Story By: Erin Zollars
Photos By: Sol Tucker
College Park, MD–
Maryland seems to really have a way to get the game going at entirely different pace come the second half and tonight was no different as they advanced to the Sweet 16 with a 77-64 victory over the Arizona Wildcats after shooting a blistering 78 percent in the third quarter tonight.
The Terps used a 29-9 run in the third quarter to mount a 17-point lead at 57-40 and eventually built the lead to 61-42 behind Diamond Miller’s 13 points in the quarter and 6 for 6 from the line.
“Diamond really did a lot of great things for us tonight,” said Terps Head Coach Brenda Frese. “She has become a great leader this season and knows what we expect from her when it is late in a game. Tonight, she showed her leadership and what she can do for this team.”
Shyanne Sellers scored 13 points added 5 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks for the Terps and this was all with limited time on the court after grabbing two quick fouls in the third quarter.
“Looked like she was probably challenged at halftime, and she came out and just was on fire,” Arizona coach Adia Barnes said. “Really hard for us to guard. I think that we kind of allowed her to get out in transition and had a lot of isolation moments. We know she loves to go left and she started going right and scored. She was hard to stop.”
Maryland advances to face third-seeded Notre Dame in the regional semifinals Saturday. The Terps beat the Irish 74-72 at Notre Dame on Dec. 1 on a buzzer-beater by Miller.
With the win over 25th-ranked Arizona, the Terps are now 8-4 vs. ranked teams with wins over No. 6 Iowa, No. 6 UConn, at No. 7 Notre Dame, No. 10 Ohio State, No. 13 Michigan, No. 16 Ohio State and at No. 17 Baylor.
