NCAA Tournament 2017 preview: Maryland takes on Oregon in Sweet 16

Maryland women’s basketball continues its NCAA Tournament run when it takes on No. 10-seed Oregon in the Sweet Sixteen in Bridgeport.

The No. 3-seed Terps crushed No. 14-seed Bucknell, 103-61, and No. 6-seed West Virginia, 83-57, to advance to the 13th Sweet Sixteen in program history last weekend.

It looked like Maryland was on a collision course with former ACC rival Duke, but point guard Kyra Lambert tore her ACL in the Blue Devils’ first-round matchup. Duke never recovered, and the Ducks pulled off the upset, 74-65.

The Terps are looking to advance to their 11th Elite Eight in program history, and seniors Brionna Jones and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough are closing in on some milestones. Jones needs just six points to pass Vicky Bullet’s 1988-89 single-season scoring record of 686, and Jones and Walker-Kimbrough need just one win to tie Marissa Coleman and Kristi Toliver as the winningest senior class in program history with 126.

Tip-off is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. ET, and UConn will take on UCLA 30 minutes after Maryland’s game ends.

Oregon Ducks (22-13, 8-10 Pac-12)

Head coach: Kelly Graves is 59-41 in three seasons in Eugene. He was previously the head coach at Gonzaga for 14 seasons, where he led the Bulldogs to seven NCAA Tournaments and an Elite Eight appearance in 2011. He has a 441-203 record in 20 seasons as a coach.

Players to watch

Ruthy Hebard, freshman, forward, 6’4, No. 24. Hebard leads the team in points (14.9) and rebounds (8.7) per game, as well as field-goal percentage (.605). She had 20 points and 15 rebounds against Duke, but should have her hands full containing Jones inside.

Sabrina Ionescu, freshman, guard, 5’10, No. 20. The Pac-12 Freshman of the Year averages 14.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game. She also shoots almost 41 percent on three-pointers and 81 percent on free throws, and her four triple-doubles are one shy of the Pac-12 record. She won ESPNw’s Freshman of the Year award, and was named National Player of the Year by USA Today and MaxPreps following her senior year of high school.

Lexi Bando, junior, guard, 5’9, No. 10. Bando averages 10.4 points a game and shoots a team-leading 47.7 percent on three-pointers. She struggled from beyond the arc last weekend, going just 5-for-17. A Eugene native, she attended high school just 6.5 miles from Oregon’s campus.

Maite Cazorla, sophomore, guard, 5’10, No. 5. The sophomore from Spain averages 7.8 points and 4.4 assists per game. She played a key part in the win over Duke, scoring 17 points and hitting four threes.

Strength

Three-point shooting. The Ducks shoot 39 percent on threes, the fourth-best percentage in all of Division I. However, they shot just 31 percent last weekend, and will need to make them at a higher clip if they want to pull off another upset.

Weakness

Forcing turnovers. Oregon forces just 13.46 turnovers a game, which is 295th in Division I. Maryland averages a national-best 90.1 points per game, so the Ducks will have to force some turnovers to try to keep up.

Prediction

Maryland wins, 85-71 .