College Park, Md. — Salatevias and Kayleen Smickle led 12-2 runs in the fourth quarter, with fourth seed Maryland postponing 13th Norfolk State 82-69 on Saturday to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Terrapins (24–7) host the fifth seed Alabama on Monday, earning a Sweet 16 spot on the line, but it wasn’t easy to advance against the Norfolk State (30–5) team who took part in a 19-game winning streak. The crude Spartan, who ran only four times in the beginning of the fourth quarter before a series of external shots by Te-Biasu and Smikle, gave Maryland some breathing chambers.
“I think one of the things we focused on is to settle down,” Smikle said. “I think we started the first half and a lot of shots were in a hurry or not moving. We were just not playing basketball.”
Te-Biasu finished with 22 points, while Smikle scored 21 points. Kierra Wheeler led Norfolk State with 20.
Norfolk State scored the first seven points of the game, leading 32-30 at halftime, but Tevias made a pair of three-pointers to start the 30-point third quarter at Maryland. When the fouls were stacked on the Spartans, which included a couple of three-point shooters, the Terps made all 12 free throws for that period, earning a fourth-high eight-point advantage.
Norfolk State coach Larry Vickers was disappointed with Fouls and later felt his team deserved more respect, but said his players made some mental mistakes.
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“We were scoring, but we gave up 30 points. It’s not like we are,” he said. “Was the moment too big for us? I don’t think so, but we feel a little undisciplined.”
Still, some Quick Norfolk State Baskets were forced to get the remaining timeouts of Maryland coach Brenda Frise scores between 60-56 and 8:36. After that, Te-Biasu made three more, and Smikle added two more. Three more Te-Biasu’s three more turned 72-58, and all of a sudden the Spartans were calling for time.
Take home
Norfolk: This is the best species the Spartans have won in this tournament, and they showed why, setting the tone early for a competitive game and repeatedly fought back when the Terps tried to pull away. However, the foul was extremely painful in the second half.
Maryland: Terrapin turned the ball more than 12 times in the first half. I wanted to avoid it against the Norfolk State’s fast-paced team, but I did better care for the ball in the last two quarters to avoid upset.
“It took a little longer than I expected,” Free said. “It took 20 minutes and halftime to be able to reset, so I hope we can go back to the way we’re used to playing as we move forward.”
Key Statistics
Maryland shot a 9-6 from the 3-point range in the second half. Without that, Terps would have been vulnerable.
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Maryland attempts to make the appearance of the 12th sweet 16 under Frise.
By Noah Trister
