Terps to Tampa

Maryland’s Lexie Brown hit a 3-pointer to tie the game with 7:45 remaining and the Terrapins outscored Tennessee 14-4 the rest of the game Monday to win 58-48 in Spokane and earn their second straight trip to the Final Four.

The No. 2 seed Lady Vols hit only one of their last 11 shots and lost a heartbreaker after coming from 17 points behind in a thriller Saturday to beat Gonzaga 73-69 in overtime.

“It’s still pretty surreal,” Maryland coach Brenda Frese said, “just the fact that we’re going back to the Final Four.”

The Terrapins all had a piece of the net from the Spokane Arena in their hats as they took questions after the game.

But the celebration for Maryland (34-2) will be short-lived before it’s back to business. Up next: Connecticut (36-1), which beat Dayton 91-70 Monday after the Flyers led by a point at halftime.

“UConn is a force to be reckoned with,” said Brown, who led the Terrapins with 15 points. “We’re just going to give them all we’ve got.”

The game Monday was a rematch of the game last year when Maryland upset Tennessee in the Sweet 16. The Lady Vols (30-6) were striving to get back to Tampa, Florida, which was the site of former coach Pat Summitt’s last title in 2008.

“We wanted it more than anything in the world,” said Tennessee guard Ariel Massengale, who led all scorers with 16 points.

When the game ended, Massengale, who was the only Tennessee player to score in double figures, fell to her knees and pounded the floor as she cried.

“Understanding that this is the last time that we’ll ever wear this uniform,” she said, “it hurts.”

The game started with both teams struggling to make shots. The teams traded the lead five times before Brown hit a jumper just before halftime to give Maryland a 22-21 lead at the break. Both teams shot just over 30 percent from the floor and went a combined 1 for 12 from the 3-point arc.

The shots began to fall in the second half as the teams again traded the lead five more times. Brown then hit another big shot, a 3-pointer, that gave the Terrapins the lead for good with 4:29 to play.

“They hit big baskets when they needed to,” Tennessee coach Holly Warlick said. “That’s what great guards do.”

Senior forward Cierra Burdick, who led the Lady Vols with 22 points and 15 rebounds against Gonzaga, finished with nine points and six rebounds against Maryland.

“The ball just wouldn’t drop,” said Burdick, who went 4 of 13 from the floor including a 3-point attempt that didn’t come close to hitting anything. We “just couldn’t get into a flow.”

After hitting 21 of 22 from the free-throw line against Gonzaga, Tennessee only got to the line once and Bashaara Graves missed it.

After the slow first half, Maryland shot 39.6 percent for the game and 5 of 12 from the 3-point arc. Brionna Jones finished with 14 points and nine rebounds. Shatori Walker-Kimbrough had 12 points and Laurin Mincy scored 10.

The Terrapins also scored 15 points off 11 Tennessee turnovers and outscored the Lady Volunteers 11-5 in second-chance points.

Notes

Gonzaga’s Sunny Greinacher was named to the Spokane Regional All-Tournament Team along with Ariel Massengale and Cierra Burdick from Tennessee and Brionna Jones from Maryland. Her teammate, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, was named most outstanding player.

After 8,686 mostly Gonzaga fans flooded the Arena on Saturday, Frese said it was “phenomenal” to have 5,032 people attend the regional final on Monday.

“To see the game between (Gonzaga) and Tennessee, just one of the best,” Frese said. “To see the amount of numbers that came back … says a lot about the community. It’s a place for us … that falls in our hearts as a really special place.”