Lady Terps Seem Comfortable in Raleigh awaiting A&M - Terp Talk

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In the minutes before Maryland’s practice here at PNC Arena, sophomore forward Alyssa Thomas wielded a foam roller like a Jedi Knight She and two teammates raced around the court, laughing, avoiding each other’s looping swings. Some coaches might have told their kids to cut it out, to stay focused, to stop using foam rollers like swords. But not Maryland’s coaching staff.

Coach Brenda Frese was still in a back room, finishing a TV interview, but if she’d been there, she’d probably have been more pleased than concerned. She spent last weekend watching her team press, stone-faced and tense, to do something it had been unable to do the season prior: win two home games to advance to the Sweet 16. Maryland needed to exhale, needed to relax. And the Terrapins certainly have. On Sunday, the No. 2 seeded Terps play No. 3 seeded Texas A&M, the defending national champion, in an NCAA regional semifinal (ESPN/ESPN3, 12 p.m. ET). Maryland is feeling free, and loose, and confident. They’re on a trip they make twice a year during ACC play. They have a familiarity with PNC Arena that none of the other teams — No. 1 seeded Notre Dame plays No. 5 seeded St. Bonaventure in Sunday’s second game (ESPN2/ESPN3, 2:30 p.m. ET) — can claim. Frese can even take her players to the same restaurant, Bonefish Grill, where they eat during the regular season.

So excuse the Maryland Terrapins if they’re ready to launch themselves from below the radar, which is where they’ve been flying for much of this season.

Maryland is led by sophomores Laurin Mincy, who averages 13.2 points a game, and Thomas, 17.1 points and eight rebounds per game. But they’ll only advance if they play “12 Strong,” which is the motto they adopted after losing at home to Virginia Tech, a game Thomas missed with injury. Since then, Frese has reinforced that on any given night, anyone can — and will — shine. Take the victory over Louisville, for example. Thomas was in foul trouble all night. She scored only six points. So instead of allowing the offense to crumble, Mincy basically doubled her scoring average, dropping 24 points on the Cardinals.

“For us to be able to get back into the national conversation this season makes me really proud of our team in terms of what we had to improve on to get us to this point,” Frese said. Despite being the defending champs, the Aggies have also flown below the radar for much of this season. That has a lot to do with the stars who graduated off last season’s team, but also because Texas A&M plays a “win by committee” style. It’s hard to peg a headline to a team that has a slew of really good players, but no shining star.