Maryland women’s basketball surges past Notre Dame, 76-59, to reach Elite Eight for first time since 2015

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Sweetness gave way to joy for Maryland women’s basketball.

For the first time in eight years, the No. 2 seed Terps turned a Sweet Sixteen appearance into an Elite Eight date, defeating No. 3 seed Notre Dame, 76-59, in an NCAA Tournament regional semifinal Saturday afternoon at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.

Sophomore shooting guard Shyanne Sellers scored 16 of her 18 points in the second half and racked up eight assists, five rebounds and three steals to propel Maryland (28-6) to its first victory in the Sweet Sixteen since March 28, 2015, when that squad, a No. 1 seed at the time, beat No. 4 seed Duke, 65-55, in Spokane, Washington. The team ended a run of three consecutive losses in the Sweet Sixteen.

Senior shooting guard Diamond Miller scored 14 of her 18 points in the second half and added five rebounds, four steals and two assists, senior shooting guard Lavender Briggs scored 12 points and senior shooting guard Abby Meyers chipped in 11 points and four steals.

The Terps will play in their first NCAA Tournament regional final since March 30, 2015, when that squad defeated No. 2 seed Tennessee, 58-48. They will face the winner of the other regional semifinal between No. 1 overall seed and reigning national champion South Carolina (34-0) and No. 4 seed UCLA (27-9) on Monday at 7 p.m.

If the Gamecocks are the opponent, the Terps are 3-7 overall against top seeds in the NCAA Tournament. Their last meeting against a No. 1 seed was March 25, 2022, when that team was bounced in the Sweet Sixteen by Stanford, 72-66, in Spokane. Their last win against a top seed took place March 30, 2014, when that squad upended Tennessee, 76-63, in the Sweet Sixteen in Louisville, Kentucky.

Maryland has never faced South Carolina in the postseason but has dropped the past three meetings to slide to 2-4 in the series. The teams played Nov. 11 in College Park, with the Gamecocks cruising to an 81-56 romp.

The Terps’ victory continued what has been a comeback story. In a span of 12 days after that season-ending setback to Stanford, five players — power forward Mimi Collins, shooting guard Taisiya Kozlova, shooting guard Channise Lewis, point guard Ashley Owusu and center Angel Reese — entered the transfer portal. The departures of Reese, a Baltimore native and St. Frances graduate who was the first player in school history to average a double-double in both points (17.8) and rebounds (10.6) since Angie Scott in 1975, and Owusu, who scored 14.3 points per game, were particularly frustrating.

Maryland improved to 20-8 as the No. 2 seed. The program also raised its all-time series record against Notre Dame to 6-5 and earned its first NCAA Tournament victory over the Fighting Irish in three meetings after losses in 2012 and 2014.

Notre Dame (27-6) got 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists from sophomore point guard Sonia Citron but fell in the regional semifinal for the second consecutive year.

The Fighting Irish were a shell of the team that took the Terps to the brink Dec. 1 before Miller’s last-second jumper sealed a 74-72 win. They clearly missed a pair of starters in All-American point guard Olivia Miles (season-ending right knee injury on Feb. 26) and shooting guard Dara Mabrey (right ACL tear and tibial plateau fracture on Jan. 22), who had combined for 22 points, nine assists and seven rebounds in that earlier meeting.

The first half of the first quarter was a game of runs. Maryland opened the game with five straight points, Notre Dame answered with six of its own, and the Terps replied with six consecutive points for an 11-6 lead with 4:09 remaining.

Armed with a 16-14 lead after the opening quarter, Maryland got a 3-pointer from Briggs to assume a 19-14 advantage just 16 seconds into the second. But the Terps would not score another point for 6:08, opening the door for the Fighting Irish to reel off 13 straight points for a 27-19 advantage.

A 3-pointer by Meyers kick-started a 12-5 burst over the final 3:36 to draw Maryland within one, 32-31, at halftime.

This story will be updated.

NCAA Tournament Elite Eight

No. 2 seed Maryland vs. No. 1 seed South Carolina or No. 4 seed UCLA

Greenville, South Carolina

Monday, 7 p.m.

TV: TBD