Maryland lands No. 2 seed in NCAA women’s tournament bracket reveal

As if the college basketball world needed any reminder about the circumstances the upcoming women’s tournament will play through, UConn announced coach Geno Auriemma had tested positive for the coronavirus, just hours before the NCAA revealed seedings for the competition.

His Huskies squad earned a No. 1 seed later Monday night. They’ll travel to San Antonio for this week’s tournament without their coach, and Auriemma expects to rejoin the team on March 24.

“This revelation is a reminder that, while there is a light at the end of the tunnel,” Auriemma said in a statement, “we are not on the other side of this pandemic yet.”

But the rest of the women’s tournament field was announced Monday, with games set to begin Sunday in Texas. There’s a semblance of normalcy returning, one year after the spread of the same pandemic quashed hopes of holding a 2020 NCAA women’s tournament.

In the 2021 iteration, Maryland was squeezed out of a No. 1 seed based on the tightly packed group atop the rankings. Stanford, UConn, South Carolina and North Carolina State grabbed top seeds in the 64-team tournament.

The Terrapins, fresh off Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles, are riding high on a 13-game winning streak. The team’s playing some of the best basketball in the country — leading the nation in scoring (91.3 points per game) — but still only warranted a No. 2 seed based on the quality surrounding them.

“I jokingly say, you know, I’m a mother of twins. So two is a perfect number for me,” coach Brenda Frese said. “The ’06 [Terrapins] team was a 2-seed when they won it all. So for us, at the end of the day, it’s just a number.”

Maryland finished the season at 24-2, blew past Iowa 104-84 in the Big Ten championship game and has six players averaging double-digit scoring totals. Guard Ashley Owusu leads the team with 18.3 points per game, and Diamond Miller isn’t far behind, averaging 17.2 each contest.

This is the team’s eighth No. 2 seed in program history, and the Terrapins will match up with in-state school Mount St. Mary’s next Monday. Frese’s squad is in the same region as top-seeded South Carolina, a team coming off an SEC tournament championship.

The decision for the selection committee was especially difficult this year because of the parity across the teams at the top. For Stanford and UConn, No. 1 seeds seemed straightforward. But beyond those two schools, any combination of Maryland, North Carolina State, South Carolina, Baylor or Texas A&M could’ve realistically landed top seeds.

“It’s terrific,” Frese said. “This is where our game I feel like needed to be able to grow to, the fact that you do have so many teams.”

While the Huskies held the No. 1 ranking in this week’s AP top-25 poll, the Cardinal sits atop the NET rankings following a 25-2 season that concluded with a Pac-12 tournament championship. Barring two straight losses midway through January, Stanford finished the season with 14 straight wins, powered by guard Kiana Williams (14.3 points per game) and guard Haley Jones (13 points, 7.7 rebounds per game).

UConn also finished a 24-1 campaign on a 14-game winning streak and with a conference tournament title. Freshman guard Paige Bueckers paced the Huskies with 19.7 points and 6.08 assists per game this season.

Despite sitting at No. 3 in the NET rankings, Baylor fell to a No. 2 seed Monday night, joining UConn in the River Walk Region. The Bears finished the season on a 17-game winning streak, including a Big 12 tournament title.

North Carolina State secured another No. 1 seed, in the same region as No. 2-seeded Texas A&M. The Aggies beat South Carolina to close the regular season but slipped out of No. 1-seed contention when they lost to Georgia in the SEC tournament.

The 2021 NCAA women’s tournament will take place in Texas, with the later rounds located in San Antonio. The championship game is set for April 4, one day before the men’s tournament in Indianapolis concludes.

That’s where Maryland hopes to wind up, even though the Terrapins earned a No. 2 seed rather than a top spot.

“At the end of the day for us, we feel like we’re playing some of our best basketball,” Frese said. “So we’re really looking forward to the matchups out ahead.”