March 2, 2012
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GREENSBORO, N.C. - Alyssa Thomas scored 18 points and No. 6 Maryland beat Virginia 70-58 on Friday night in an Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinal. The
Terrapins advance to their 22nd overall Semifinals appearance and seventh under head coach Brenda Frese.
Brene Moseley added 13 points and Tianna Hawkins had 10 rebounds for the third-seeded Terrapins (26-4), the highest-seeded team left after No. 5 Duke and No. 7 Miami were upset earlier in the day.
Maryland led by 26, shot 48 percent, built a 48-23 rebounding advantage, established an early 22-point lead following two big runs and cruised to their fifth straight win. The Terps advanced to a semifinal matchup Saturday against seventh-seeded Wake Forest.
Ariana Moorer scored 19 points and Lexie Gerson had 16 for sixth-seeded Virginia (22-10), which had its four-game winning streak snapped and was denied its first semifinal appearance since 2008. The Cavaliers closed the game on a 20-6 run against the Terps' reserves.
Thomas, the ACC's player of the year, had her third straight game with at least 18 points, and she helped Maryland reach the semifinals for the first time since the 2009 team went on to claim the program's ninth ACC championship.
The Terps, who won both regular-season meetings with Virginia by an average of 12 points, capped an upset-filled day at the Greensboro Coliseum by restoring some semblance of order.
They trailed for all of 16 seconds of this one and erased that brief deficit by reeling off 14 straight points to give themselves a comfortable working margin.
Thomas started their 14-0 burst with a layup that put Maryland up 10-9, and added a jumper in the lane before Anjale Barrett's 3 from the corner made it 22-9 with just under 10 minutes left before the break.
Maryland then put together an 11-0 run during the final 4 minutes of the half, with Laurin Mincy's free throw making it a 20-point game for the first time and Hawkins' layup in traffic making it 40-18 with 20 seconds left before the break.
Moorer gave the Cavaliers their only lead when she hit a 3-pointer 5 1/2 minutes in to make it 9-8. Virginia managed just one field goal during the 9 minutes that followed while Maryland first reclaimed its lead, then stretched it well into double figures.
Thomas was named ACC Player of the Year Thursday and is the second sophomore ever to win, after Duke's Alana Beard in 2002. Four Terrapins were named to the All-ACC Teams announced Monday. Thomas earned First Team honors, while Hawkins made the Second Team. Lynetta Kizer and Mincy each earned Honorable Mention honors and Kizer was named the ACC's Sixth Player of the Year. Moseley was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team Tuesday and Alicia DeVaughn was named to the ACC All-Defensive Team Wednesday.
The Terrapins will play seventh-seeded Wake Forest Saturday at approximately 1:30 p.m. The game will be shown on ESPNU, ESPN3.com. The Terps beat the Demon Deacons 86-58 in College Park on Jan. 19. Tianna Hawkins led Maryland with 18 points and a school-record 24 rebounds.
For more information, visit the official site of the 2012 ACC Women's Basketball Tournament at www.theACC.com/SheCanPlay. Fans can also follow the upcoming Tournament games on Twitter at @ACCwbb.
Maryland is ranked No. 5 in the latest ESPN/USA Today Division I Top 25 Coaches' poll and No. 6 in this week's Associated Press rankings.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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