A look at three X factors in Monday's Elite Eight game in Spokane, Washington.
No. 1 seed Maryland vs. No. 2 seed Tennessee
• ESPN/WatchESPN, 9 ET Monday
Evening the score: Maryland, which comes into this game on a school-record 27-game winning streak, was the team that knocked Tennessee out of the tournament last year. Cierra Burdick says the Lady Vols have not forgotten. But wanting vengeance and getting it is not the same thing.
Tennessee is going to have to score to keep up with Maryland. The scoring droughts it endured against Gonzaga on Saturday are not going to cut it against a team that is averaging nearly 80 points a game and has four players averaging double figures.
Taking care of the ball will figure big as well.
Last season, Maryland turned Tennessee over 22 times in their Sweet 16 matchup. This season, Maryland is averaging 8.5 steals a game, the program's best number in 12 seasons.
"We understand that the ball is not always going to fall for us," Tennessee senior guard Ariel Massengale said. "But the one thing we can do is play defense and get stops. So if we are not scoring on the offensive end, we have to make sure they are not scoring either."
Tennessee pressured Gonzaga into 17 turnovers Saturday -- 11 of them in the second half. And the Lady Vols got 13 points off of those turnovers, needing nearly every one to secure the win.
Free throw shooting was Tennessee's savior against Gonzaga -- the Lady Vols went 21-of-22 for the game, including 10-for-10 in overtime -- and it could be again. The Vols are 112-152 in the final four minutes of games this season.
Both Burdick and coach Holly Warlick agree that Tennessee needs to harness the emotion of Saturday's comeback against Gonzaga and use it against Maryland.
"I say build on it," Burdick said. "We had great momentum and great energy. I woke up in the middle of the night at 4 o'clock and was still excited. I couldn't go back to sleep. Why not keep that momentum going?"
Warlick said she likes the emotional side of her team.
"Just as long as it doesn't get us overhyped," Warlick said. "Thus far, it hasn't this year. So I love it when they show emotion.
Which Bashaara? Tennessee junior post Bashaara Graves -- who was appearing on many preseason All-American teams -- had something of a quiet season but picked up the scoring pace and the slack after the season-ending injury to Izzy Harrison. Graves had two great games to start the NCAA tournament (a combined 45 points against Boise State and Pitt), and then Saturday against Gonzaga she was boxed in by Gonzaga's size in the paint and finished with seven points and seven rebounds on 3-of-12 shooting.
Graves' play inside will be key to Tennessee's success against Maryland's front line of Brionna Jones and Malina Howard.
"Gonzaga did a great job doubling down on her, and I think that limited her and then we kept trying to get it inside," Warlick said of Graves. "When you pack it in like that, she had nowhere to go, but I think she will get back on track."
A Brown bust out: Lexie Brown, Maryland's leading scorer in the second round over Princeton with 23 points, did not have an offensive impact on Saturday's Sweet 16 win over Duke, finishing with one point and four rebounds. She was 0-for-7 from the floor and 0-for-5 beyond the arc.
Brown said she apologized to her teammates and coaches after the game.
"But I have to let that game go," Brown said. "It's not about going out there and trying to make up for that game. I need to be locked in for 40 minutes."
One of Maryland's strengths is the fact that they can win even if they don't get Brown's usual contributions. Lauren Mincy and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough can score in bunches -- the trio combining to average 40.7 points a game so far this season -- and will also make life difficult for the Tennessee guards on the defensive end.
"Up to this point in the tournament we haven't played the most athletic guards, and Tennessee definitely has athleticism at the guard spots. It's going to be interesting to see how we match up."
Warlick said slowing the Maryland guards, particularly in transition, is on her "must-do" list.
"They want to get the game fast, so we've got to get to the ball and not give them opportunities to get transition points," Warlick said. "Rebounding will be key, not giving them second or third shots. And one-on-one defense. They have great outside shooters. We have got to get them to make shots over us."