There are two simple rules to sports that many fans often scoff at and too frequently ignore: A game is never over until it's over and never, as a fan, leave a game early.
Cliches? Yes, but sometimes the cliches turn out to be on the money.
Thursday night in College Park, everything was going wrong for the 8th ranked Maryland women against Minnesota.
Whew. In addition to that defense, Maryland's offense is off tonight. Not getting anything in transition they way they like to, missing shots they usually make. 0 fast break points and Minnesota is up 54-40 midway through the third.
— Ava Wallace (@avarwallace) February 22, 2019Entering the fourth quarter, the Terps were down 59-48 and head coach Brenda Frese wasn't pleased.
“You couldn't ask for more of an uncharacteristic night from us,” Frese said. “A lot of missed layups and turnovers and defensive breakdowns, especially in the first half.”
But never let those old cliches slip your mind.
Maryland cut into the double-digit deficit, but still entered the final 50 seconds down seven to the Gophers.
KAILA CHARLES. MONEY TIME. TIE GAME!!!!!7-0 #Terps run in 44 seconds to tie it up!69-69, 6.6 remain.#FearTheTurtle pic.twitter.com/GACEgBxnj8
— Maryland Women’s Basketball (@umdwbb) February 22, 2019With Minnesota in-bounding and the score tied, Kaila Charles, who led Maryland with 29 points, corralled the loose ball and raced to score the game-winning layup.
"When (Austin) deflected it, I saw the ball, and I was just like, ‘Go get it,’ ” Charles said. “I knew we had four or five seconds. I was just trying to get to the rim, maybe draw a foul, and it went in. That was it!”
MARYLAND WINS!!! MARYLAND WINS!!!#Terps score nine straight points in the last 50 seconds to stun Minnesota, 71-69!#FearTheTurtle pic.twitter.com/d6Wpclr3g5
— Maryland Women’s Basketball (@umdwbb) February 22, 2019Over the final stanza, the "never-give-up" Terrapins outscored Minnesota 23-10 while forcing seven turnovers and committing zero.
53 seconds left. 99.8 win probability.SHEESH --#FearTheTurtle pic.twitter.com/NsIXtQZrVX
— Maryland Women’s Basketball (@umdwbb) February 22, 2019“This ranks up there when you talk about an incredible, special win for us,” Frese said.
With the win the Terps improved to 24-3 (13-3 in the Big Ten) on the season and earned a double-bye for the conference tournament.
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