except try not to let her get the ball at that time. She caught it, and it was one in a trillion.”
Maryland carried the momentum into the third quarter, using a 12-1 spurt to build the margin to 23 points.
Not long after that, the Big Ten champions celebrated a victory that thrust them into the Sweet 16 for the fifth time in six years.
Last season, Maryland lost its second round game at home to Washington. Intent upon avoiding a similar fate, the Terrapins left nothing to chance.
“This team definitely has a different feel than a season ago,” Frese said.
“You can feel their focus in terms of what we’re doing.”
West Virginia took a fivegame winning streak into the contest, including an upset of Baylor in the Big 12 tournament championship.
On this day, however, the Mountaineers were no match for a Maryland squad that entered the NCAA tournament with a surly attitude.
The Terrapins were displeased after the selection committee saddled it with a No. 3 seed because of a perceived weak non-conference schedule.
To voice their displeasure, they opened with a 42point win against Bucknell before easily dispatching West Virginia.
Maryland trailed, 16-12, after a first quarter in which it missed 13 of 18 shots from the floor and were outrebounded 14-11.
The tone shifted dramatically to begin the second period. Walker-Kimbrough drilled a 3-pointer and added a fast-break layup, Jones bulled her way in the lane for two baskets for a 2316 lead.
At the same time, West Virginia went scoreless for more than six minutes.