Iowa State pulled off the second-largest comeback in NCAA Tournament history.
No. 10-seed Maryland women’s basketball looked almost unbeatable in the first 20 minutes of its first-round matchup against No. 7-seed Iowa State. The Terps went 9-of-13 from three and shot 60% from the field to take a 52-36 halftime lead.
But in March, anything can happen. Friday, that meant the second-largest comeback in NCAA Tournament history.
Once up by as much as 20, the Terps surrendered 57 second-half points — scoring just 34 of their own — and Iowa State, led by freshman Audi Cooks’ career-high 40 points, pulled off a miraculous 93-86 victory to end a Maryland season which can best be described as forgettable.
The loss marked Maryland’s first opening-round defeat since 2001.
“I know the competitors that we have in this locker room are gonna use this to fuel in the offseason to come back even better,” said head coach Brenda Frese.
The Terps shot 34% from the field and 18% from three in the final two quarters, but it was their defense which saw an even further shocking regression.
And when those shots didn’t fall, Maryland was only able to come up with three offensive rebounds in the second half. “We weren’t really attacking the offensive boards like we usually do,” Allie Kubek said. “We didn’t get a lot of second chance points.”
After making just two threes on 10 attempts in the first half, the Cyclones made 7-of-12 in the second half, perfectly executing on spacing created from Crooks’ dominant post presence.
The All-American center scored 22 of her 40 points in the final 20 minutes, making all 10 of her shot attempts. She finished the game 18-of-20 from the field. As well, her overwhelming size drew numerous Maryland fouls. Four Terps finished the game with at least four fouls.
“You can miss all the shots you want on offense, but it comes down to how hard you want to play on [defense],” Shyanne Sellers said.
When Crooks wasn’t scoring, senior guard Emily Ryan was. She finished with 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting while also providing a game-high 14 assists.
“Their young players executed really well in the second half,” said Frese.
For the Terps, Kubek had the best game of her career, putting up a a personal-best 29 points on 7-of-8 shooting from behind the arc. Nineteen of her points came in the first half.
Sellers, meanwhile put up 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
From the opening tip, Bri McDaniel brought an energy to the court that fired up her squad. She hit her first two shots, with the rest of the team taking suit to the tune of six early 3-pointers.
While the Cyclones managed to shoot over 50% from the field in the first quarter, they couldn’t keep pace with Maryland’s staggering 33 points on a clip of over 70% from the field.
Crooks had eight of the Cyclone’s 14 field goals made in the first half.
In a much more contested second quarter, Maryland went on a 10-0 run in the final minutes to extend its lead to 16 at the break.
Iowa State played with a different energy to start the third quarter, making three of its first five triples. In a matter of minutes, the Cyclones cut Maryland’s lead to single digits.
On the contrary, the Terps’ began to finally miss shots, making only five in the frame. And suddenly, with a tick over two minutes left in the frame, Crooks converted an and-one to give Iowa State the lead back.
Crooks added 10 points in the fourth quarter to help preserve the Cyclones’ lead and hand the Terps a historic defeat.
Three things to know
1. The Terps cooled off in the second half. Maryland could not miss in the opening 20 minutes, scoring 52 points to gain a 16-point halftime lead. After making nine threes in the opening half, the Terps made just two in the second and shot under 45% from the field.
2. The Terps had no answer for Crooks. The All-American showed her elite pedigree from the opening tip. She scored half of her team’s points in the first half, and missed just two field goals all game as she delivered a career-high 40 points. She also added 12 rebounds.
3. Maryland capped off an unprecedented year. For head coach Brenda Frese’s Maryland squads, the yearly expectation is to compete for championships. It was made clear early on in the season that this year would be different. The losses of Diamond Miller and Abby Meyers to the pro’s left a gaping hole, and three season-ending injuries to rotation players worsened the situation.
While the Terps showed fight all season to even make the NCAA Tournament, it seems only fitting that a crushing defeat ended a year which has been filled with adversity.