NCAA Tournament Elite Eight preview: No. 2-seed Maryland women’s basketball vs. No. 1-seed South Carolina

Maryland girls’s basketball broke an eight-year Elite Eight drought on Saturday, defeating No. 3-seed Notre Dame, 76-59.

Celebrations will probably be very quick lived, although, as Maryland’s ultimate impediment to reaching the Ultimate 4 comes within the type of reigning nationwide champion and No. 1-seed South Carolina, which has not misplaced a sport in 385 days.

Head coach Daybreak Staley’s squad is the odds-on favourite to repeat as champions, however the Terps will attempt to forestall the Gamecocks from reaching their third straight Ultimate 4.

Recreation info

Monday, March 27, 2023, 7 p.m. ET, Bon Secours Wellness Area, Greenville, South Carolina

TV: ESPN

Streaming: Watch ESPN

How did they get right here?

No. 2-seed Maryland Terrapins (28-6, 15-3 Massive Ten)

The Terps cruised previous No. 15-seed Holy Cross within the spherical of 64 earlier than reaching the Candy 16 for the third straight season, as they rolled previous No. 7-seed Arizona behind a powerful second half.

Maryland introduced the momentum it in-built Faculty Park to Greenville and beat Notre Dame for the second time this season on Saturday, this time by 17 factors.

Maryland now finds itself in its eleventh Elite Eight in program historical past (5-5). It final reached a regional ultimate in 2015, taking down Tennessee earlier than falling to eventual nationwide champion UConn within the Ultimate 4.

No. 1-seed South Carolina Gamecocks (35-0, 16-0 SEC)

South Carolina is one of the best group within the nation, and has been for the previous two seasons. Driving a 41-game successful streak, the Gamecocks wish to change into the Tenth-ever undefeated nationwide champions.

Led by projected first total WNBA draft choose Aliyah Boston, the Gamecocks had been named the No. 1 total seed and are heavy favorites to repeat as champions.

The SEC champions unsurprisingly cruised to victory within the opening three rounds of the NCAA Event. They took down No. 16-seed Norfolk State and No. 8-seed USF by 32 and 31 factors, respectively, earlier than downing No. 4-seed UCLA, 59-43 within the Candy 16.

What occurred final time

When these groups final met on Nov. 11, Maryland was a totally completely different squad. Head coach Brenda Frese didn’t know what she had in her group or a set rotation. Ranked No. 17 on the time, Maryland was additionally with out All-American Diamond Miller, and the Terps fell 81-56 at XFINITY Heart.

The Gamecocks are outscoring their opponents by a median of 30 factors per sport this season, which makes the 25-point loss barely much less obtrusive.

Maryland truly entered halftime down simply six, and was by no means actually out of it till the fourth quarter, courtesy of a 21-point outing from senior guard Abby Meyers. However, the Gamecocks’ measurement and energy was simply an excessive amount of.

Boston completed with a 16-point, 13-rebound double-double as South Carolina doubled up Maryland in paint scoring and had 55 rebounds to the Terps’ 32.

Three issues to look at

1. Arizona was massive. Notre Dame was larger. South Carolina is greatest. South Carolina is the tallest group within the nation, rating first in each rebounding margin and blocks per sport. An undersized Maryland group was in a position to make use of spectacular transition play in opposition to Arizona and Notre Dame to reduce the affect of the scale distinction, however South Carolina is a unique beast. Boston (6-foot-5) and Kamilla Cardoso (6-foot-7) are two of probably the most dominant gamers within the nation. It’s a seemingly unbelievable process for Maryland to compete with Carolina’s bigs, however the Terps have confirmed individuals unsuitable time and time once more this season.

2. It’s basically a house sport for the Gamecocks. Bon Secours Wellness Area, the positioning of Monday’s sport, is a 90-minute drive from Columbia, South Carolina. It’ll be filled with Gamecock followers. A road-like surroundings in an enormous sport will probably be acquainted for the Terps, who needed to play the Massive Ten Event semifinal in opposition to Iowa in entrance of 12,000 followers — virtually all of which had been rooting for the Hawkeyes.

3. Can the Terps pull off the upset? The chances are in opposition to Maryland, but it surely’s March, and this yr’s match has been stuffed with upsets. For the primary time since 2009, the Candy 16 didn’t embrace each No. 1 seed. Maryland is 9-4 in opposition to ranked groups this season, with 5 wins in opposition to top-10 groups. The final time Maryland had 5 top-10 wins in a season was in 2005-06, when it received the nationwide championship. Frese is trying to take Maryland to its seventh Ultimate 4 in program historical past.

The highway forward

South Carolina is trying to punch its ticket to Dallas and attain the Ultimate 4 for the third straight season. However, Maryland is in search of to play within the nationwide semifinals for the primary time since 2015. The winner of Monday’s sport will tackle the winner of No. 2-seed Iowa and No. 5-seed Louisville.