Maryland not be looking past surprising Oregon (Mar 22, 2017)

The Maryland women's basketball team breezed through the opening two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, and now they face an Oregon team looking to pull off another major upset in the Sweet 16 on Saturday.

The third-seeded Terrapins (32-2) had little trouble dispatching No. 14 Bucknell and fourth-seeded West Virginia last weekend, winning by an average score of 34.5 points. Meanwhile, the 10th-seeded Ducks (22-13) escaped No. 7 Temple 71-70 and shocked second-seeded Duke 74-65 in the next round.

Maryland and Oregon will meet in Bridgeport, Conn., at 11:36 a.m., ET, a time that clearly works in the Terrapins' favor because the Ducks are coming from the West Coast. The winner will face either top-seeded and four-time defending NCAA champion Connecticut or No. 4 UCLA.

After crashing out in the second round of the tournament against Washington a year ago, this Terrapins' team has regained their swagger. Maryland certainly will not be looking past Oregon for a potential rematch with the Huskies, who escaped with an 81-71 victory Dec. 29 in College Park, Md.

"This team definitely has a different feel than a season ago," said Maryland coach Brenda Frese, who led her program to the Sweet 16 for the fifth time in six years. "You can tell even when we go in and want to celebrate these games, you can feel their focus in terms of what we're doing."

The Terrapins are one of the most well-rounded teams in the tournament. Brionna Jones, a 6-foot-3 senior center, is averaging 20 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. Jones had a double-double against both Bucknell and West Virginia last weekend as neither team had an answer for her size and strength inside the paint.

Senior guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough has created matchup problems all season in averaging 18.9 points per game.

However, freshman Destiny Slocum has given the Terrapins their biggest spark. The crafty guard from Meridian, Idaho, has controlled the backcourt and perhaps made the play of the tournament when she drained a 70 foot shot at the halftime buzzer against West Virginia.

"At the Big Ten tournament, we were practicing those kind of shots," Slocum said. "I think Shatori hit one when we were at Indiana. Why not? Just throw it up. That was what was in my head. Just throw it up and see what happens. Watching that thing was crazy. I was in shock ... am still."

While Maryland is a tournament savvy team, Oregon has three freshman in the starting lineup -- Mallory McGwire, Sabrina Ionescu and Ruthy Hebard. Those three players have grown up fast and are the major reason why the Ducks are playing in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 12 years.

Ionescu was named ESPN's National Freshman of the Year, and Hebard scored 20 points and had 15 rebounds against the Blue Devils on Monday.

"I think it's a great reward, and just to get a taste of it is important," Oregon coach Kelly Graves said about making the tournament. "We feel like this is a program that's building to something really special and you've got to take that first step. This is that first step for us."