College Park, MD – Alyssa Thomas scored a game-high 28 points as the Maryland Terrapins cruised to a comfortable 74-49 win over the Michigan State Spartans in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at the Comcast Center.
Also scoring in double figures for fourth-seeded Maryland (26-7) were Katie Rutan and Tianna Hawkins with 18 and 12 points, respectively, the latter clearing a game-high 11 rebounds as well. Coming up two points shy of her own double-double was Alicia DeVaughn who pulled down 10 boards.
The fifth-seeded Spartans (25-9) were paced by Becca Mills and Annalise Pickrel with 12 points apiece.
MSU led by a basket early on in the meeting, but the team then allowed the Terps to shoot 51.7 percent from the floor in the first half, en route to a 34-23 margin at the break.
In the second half Maryland pulled away on the strength of 5-of-7 shooting beyond the arc, while holding the visitors to just 2-of-8 on the perimeter in the period.
Both teams turned the ball over 16 times, but Maryland made up for those miscues by posting a 39-25 rebounding advantage and outscoring the Spartans at the charity stripe, 11-2, not to mention 21-9 behind the 3-point line.
With the victory the Terps are headed to the regional semifinals where they will contend against the Connecticut Huskies who defeated Vanderbilt on Monday by a score of 77-44.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.