Maryland women’s basketball avoids upset bid from Norfolk State, 82-69

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Maryland women’s basketball coach Brenda Frese stepped just beyond the coaches’ box along the sideline. She clapped furiously in the direction of her defense at the far end of the court, as she usually does. This time, midway through the third quarter, her team having just jumped to an eight-point lead, her eyes narrowed and brows furrowed.

This was it. The scale had tipped, and she could feel it.

No. 4 seed Maryland had played all kinds of disjointed basketball in the first half, culminating in a two-point deficit to No. 13 Norfolk State at the break, 32-30.

The Terps returned from the locker room with the juice that would carry them to an expected NCAA Tournament first-round win, 82-69.

The second half opened as follows: Graduate student Sarah Te-Biasu laced a go-ahead 3-pointer. Next time down the floor, she did it again. Senior forward Christina Dalce thought she drew an and-one right after, but when officials called the foul on the floor, senior Shyanne Sellers grabbed the ball and finished a layup through contact with the foul. Allie Kubek piled on the next possession.

Maryland (24-7) put itself in the driver’s seat of a game it was favored to win by double digits. Norfolk State chipped away, but the tournament regional hosts wouldn’t fully relinquish, thanks to an avalanche of 3s.

Te-Biasu hit six shots from beyond the arc, a season-high, on eight attempts to finish with 22 points. Kaylene Smikle hit two more 45 seconds apart in the fourth quarter and scored 21 points. Senior Shyanne Sellers scored 12 in her penultimate game at Xfinity Center, nearing the curtain call of an illustrious career in College Park.

Norfolk State, which entered Saturday having won a program-record 30 games and finished the regular season reeling off 19 straight, wanted to muck this game up against the highly favored Terps. Maryland has missed the tournament only twice since 2002 and was ranked as high as No. 7 in the country this season. The Spartans have never won an NCAA Tournament game.

The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champions played like the kind of scrappy March team that can confound a top-five seed.

The Spartans (30-5) are one of the scrappiest defensive teams in the country, averaging 13.2 steals per game. Diamond Johnson’s 3.6 average is the fifth best in college basketball; she’d finish with three steals and 18 points, with just two points coming in the second half. Anjanae Richardson and Baltimore native Da’Brya Clark (Poly) swiped two apiece. As a team, Norfolk State caused 16 turnovers and turned them into 17 points.

Opening the game with five defensive pests in a 3-2 zone and some efficient shooting meant that the Terps didn’t lead until the final 90 seconds of the first quarter. They took a 14-2 run spanning six minutes into that first break.

Still, Norfolk State played like a double-digit seed looking to prove it belonged on this stage. It just couldn’t finish the job.

Maryland will face No. 5 seed Alabama on Monday for the right to — in all likelihood — face No. 1 South Carolina in the Sweet 16. It only gets tougher from here.

____

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