March 2, 2012

GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) - The third-seeded Maryland Terrapins defeated the sixth-seeded Virginia Cavaliers, 70-58, Friday night in the quarterfinals of the ACC Women's Basketball Tournament. Sophomore Alyssa Thomas led Maryland with 18 points and junior Tianna Hawkins pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds as the Terrapins won for the eighth time in the last nine games.

The Terps dominated on the glass and from behind the arc to avoid the upsets that claimed the league's top two seeds earlier in the day. Maryland, which leads the ACC and ranks second nationally with a +14.2 rebounding margin, out-rebounded Virginia 48-23. The Terrapins made 7 of 10 3-pointers, led by freshman Brene Moseley's 3-for-4 performance from long distance (and 13 overall points).

"I really like how we came out and we were ready to play," Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. "The great thing about this team is their understanding. We took a lot of example from the first three games that were played and understood that in tournament time, nothing's guaranteed. You have to go out and earn it. And I thought we did that. Our defense and our rebounding were really, really good in the first half. I thought we made really easy plays in terms of being unselfish and sharing the basketball. We're thrilled to be able to have everyone play. Fun game for us and it will prepare us for the matchup tomorrow with Wake Forest."

Senior Ariana Moorer (19 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals) and junior Lexie Gerson (16 points, 3 steals) paced the Cavaliers, who fell to 22-10 on the year. The fifth-ranked Terrapins improved to 26-5 and will face Wake Forest Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in the ACC Tournament semifinals.

TOURNAMENT NOTES, QUARTERFINAL 4

• Maryland improved to 47-25 all-time in the ACC Women's Basketball Tournament. The Terrapins' victory total is the second-most behind North Carolina's 55 wins.
• The Terrapins ended a two-game tournament losing streak, having fallen in the 2011 quarterfinals to Georgia Tech and the 2010 semifinals to Duke. Under Coach Brenda Frese, the Terrapins have a 12-8 tournament record and one championship (2009). Overall, Maryland has won nine tournament titles, but the first eight came between 1978 and 1989.
• Maryland leads the tournament series with Virginia 7-5.
• Virginia's all-time tournament record is 34-32, including 20-12 in the quarterfinal round.
• The Terrapins outrebounded the Cavaliers 48-23. For the season, they are beating their opponents by an average of 14.6 rebounds per game. That figure ranks second nationally this year and will be an ACC record if it stands. The existing conference mark is the plus-14.3 average by the 2007 Terrapins.
• Friday's final quarterfinal contrasted with the first three, all of which were decided by seven or fewer points. This becomes the fourth ACC Tournament with three or more quarterfinals decided by seven or fewer points. The previous occurrences: 2010, 2005 and 1983.
• Friday's game represented the first ACC Tournament meeting of Terrapins and Cavaliers in 17 years. The Terps claimed a 68-46 win in the 1995 quarterfinals. The clubs faced off in 11 of the first 18tournaments before the relative unfamiliarity.
• The time span between meetings was the second-longest among any two conference members in that time. The only longer gap is between Clemson and Wake Forest, which met for the first and only time so far in 1981.
• The Terps set a new program record for three-point field goal percentage in an ACC Tournament contest, going 7-for-10 from behind the arc. The previous record was 60 percent (3 of 5) in the 1994 quarterfinals.