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The Maryland women’s basketball team is heading south for spring break this week.

The Terps (23-8) earned a No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament Sunday night and will face Missouri Valley Conference champion Murray State (31-3) in their first-round game Friday. With a win over the 12th-seeded Racers in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the Terps would take on either No. 4 seed North Carolina, the subregional host, or No. 13 seed Western Illinois, the Ohio Valley Conference champion, in the second round Sunday.

Defending national champion Connecticut is the No. 1 seed in Maryland’s Fort Worth 1 Regional and the top seed overall. Vanderbilt and Ohio State are seeded second and third, respectively.

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The Terps have played most of the season without three potential starters — knee injuries have sidelined guards Kaylene Smikle, Bri McDaniel and Lea Bartelme — and were stopped short of a Big Ten Conference tournament quarterfinal appearance for the first time in program history last week. Consecutive losses to Michigan and Oregon entering the NCAA tournament likely cost Maryland a subregional in College Park.

Murray State hasn’t lost since Jan. 23 and has four double-digit scorers, led by junior guard Halli Poock (22.1 points per game). But the Terps, powered by star guard Oluchi Okananwa (18 points per game) and an aggressive defense, entered Saturday with six Quadrant 1 wins, tied for 10th most in the country.

Maryland advanced to the Sweet 16 last season as a No. 4 seed with a dramatic double-overtime win over Alabama in College Park. Under coach Brenda Frese, the Terps have made 22 NCAA tournaments in 24 seasons, appearing in 12 Sweet Sixteens, seven Elite Eights and three Final Fours, including a win in the 2006 NCAA championship game.