Maryland women’s basketball receives No. 3 seed in NCAA Tournament

As expected, after a Big Ten regular-season title and a loss in the conference tournament championship, Maryland women’s basketball has received a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. The Terrapins are part of the Albany region.

Maryland will start its tournament run on Saturday at 11 a.m. in College Park, where the Terps will face off against No. 14-seed Radford, winners of the Big South conference tournament. Should they win, they’d host the winner of No. 6 UCLA and No. 11 Tennessee in the Round of 32 on Monday.

After posting a 9-3 mark through nonconference play, the Highlanders dominated in the Big South, finishing the regular season in first place with a 17-1 mark. In the conference tournament, they won by an average of 10 points in three games, earning an automatic bid into the bid dance. Radford is currently on an 18-game winning streak.

The Terps enter the tournament with a 28-4 overall record and a 17-4 mark in conference play, including the Big Ten tournament games. Their place in the Associated Press Top-25 has remained at No. 9 for the past few weeks, and their RPI currently sits at 14.

While being placed in New York means no flying for the Terps, it also pits them against an extremely tough potential opponent in the Sweet 16. Should both teams advance, Maryland would have to face No. 2-seed Connecticut, led by Hall of Famer Geno Auriemma. The Huskies are a staple in the Albany region due to their incredible fan support. No. 1-seed Louisville or No. 4-seed Oregon State (with former Terps point guard Destiny Slocum) could potentially be waiting on the other side of the region in the Elite Eight, with the winner of that matchup headed to Tampa, Florida, for the Final Four.

It’s the 16th tournament berth in Brenda Frese’s 18-year tenure in College Park, and it’s the 11th time Maryland has earned a top-four seed. The last time the Terrapins made the Final Four was in 2015, and the last Sweet 16 appearance was in 2017. Maryland’s last national championship came in 2006.

The selection committee was scheduled to unveil its bracket at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN Monday. However, due to an error on the behalf of the worldwide leader, we got to see the bracket over three hours early. Here is the bracket in its entirety.