Georgetown backed up every boastful word, and the feeling was sweet as Sugar.
Sugar Rodgers scored a career-high 34 points, and the No. 5-seed Hoyas breezed past fourth-seed Maryland 79-57 Tuesday night to advance to the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1993.
"I told you we weren't scared," coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said, referring to her comment Monday after someone compared Georgetown's tournament inexperience to Maryland's tradition of excellence (19 tournament trips and a national championship in 2006).
Monica McNutt, who dismissed Maryland's legacy as irrelevant on Monday, spoke of vindication after getting 14 points, five assists and two steals.
"We came out with an agenda,'' she said. "Absolutely. We had a chip on our shoulders. We had something to prove."
And it didn't take long for the Hoyas to do it.
Georgetown (24-10) bolted to an 11-0 lead, made it 40-26 at halftime and increased the margin to 23 points with 16:23 left.
The Hoyas will next face top-seed Connecticut in the Philadelphia Regional. Georgetown went 0-2 against their Big East rivals this season.
"They're a great team. It's no secret. But they're human. They've gone down," McNutt said. "Why can't we be the team to take them down again?"
Making its third appearance in the NCAA tournament, Georgetown dominated both sides of the court in this matchup of rival schools located only 15 miles apart. Rodgers, a sophomore guard, led the way with a 21-point first half.
Alyssa Thomas had 23 points and 14 rebounds for Maryland (24-8), and Lynetta Kizer contributed 11 points and 10 rebounds. But the Terrapins, playing on their home floor, shot a miserable 32 percent and committed 20 turnovers in losing to Georgetown for the second time this season.
Maryland has no seniors on its roster, and that became apparent very early.
"We're young. We've got 10 freshmen and sophomores, and we played like it tonight," coach Brenda Frese said. "We showed our youth, we showed our inexperience. It's a tough lesson to learn in your own building."
Rodgers' exceptional first half included six 3-pointers on eight tries. One of those long-range baskets came as the shot clock expired, a desperation 20-foot heave that banked off the glass.
"It just went in and I was happy," Rodgers said. "I knew it was my night."
The Terrapins knew Georgetown would press the entire game, and they knew Rodgers would be firing from all spots on the court. And still, Maryland could do nothing to prevent it.
"I said going into this game that I hope we could contain her under 30, and she gets 34," Frese lamented. "We tried to double and get the ball out of her hands, we tried a box-and-1, we tried to throw the kitchen sink at her and we couldn't get it done."
It was the Terrapins' worst NCAA tournament loss since a 74-48 lashing by Purdue in 1997.
