University of Maryland Basketball Teams Earn Bids to NCAA Tournament
The Terps women’s and men’s basketball teams will both kick off their NCAA Tournaments this week, with the women last night earning the No. 2 seed and the men seeded eighth.
The Maryland women’s team (25-6) will host the first and second rounds this weekend at the Xfinity Center. The Terrapins will face 15th-seeded Holy Cross (24-8), the Patriot League champion, in the round of 64 on Friday at approximately 2:30 p.m., with the winner advancing to face the victor of the matchup between No. 7-seeded Arizona (21-9) and No. 10-seeded West Virginia (19-11).
The Maryland men’s basketball team (21-12) will face No. 9 seed West Virginia in the first round at 12:15 p.m. on Thursday in Birmingham, Ala. The winner of that matchup will play on March 18 against the winner of the game between No. 1 seed Alabama and No. 16 seed Texas A&M Corpus Christi.
The Terps reached the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament in head coach Kevin Willard’s first season with the program, and are returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2020-21 campaign.
The Maryland women have earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last 13 seasons (but the 2020 NCAA Tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic). The Terrapins have earned a top four seed 22 times in their 28 NCAA Tournament appearances and 15 times in head coach Brenda Frese’s 18 NCAA Tournament appearances. The Terrapins were a No. 2 seed in 2021, 2016, 2012, 2007 and 2006 under Frese.
In their previous 17 appearances under Frese, the Terrapins are 38-16. Frese has led the Terrapins to 10 Sweet Sixteens, six Elite Eights, three Final Fours and the 2006 NCAA Championship.
Senior Diamond Miller was named a unanimous All-Big Ten first team pick earlier this month. Sophomore Shyanne Sellers was named to the All-Big Ten first team by the league’s media panel and the second team by the league’s head coaches. Abby Meyers earned second team honors from both groups, and senior Faith Masonius earned a Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.
NCAA Regionals will be held in Greenville, S.C. and Seattle, Wash. the weekend of March 24-27, with the Final Four scheduled in Dallas March 31-April 2.
The Terps are 1-1 all-time against Holy Cross, with the last meeting in 1997, when Maryland beat the Crusaders in the ECAC Holiday Festival in Worcester, Mass.
The men will make their 30th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament, where they have earned a 43-28 record. The Terps have reached the Sweet Sixteen 14 times, the Elite Eight four times, the Final Four twice, and won the NCAA National Championship title in 2002. The Terrapins have won 14 of their last 15 opening-round games dating back to 1997.
The NCAA Tournament bid marks Maryland’s sixth appearance in the last seven applicable years.
Maryland is led this year by Jahmir Young, who averages 16.1 points per game, followed by Hakim Hart (11.5 ppg), Donta Scott (11.5 ppg) and Julian Reese (11.2 ppg).
West Virginia is 19-14 overall and went 7-11 in the Big 12 this season. The Mountaineers lead the all-time series against the Terps, 24-14, with the teams last meeting in the 2015 NCAA Tournament, a 69-59 win by the Mountaineers.