Shatori Walker-Kimbrough scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Brene Moseley added 16 points and seven assists, but Washington shocked second-seeded Maryland 74-65 Monday night in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Kelsey Plum scored 32 points to lead the Huskies to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 15 years.
Washington led by eight points after the first quarter, gave the lead away by halftime but outscored Maryland 45-31 in the second half to eliminate a team looking for a fifth straight appearance in the Sweet 16 and, ultimately, its third successive trip to the Final Four.
Plum, the nation’s third-leading scorer, went 8 for 24 from the floor and 13 of 14 at the foul line. Talia Walton chipped in with 20 points, including a huge basket from beyond the arc, and Chantel Osahor had 15 rebounds.
After a long 3-pointer by Plum as the shot clock expired put Washington in front 52-44 with 9 minutes left, an upset appeared to be a distinct possibility.
Maryland cut the gap to three points, but Osahor answered with a flat-footed 3-pointer, Plum sank two free throws and added a three-point play for a 60-49 lead.
Todd
I’m no basketball coach but the game plan I envisioned Sunday was very different from the game plan drawn up by Coach Frese and her staff. I thought the Terps needed to speed the pace of play by pressing on defense. (They weren’t going to be able to speed the game up very much on offense because Washington was generally conceding rebounds by dropping three or four players once they put up a shot. They had 5 legitimate offensive rebounds as one of their 7 total came on a ball Maryland couldn’t secure and one came on the first of two missed free throws.)
I thought this was going to be a halftime adjustment when the Terps went into a press after Confroy made two free throws on MD’s second possession of the third quarter (that created a quick turnover) but then never really saw it again.
There are some other strategies I would have used but Brenda certainly knows more about basketball and her team than I do so I’ll leave them unsaid.
The bottom line is that Washington played with more desire and passion and Maryland failed to make them uncomfortable for any significant stretch of the game.
As Mike Tyson said, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Washington punched the Terps in the mouth last night.
· 11/12/2019