Terps finish off the Spartans in dramatic fashion
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Sarah Te-Biasu matched her career high of seven-made threes to lead the No. 4-seed Terrapins to a dramatic first round victory over the No. 13-seed Norfolk State Spartans, 82-69 at Xfinity Center Saturday evening.
Te-Biasu, a graduate transfer from Virginia Commonwealth University, erupted in the second half of the contest after having a slow start in the first half. She was the leading scorer overall, finishing with 22 points. 16 of those points came in the second half.
“I was just confident. I saw at the half, I hit one, and I was like, okay, shoot the next one,” Te-Biasu said. “My teammates were like, keep shooting, keep shooting, we need you to shoot.”
The Terps shot under 37% going into the second half but picked up to finish the game shooting 43% overall. Their game adjusted to the aggressiveness that the Spartans threw at them.
The difference between the Terps first half and the Terps second half was almost night and day.
The Spartans led the Terps 32-30 heading into halftime. The Terps opened the second half with Te-Biasu cashing in back-to-back threes. Shyanne Sellers was sent to the foul line for her extra points back-to-back to give the Terps a cushion, 41-38.
Sellers, who finished with 12 points and four rebounds, drained three back-to-back foul shots. However, Norfolk’s Kierra Wheeler answered back with a three-pointer of her own at the other end of the court. Wheeler ended her night with 20 points and seven rebounds.
“I thought at halftime we were able to reset, take a deep breath, and allow a lot of these kids, first time on the big stage, to settle in,” said head coach of Maryland women’s basketball, Brenda Frese, “And I thought our defense controlled things. We were able to get more shots. And I thought Sarah carried us for a while, then we were able to get KK [Kaylene Smikle] and Shy involved.”
Kaylene Smikle capped her night off with 21 points. Earlier this month, Smikle was named first-team All-Big Ten honoree by the media and second team by coaches in the conference. Sellers was also named All-Big Ten first team for the third year in a row.
The No. 4-seed and the No. 13-seed battled it out until eventually the Terps pulled away and placed their names on the second round bracket in the hallway next to their locker room.
Sellers put her hands together under her cheek and mouthed “night-night” to Norfolk’s fan section as Te-Biasu cashed in two more points to put a dagger on the night.
“I know every possession mattered. We had to come out and play 40 minutes hard. We started off slow, but we ticked it up,” Smikle said. “And I feel like we did much better in the second half, and I think we played more together. We were more aggressive, and I think that had a big part in it.”
In the opening minutes of the first half, Norfolk State jumped out to a smooth 10-0 lead but a few mistakes on the Spartan’s end allowed the Terps take over the lead, 18-12.
One key to Norfolk’s success was their shifty defense allowing them to steal with ease from the Terps. Maryland committed 16 total turnovers compared to Norfolk State’s 11 due to the Spartan’s competitive defense. 12 of Maryland’s 16 turnovers were committed in the first half with only four in the second half.
This was the first meeting between the two schools despite sharing a state border. Norfolk came into the tournament with their highest seeding, No. 13, since they’ve become an NCAA Division I school. They were previously a part of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association when it was in Division II in 1997.
Maryland improves to 22-5 overall when it comes to winning first round games during the NCAA tournament. They also improve to 23-4 when it comes to playing at home in March.
Maryland will continue their journey in College Park, taking on the No. 5 Alabama Crimson Tide on Monday in the second round of the NCAA women’s tournament.