North Carolina slips past Maryland to gain ACC semis
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Greensboro, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - Brittany Rountree sank two key free throws in the final seconds, her only two points of the contest, as sixth- seeded North Carolina toppled third-seed Maryland, 73-70, on Friday.
Down by nine with 5:27 remaining, the Terps eventually closed the gap to one on an Alyssa Thomas jumper with 1:35 on the clock.
Both sides went cold from there, until Danielle Butts swiped the ball from Thomas, and from the resulting time out, Alicia DeVaughn fouled Rountree for the two key foul shots.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Thomas then missed a three-point try and Brionna Jones bricked her two ensuing free throws after grabbing the offensive rebound, allowing UNC the surprise result.
Diamond DeShields poured in 22 points for North Carolina (24-8), which squares off against Duke in a Saturday semifinal. Alisha Gray added 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Thomas totaled game highs of 24 points and 11 boards for Maryland (24-6), while Lexie Brown scored 10 and dished out four assists in a losing cause.