Box Score COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The Maryland women's basketball team (31-2) beat 16th-seeded New Mexico State (22-8) 75-57 Saturday in the NCAA Tournament First Round at the XFINITY Center.
With the win, Maryland advanced to the NCAA Second Round for the fourth straight year. The Terrapins will take on eighth-seeded and undefeated Princeton (31-0) Monday at 6:30 p.m. ET in College Park. The Terps-Tigers game will be shown on ESPN2.
Sophomore Brionna Jones led the way with 22 points and 12 rebounds for her 12th double-double of the season. Redshirt senior Laurin Mincy added 19 points and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough had 10. Maryland outrebounded New Mexico State, 45-20.
“I think we had to shake off some rust to start this game," head coach Brenda Frese said. "Credit New Mexico State, I thought they came out very active and aggressive in terms of dictating the tempo. I thought we were able to establish an inside presence really early, especially with Brionna Jones; she was a big time factor for us. I thought Laurin Mincy came out for us and made some really timely shots that we needed. I thought that our depth was able to wear them out throughout the game. It was not the most complete 40-minute game that we have played but I liked how we came out and we were able to get into a rhythm. So now, we have to get ready for Princeton.”
The 6-foot-3 Jones was bigger and stronger than any one player the 16th-seeded Aggies assigned to cover her, and a collapsing zone defense did little to slow her down.
Jones went seven for 10 from the floor and eight for nine at the line, finishing just two points short of matching her career high in points. She was pulled with 5:50 left.
Brianna Freeman scored 15 and Sasha Weber added 14 for the Aggies, who were making their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 1988. The Western Athletic Conference champions were outrebounded 45-20 and went 5 for 21 from 3-point range.
Maryland went ahead for good at 7-6 and led by 20 with 12 minutes left.
After the Aggies turned their focus to stopping Jones in the second half, the Terrapins looked to their guards for offense. Mincy scored 13 points after halftime, sinking four of her five field-goal attempts.
Jones had 16 points in the first half to stake the Terrapins to a 42-32 lead. Her eight rebounds over the first 20 minutes matched New Mexico State's total during that span.
Jones scored 11 of Maryland's first 15 points, and the Terrapins used a 7-0 spurt to go up 22-12. It was 27-18 before Jones collected a rebound under her own basket and put back a layup to start a three-point play.
It was more of the same in the second half, even though the Aggies packed the paint when Maryland had the ball. Undaunted, Jones made two free throws shortly after halftime, added a short jumper for a 48-36 lead and sank two more at the foul line to make it 53-38 with just over 14 minutes to go.
The Terrapins will bring a school-record 25-game winning streak into Monday night's matchup against eighth-seeded Princeton (31-0). The Ivy League champions advanced earlier Saturday by defeating Wisconsin-Green Bay 80-70 with President Barack Obama in attendance.
Obama's niece plays for Princeton, and his bracket has the Tigers defeating Maryland to advance to the Sweet 16.
If the President stayed to watch the second game, he would probably concede that Jones and the Terrapins appear tough to beat.
The Terrapins are in the Spokane Region. For the full bracket, log on to http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/basketball-women/d1.
For more information or to purchase tickets, log on to umterps.com.
In last year's NCAA Tournament run, fourth-seeded Maryland made a remarkable run to the program's fourth NCAA Final Four and second under Frese. Along the way, they handled top-seeded Tennessee, 73-62 and then beat No. 4 Louisville, 76-73, on its home court in front of a sellout crowd to go to the Final Four.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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