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Maryland Basketball: Women Earn a Fifth Seed

By Wesley Brown

TAMPA, FL - APRIL 05: Head coach Brenda Frese of the Maryland Terrapins reacts in the second half against the Connecticut Huskies during the NCAA Women's Final Four Semifinal at Amalie Arena on April 5, 2015 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FL - APRIL 05: Head coach Brenda Frese of the Maryland Terrapins reacts in the second half against the Connecticut Huskies during the NCAA Women's Final Four Semifinal at Amalie Arena on April 5, 2015 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images) /
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Brenda Frese and her team were announced a fifth seed in the 2018 Women’s NCAA Tournament.

This news comes after a rather disappointing end to the season, which in turn cost them the ability to hold the first and second rounds at home like they usually get to.

Maryland had a stretch of three straight conference losses that ended up giving Ohio State the Big Ten regular season title. The Terrapins had a shot at revenge in the conference championship, but lost by 10 to the Buckeyes.

Ever since joining the Big Ten, Maryland has won at least a share of every Women’s Basketball conference title, but this year they move into the postseason empty handed for the first time.

This all comes after a mass exodus that included Destiny Slocum, Kiah Gillespie and Jenna Staiti transferring out of the program.

Road Ahead

Maryland will travel to Raleigh, NC to face the 12th seed Princeton Tigers. These teams met in College Park during the 2015 season and made headlines as Barak Obama’s niece was on the team and he picked them for the upset. The Terrapins went on to win 85-70, and a similar result should be expected this year.

With the 5th seed means that the Terrapins will most likely be underdogs after their first round matchup. The winner of their game plays the winner of 4th seeded NC State and 13th seeded Elon.

This quadrant of the bracket is rather tough, as Mississippi State earned the one seed. The Bulldogs ran through their schedule, going 32-0 before losing to South Carolina in the conference championship.

Maryland’s draw in the tournament have often been difficult, but taking this one game at a time could help them advance further than expected this year. The journey starts Friday March 16th at noon on ESPN2 against Princeton.

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