Story By: Erin Zollars
Photos By: Sol Tucker
College Park, MD–
For Brenda Frese the ability to make teams completely collapse in the second half of a game is nothing new, but for Florida Gulf Coast, collapsing after hanging tough in the first half today in College Park was nothing less than an understatement.
Diamond Miller scored 24 points, and fourth-seeded Maryland used a 19-0 run spanning parts of both halves to pull away to a 89-65 win over 12th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast on Sunday.
Angel Reese added 21 points and Ashley Owusu scored 20 for the Terrapins, who advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 10th time under coach Brenda Frese. Maryland (23-8) faces either Stanford or Kansas in the next round.
Kendall Spray scored 17 points in the first half but none in the second for FGCU, and the Eagles (30-3) couldn’t follow their first-round win over Virginia Tech with another victory.
For the Eagles the game plan was to come out and shoot from deep as they did against Tech, it worked for most of the first half, but their lack of size and inability to put the ball in the paint was the final difference today.
The Terps are 50-27 (.649) all-time in the NCAA Tournament. In their 16 appearances under head coach Brenda Frese, the Terrapins are 38-15 (.717). Frese has led the Terrapins to 10 Sweet Sixteens, six Elite Eights, three Final Fours and the 2006 NCAA Championship.
“I think we did a great job adjusting to their game plan today. Diamond, played one of her best games this season. She missed a few games this season due to injury and it is great to have her back at full strength and the difference she makes on the court,” said Frese.
