NCAA Sweet Sixteen- Raleigh Region   1 2 FINAL Texas A&M 44 30 74 Maryland 41 40 81 Video Highlights  |  Box Score  |  Photos  |  Buy Aggie Basketball Gear    Quick Stats Texas A&M Maryland Points 74 81 FG Made - Attempted 28-64 30-62 FG Percentage .438 .484 3PT Made - Attempted 5-16 4-8 3PT Percentage .313 .500 FT Made - Attempted 13-16 17-22 FT Percentage .813 .773 Rebounds 30 42 Turnovers 14 18    Statistical Leaders Texas A&M Pts Rbs Asst St Blk  Alexia Standish 19 1 4 2 0  Sydney Carter 13 6 7 2 0 Maryland Pts Rbs Asst St Blk  Laurin Mincy 21 12 2 2 3  Alyssa Thomas 21 9 5 2 0    Related Links  ♦ Big 12 Championship Central | Season Stats | Media Guide  ♦ Big 12 Mobile Apps | Big 12 Digital Network  ♦ Big 12 Report - presented by Dr Pepper

Typically, fast starts and slow finishes are not a winning combination. Texas A&M learned that painful lesson Sunday.

The defending national champions saw their reign and season end with an 81-74 loss to No. 2 seed Maryland in the semifinals of the Raleigh Regional. The Terps (31-4) will face top-seeded Notre Dame Tuesday night for a Final Four berth.

The third-seeded Aggies did not go quietly. While most Sweet 16 games in this women's NCAA Tournament have been double-digit blowouts, Texas A&M made the Terps earn their trip to the Elite Eight. The Aggies (24-11) built an 18-point first-half lead and led by seven with just under eight minutes remaining.

"You saw a glimpse of how good we could be when we took that 18-point lead," Texas A&M coach Gary Blair said. "We were executing, getting out in transition and forcing turnovers.  We felt like we could score on Maryland but the whole key was being able to stop them. They shot 48 percent."

Unfortunately, the Atlantic Coast Conference champions are well-versed in comebacks, having overcome deficits in several of their victories.

The Aggies sliced through Maryland's defense to take a 12-2 lead in the first four minutes. A layup by Texas A&M freshman Alexia Standish with 8:06 left in the first half stretched the lead to 36-18. The Aggies made five 3-pointers in the first half, a season high for outside accuracy.

Maryland pulled to within 44-41 at halftime and sliced the deficit to one point just a minute into the second half. The Aggies, however, responded with another spurt. Standish - again - converted a layup to give A&M a 58-47 lead with 15:03 remaining.

The Aggies' high point came with just under eight minutes remaining when Kelsey Bone's layup gave Texas A&M a 72-65 lead.

That's when Maryland switched from man-to-man to zone. The Aggies scored two points the rest of the way, missing 11 of their final 12 shots and committed five turnovers. The Terps closed with a 21-4 run.

"The last couple of minutes we didn't get a chance to score like we did at the beginning of the game," said Texas A&M senior Tyra White, the hero shot maker of last year's title team. Maryland did a good job of coming out and attacking us.  They did a good job of attacking the boards."

Laurin Mincy had 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Terps. Alyssa Thomas, the ACC player of the year, added 21 points and nine rebounds. The Terrapins have won 10 straight and 13 of their last 14.

Freshman Alexia Standish scored 19 points to lead Texas A&M.

"This one was obviously extremely special and filled with a lot of Maryland magic," Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. "For our team, we have had so many games that we have been battle tested like today, but obviously not on a stage like this in the NCAA tournament.

"When you battle teams in the conference and have to come from behind like when we were down by 20 to Georgia Tech, this team knows and has the confidence that we can come back against anyone."