Maryland Marches on to the Sweet Sixteen

The University of Maryland has made a massive splash in March Madness this year. Both the women’s and men’s teams, seeded 4th in their respective brackets, have won thrillers to advance to the Sweet 16.

In the men’s bracket, the Terps beat the Colorado State Rams (12) on Sunday in a 72-71 thriller. The game was very close pretty much the whole way through. The Rams, after the first half, led by 7, and in the dying seconds of the game, were down 70-68. That was until senior guard, Jalen Lake, gave his team a boost with 6.1 seconds left with a massive three. On the next play, Maryland marched up the court and called a timeout. Then with 3.7 seconds remaining in the game, the Terps inbounded the ball to standout freshman center, Derik Queen, who took it to the paint and hit a fade-away floater off the glass right before time expired.

Queen, a Baltimore native, saved the season for Maryland and added yet another memorable moment to his repertoire. After the buzzer-beater, the game was called the highlight of the tournament (thus far) by several commentators, reporters, and fans.

All in all, Maryland played a solid game, with their top 5 players scoring 11+ points, but the team will have to tighten up to continue their successes against the Florida Gators (1) in San Fransisco (Thursday, March 27, 7:39 pm ET).

This win, big for UMD for so many reasons, occurred in the dying seconds of the game, which also happens to be the same fashion the Terps have lost to in their past four leading up to the tournament.

This is Maryland’s first time in the Sweet Sixteen since 2016, and they look to build off their standout performances and storylines to continue their successful run in the Big Dance.

The University of Maryland’s women’s basketball team played Alabama on Monday, March 24. The game started and ended with back-and-forth scores. After a seventeen-point comeback, the second-largest comeback for the Terrapins this season, they ended up securing the win.

Alabama’s Sarah Ashlee Barker had a career-high in points in this game, scoring 45 while shooting 68% from the field. This was good enough for the 4th most points scored in women’s tournament history, which speaks to how great of a game she played.

Despite Barker’s historic performance, Maryland was able to effectively lock her down defensively and secure a double overtime win. With less than one second remaining in the second overtime, Sarah Te-Biasu came up huge and blocked the inbound pass to Barker to seal the deal for a 111-108 for the Terrapins. Their phenomenal effort in a nail-biting game catapulted them to reach the Sweet Sixteen for the fourth time in five years.

They will take on South Carolina, the number one seed, on Friday, March 28. The Gamecocks are 32-3 on the season and one of the best teams remaining in the tournament. Maryland will have to limit turnovers and capitalize on key opportunities against all-time great coach Dawn Staley.