Maryland fans feel like they were facing more than just South Carolina in Sweet 16

The Maryland women's basketball did themselves proud in their fourth Sweet 16 appearance in the last five years. The Terrapins fell short of the Final Four once again, but they faced an uphill battle against No. 1 seed South Carolina, who is the sport's juggernaut at this point in time.

Despite the 79-74 defeat, head coach Brenda Frese and her team gained several fans nationwide for their performance and the grit that they displayed over the last two games. However, some felt that there were disparities in the way that the referees called the game on Friday, which spurred quite a social media reaction.

Maryland fans complain about reffing vs. South Carolina in Sweet 16

While the foul count was relatively similar as Maryland had 19 and South Carolina had 18, the perception while watching the game was that the Gamecocks were the beneficiary of more momentum-changing or play-altering calls.

One fan pointed out that while South Carolina was in the bonus, Maryland had only drawn two fouls in the half.

Another fan shared the same sentiment as they pointed out that a majority of the fouls in the second half were called against the Terrapins.

Some fans asserted that South Carolina was not playing well, and the referees actually bailed them out on Friday evening.

There was one specific call toward the end of the game where South Carolina's Raven Johnson seemingly fell on her own, but she still drew a whistle from the referees. One fan pointed out this exact instance.

One fan gave Maryland their flowers despite the poor reffing, while some posted memes indicating that the referees were paid off by South Carolina.

South Carolina played well when they needed to, so Dawn Staley and her squad absolutely earned their way into the Elite 8. But it is going to take some time before Terrapins fans are ready to move past the antics of the game on Friday.