For the second night in a row, a No. 7 seed upset a No. 2 on the higher seed's home court -- but this one was a much bigger surprise. Seventh-seeded Washington knocked off No. 2 seed Maryland 74-65 on Monday night for the Huskies' first trip to the Sweet 16 since 2001.
On Sunday, No. 7 Tennessee beat No. 2 Arizona State on the Sun Devils' floor, but the Lady Vols' history and their recent improved play made that a not-so-stunning upset.
By contrast, Maryland has been to the Women's Final Four the past two seasons, won the Big Ten tournament and was thought of as one of the few teams that might even have a chance to challenge No. 1 seed UConn if they were to meet. That was based on how well the Terps played UConn at Madison Square Garden in late December before falling 83-73.
But Maryland won't be meeting UConn; instead, it was another team of Huskies that took the Terps out of this tournament. With the victory, Washington got some bragging rights back for the Pac-12 after the Sun Devils were eliminated Sunday.
How the game was won: Washington doesn't have a lot of available bodies -- mostly playing just six players -- and even lost one of them in the fourth quarter, when Mathilde Gilling was carried off the court with an apparent knee injury. But the Huskies seemed to play with a greater sense of urgency on both ends of the court, even without the luxury of depth.
Player of the game: There's more than one fantastic shooting guard named Kelsey in the Sweet 16 now: Washington's Kelsey Plum joins Ohio State's Kelsey Mitchell. Plum finished with 32 points on 8-of-24 shooting from the field and 13-of-14 from the free throw line.
Turning point: Gilling's layup with 6:47 left in the third quarter, on an assist from Plum, gave Washington a 39-38 lead, and the Huskies would not give up the lead the rest of the way. In the third quarter, Washington outscored Maryland 20-8 and took control of the game.
X factor: The Huskies' interior defense was very good, limiting Maryland's Brionna Jones and Malina Howard to a combined eight points.
Stat of the game: It's always tough to keep up with Maryland on the boards, but Washington more than did that. The Huskies actually outrebounded the Terps 40-38, led by Chantel Osahor's 15.
What's next: Washington moves on to the Lexington regional semifinals on Friday. Maryland ends its season at 30-4.