The #1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the #2 Maryland Terrapins
advanced on to an Elite 8 match-up after beating the #5 St. Bonaventure
Bonnies and the #3 Texas A&M Aggies respectively at the Raleigh
Regional of...
Maryland Terrapins and Texas A&M Aggies warming up - Peter Koutroumpis, PKS Consulting
The #2 Maryland Terrapins will face the defending NCAA champions, the #3 Texas A&M Aggies in the first game of two being played at the Raleigh Regional of the 2012 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Tournament at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C. on Sunday.
The winner advances to play the winner of the match-up between the #1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the #5 St. Bonaventure Bonnies which takes place immediately following this game.
Maryland Terrapins moving on to the Elite 8 - Peter Koutroumpis, PKS Consulting
Maryland celebrates win over Texas A&M - Peter Koutroumpis, PKS Consulting
In-Game Notes
Tip-off in minutes....
1st half:
Maryland won the tip and Alyssa Thomas starts it off with a layup inside - Terps lead 2-0
Aggies get one back to tie it up and then Standish hits a three to put the defending champs up 5-2
Play is going back and forth as both teams are turning the ball over as both are playing a tight man-defense
Shots aren't falling easy for both the Terps and Aggies but Sydney Carter hits a three and is followed up by Kelsey Bone with a layup - 10-2 Aggies lead with 16:22 to go
Texas A&M' s tight defense and block creates and opportunity for Bone to score again - 12-2 Aggies
Maryland comes down and Thomas drives to the hoop hard - scores and gets the foul - she hits the FT - 12-5 Texas A&M leads
Big Block by Lynetta Kizer and the Terps bring it up the floor by Carter steals it from Laurin Mincy and scores the layup
Maryland misses he three-point attempt and Skylar Collins hits a three instead - 17-5 for the Aggies with 13:50 to play
Mincy hits a three to reduce the Aggies lead but A&M keep coming and are dropping shots from everywhere shooting 56% right now while Maryland is at 36%
Collins hits another three and the Aggies leading 29-14with 10:14 to go
Both teams have gotten the first 10 minute 'out-of-the-gate energy going and are settling into their offense a little more - Aggies continue to score
It looks as though Thomas got rolled on - limping on her ankle - Aggies lead 34-18 with 7:29 to play
Aggies are in a zone defense and Carter turns it over and passes to Standish for the easy layup
Maryland comes the other way and Hawkins scores an a layup to match it - 36-22 Aggies still lead
Karla Gilbert adds to the lead - 38-22 with 5:10 to go as Kizer goes to the line for two FT's - she makes both and narrows the lead to 38-24
Carter tries the lane but Mincy denies here with a big block to the roar of the crowd
Brena Mosely continues to control the point for the Terps and passes it to Mincy who goes up for a baseline jumper and is fouled - she drops both FT's - 38-26 Aggies lead
Gilbert battles with Kizer and scores - Hawkins comes back and his a jumper - 40-28 Texas A&M lead with 3:27 to play in the half
Maryland on an 8-2 run trying to narrow the gap before halftime
Aggies don't convert on their possession and Mincy make them pay for it hitting a long three-pointer - lead is only nine points - 40-31 with 2:29 to go
Thomas adds another short jumper and the Terps trailing only by seven with 2:22 to play
Terps continue to smother the Aggies and score points in transition
Aggies still fighting and lead is 44-41 but Carter can't get through the lane to score
Maryland attempts a center-court shot as the buzzer ends the half
Maryland: shooting 50% - leading scorer - Alyssa Thomas - 13 points
2nd half:
Maryland comes out and gets the first basket and narrows Aggies lead to one point 44-43
Aggies come back and extend the lead to three points
Maryland doesn't score and Bone pushes the lead to 48-43 with 18 minutes to go
Thomas is called for an offensive charge on Carter and the Aggies go the other way and Tyra White hits a baseline jumper - lead is now 50-43
As the Aggies high defensive set-up (3-2) continues to stifle the Terps, hthe Aggies continue to score - this time from the FT line as Carter is fouled by Mincy - Carter drops both FT's
Maryland finally gets two more on the board from Thomas and the Aggies turn it over
Great man defense by the Aggies as the Terps have had to work for their points as Mincy gets two
Texas A&M scores on two straight sequences while Maryland struggles on the offense
Aggies leading 58-47 with 14:18 to play and both teams are not slowing the pace that they started with
White scores on a great set-up from Carter but Mincy counters for Maryland - 60-50 Aggies lead with 13:21 to play
White scores two FT's and Kizer drops a jumper
Fouls are coming fast and furious in the paint at both ends
FT shooting for both teams is around 90% which could become significant by the end of this game
Standish goes for the layup and scores and gets fouled - Texas A&M leads 67-57 with 11:19 to play
Standish goes the line again while Moseley drops a three-pointer
Aggies get a layup inside and lead 70-60 and Mincy drives the lane - scores and gets fouled - she scores the FT - lead is now seven points with nine minutes to play
Mosely miss and easy layup but the Aggies miss too
Maryland has possession still trailing by seven and Thomas dribbles and crosses up before dropping a jumper fromt he FT as the Maryland crowd cheers
Bone gets a layup underneath and Maryland's Hawkins drive the baseline hard, is fouled and lands hard - 72-65 Aggies lead with 7:38 to play
Hawkins limps off the floor
Kizer takes FT's for Hawkins and hits one of two - lead is six points - 72-66
Texas A&M doesn't score and Kizer goes to the line again - one of two again
Aggies shooting has cooled and provided Maryland with scoring opportunities as Kizer goes up and scores and is fouled - she misses the FT - Aggies lead is down to three points - 72-69 with 5:30 to play
Texas A&M continues to struggle from the field and Maryland has possession with 5:13 remaining - still trailing by three points
Mincy cuts the lead to one point as the noise int he PNC Arena gets louder
Mosely fakes Carter left an then steps right and drops a floater to take the lead - 73-72
Standish answers back with a shot off the glass but that is answered with Kizer getting the layup underneath to take the lead again 75-74
A&M comes down and tries to set up the offense but throws it out-of-bounds - Maryland leads by one point with 3:09 to play
The Aggies shoot but don't hit it and rebound - called for traveling and Maryland has the ball and just as Kizer goes up to score, Mincy is called for the offensive charge - Terrapins still lead 75-74 with 1:57 to play
Aggies with possession and Carter brings it up and she tries to pass it Maryland's Thomas intercepts it and Mincy scores and easy layup to extend the lead to 77-74 with 1:27 to play
Standish brings the ball up now for the aggies and she gets the three-point look but misses
Moseley drives the lane misses but the rebound gets out to Thomas who drops and easy jumper in the lane - Maryland now leads 79-74 with 38 seconds remaining
Terps force a turnover and Mincy holds the ball in her end and is fouled and will shoot two to try to extend the lead - she hits both
Aggies Carter launches two separate three-point attempts and White adds one that misses entirely
Maryland controlling the ball and turn it over as Bone attempts a three that misses
Guard Skylar Diggins leads the top-seeded Notre Dame Fighting
Irish (32-3) into PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C. on Sunday when they tip-off
against the fifth-seeded St. Bonaventure Bonnies (31-3), rookies in the
Sweet 16...
The Maryland Terrapins (30-4) will hold the home court advantage
against the defending NCAA champion Texas A&M Aggies (24-10) when
the first game at the Raleigh Regional of the 2012 NCAA Women’s
Basketball Championship..
Women’s college basketball fans in the Triangle may not be
entirely familiar with the top-level teams that are in town to compete
in the Raleigh Regional of the 2012 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship
Tournament...
