Four national title contenders for one Final Four spot.
That is the dilemma facing the top teams in the Dayton Region of the NCAA women?s basketball tournament, a group that includes defending national champion Maryland. The Terps (27-5), the region?s No. 2 seed, begin their title defenseSunday against Ivy League champion and 15th seed Harvard (15-12).
If the Terps win that game and then defeat the winner of Mississippi-Texas Christian in the second round, they would likely face Big 12 champion and third-seeded Oklahoma in the Sweet 16. Another Maryland win would likely produce an Elite Eight matchup against either fourth-seeded Ohio State (28-3), the Big Ten regular-season champion, or top-seeded Tennessee (28-3), the Southeastern Conference regular-season champ.
“Any of these regions would be tough,” Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. “Every team that makes the NCAA tournament is going to come out ready to play. We saw that last year with Utah, who had a chance to go to the Final Four. We just have to come out ready to play for 40 minutes.”
Frese said that getting through the Dayton Region won?t be easy, but she feels like Maryland is ready for the challenge after going through the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Terps? ACC schedule this season boasted six teams that are in the NCAA tournament, including two No. 1 seeds in Duke (30-1) and North Carolina (30-3).
Frese said the ACC helped Maryland prepare to go up against some of the top players in the country, including North Carolina?s Ivory Latta and Duke?s Alison Bales and Lindsey Harding. Frese knows there will be plenty of star power in the NCAA tournament, as well.
“Obviously, you have Courtney Paris of Oklahoma and Candace Parker of Tennessee, not to mention Jessica Davenport of Ohio State as players that are up for player of the year,” Frese said. “These teams are well-coached, and we?re just going to have to come out and execute our game plan.”
Maryland junior guard Ashleigh Newman said competing in the Dayton Region provides extra motivation in practice for the Terps because they know any of the top four seeds, or even a sleeper like fifth-seeded Middle Tennessee State, is capable of getting to the Final Four.
“[Basketball analysts] said we have the toughest bracket, and that is definitely a challenge to the team to step up and play hard,” Newman said.
MARYLAND NOTES
» Maryland faced four teams from the Dayton Region during the regular season: Middle Tennessee, Marist, Mississippi and Texas Christian.
» The Terps went 4-0 against those teams, winning by an average margin of nearly 20 points a game.
