Minneapolis, Minnesota In the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals on Friday, Maryland women’s basketball stunned fourth-ranked and regular-season champion Ohio State, 82-61, behind the play of Shyanne Sellers, who finished with 25 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists.
The Terps (19-12), led by 19-point scorers Brinae Alexander and Jakia Brown-Turner, as well as 15 points and 11 rebounds from Faith Masonius, put on the kind of show that should put them on the safe side of the bubble for an at-large entrance to the NCAA Tournament.
Sellers declared, “I’m telling you straight now: The Maryland team you see in March is not the same team you see at the beginning.” “We may have just demonstrated that,”
On Saturday afternoon, Maryland will take on Nebraska; this will be the Terps’ tenth trip to the semifinals in eleven years. Shortly after the Terps had completed exacting revenge on Ohio State for their two regular-season losses, the No. 5 seed Huskers defeated the No. 4 seed Spartans, 73-61, in their quarterfinal match.
Maryland defeated their first opponent of the season, a ranked team, with a score of 55–31 in rebounds and 19–5 in second-chance points. The victory over a top-five team is also the Terps’ first since they defeated No. 4 Louisville, 76-73, in the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight on April 1, 2014.
Coach Brenda Frese said, “To finally get over that hump today when it matters most in the most pressure-filled time is a testament to these guys.”
For the Buckeyes (25-5), Rebeka Mikulasikova scored 16 points and Taylor Thierry added 13 points. However, their hopes of earning the top seed in the NCAA Tournament were dashed. Ohio State has suffered two straight losses.
“Maryland had an excellent game. They were well-prepared. We played like the No. 1 seed and everyone was just expected to lie down, and they played like a team that might have needed this to qualify for the tournament, according to Buckeyes coach Kevin McGuff.
It was the first time the Terps have been in the second round of the tournament since joining the league nine years ago, and Maryland defeated Illinois on Thursday after being seeded eighth in the bracket.
With Diamond Miller, the second overall pick in the WNBA draft, now playing for the Minnesota Lynx, coach Brenda Frese’s team found the season to be tedious. The Terps lost nine league games, which is more than they lost in the three seasons prior combined, after going 137-20 in conference play over their first nine years in the Big Ten.
Despite this, Maryland has a genuine chance to win this weekend because to three recent graduates who are all starting quarterbacks (Browner, Masonius, and Alexander have a combined 16 years of collegiate experience) and third-year player Sellers.
The Aurora, Ohio native, whose father, Brad Sellers, was an NBA player and Buckeyes player, shot 9 out of 17 from the field and ignited her squad during crucial times.
