The reigning national champion Stanford women’s basketball team impressed. In the end, Maryland couldn’t keep up.

After averaging 95.5 points in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, the No. 4 seed Terps suffered a 72-66 loss to the No. 1 seed Cardinal in the Sweet 16 on Friday night before an announced 7,142 at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena in Spokane, Washington.

Stanford (31-3) won its 23rd consecutive game to advance to its fifth Elite Eight in the past six years, where it will meet No. 2 seed Texas on Sunday night. The Longhorns (29-6) — who knocked out the Terps in last year’s Sweet 16 — edged No. 6 seed Ohio State, 66-63, in the first Spokane regional semifinal.

Sophomore power forward Angel Reese, a Baltimore resident and St. Frances graduate who earned third-team All-America honors, paced the Terps (23-9) with 25 points, nine rebounds, three steals and three blocks. But despite a big fourth-quarter comeback that trimmed a 26-point deficit to single digits in the final minutes, Maryland was bounced from its third consecutive Sweet 16 appearance. The Terps haven’t advanced to the Elite Eight since 2015.

“We’ve just got to soak this in,” junior

shooting guard Diamond Miller said. “It hurts. But I think the better team won today. They played us really hard.”

In routs of 102-71 against No. 13 seed Delaware and 89-65 over No. 12 seed Florida Gulf Coast in the first two rounds, Maryland imposed its will early and often. That was not the case against a deeper and more defensive-minded Cardinal team that surrendered an average of only 51 points in victories over No. 16 seed Montana State and No. 8 seed Kansas in the first and second rounds.

In the game’s first 6:39, the Terps missed nine of their first 12 shots from the field, while Stanford connected on six of eight. When Maryland went scoreless over a 3:14 stretch, the Cardinal took advantage with eight unanswered points en route to a 22-10 lead after the first quarter.

The outlook got bleaker in the second. The Terps did not hit a shot over a 6:54 span, connecting on only three of four free throws. That opened the door for Stanford to score 12 points and take a 39-23 lead into halftime.

The first-half numbers were disappointing. Maryland shot 26.7% (8-of-30) and missed all six attempts behind the 3-point line.

By comparison, the All-American duo of sophomore power forward Cameron Brink and junior point guard Haley Jones matched the entire Terps offense by combining for 23 points on 9-for-15 shooting in the first half.

Maryland coach Brenda Frese pointed out that only one of Stanford’s five starters was shorter than 6-foot-1.

“If you look at their size from 2 through 5, that length gave us fits,” she said. “And then you put [5-foot-9 sixth-year guard] Anna Wilson, kind of that pest defensively, she gave [graduate student shooting guard] Katie [Benzan] no open looks. Her defensive pressure and intensity was unbelievable. For us, we knew we were going to have to score on that mid-range, pull-up game, but that length really bothered us on the offensive end.”

Maryland trailed badly in rebounds (26-11), points in the paint (20-10), and second-chance points (8-2). The team had only two assists, while the Cardinal had nine assists on 15 baskets.

“I thought we were ready, but obviously, they came out, and they punched us first,” graduate student power forward Chloe Bibby said. “But I thought we gathered ourselves, and our defensive effort, I was pretty happy with it. Honestly, we just couldn’t put the ball in the hole, and at the end of the day, that’s what matters. I thought we could have crashed the boards a little bit harder in that first quarter, and that’s what really knocked us back for the rest of the game.”

A short Terps bench exacerbated by injuries was exposed. Freshman shooting guard Shyanne Sellers, the Big Ten’s Sixth Player of the Year, picked up three fouls in the first half, and Reese and Miller collected two fouls each.

Miller was then tagged with her third and fourth fouls within a 2:22 span of the third quarter and could not be her usual aggressive self on offense or defense. She picked up her fifth foul with 5:15 left in the fourth and was forced out of the game with 11 points, one steal and two turnovers.

A 30-13 fourth quarter — which trimmed the deficit to single digits for the first time since the score was 27-19 with 4:00 left in the second quarter — made the final outcome perhaps a little more palatable for Maryland fans.

Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer was relieved her team escaped with the win.

“I thought we had three very good quarters, and I’m glad the game is only four quarters,” she said. “I think Brenda and her team are a really tough matchup for us. They gave us a heck of a game. But I’m excited that we were able to survive and advance. We have a lot of work to do between now and Sunday.”

Bibby finished with 10 points, three rebounds and two assists, and Sellers added 10 points, four rebounds and two assists before fouling out with 8.5 seconds left in the game. But Benzan missed all five of her shots and did not score a single point for the second time in four games, and starting junior point guard Ashley Owusu had just four points on 2-of-9 shooting and four rebounds.

Frese said after the game that Owusu, an All-America honorable mention who come on strong at the end of the season, was bothered by a stomach bug that left her sluggish.

Senior shooting guard Lexie Hull paced Stanford with 19 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Jones added 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, and Brink contributed 15 points and eight rebounds before fouling out with 4:10 left in the fourth quarter.

Wilson — the sister of Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson, who watched Friday’s game from the stands — finished with four points, two rebounds and two assists.

Frese described the Cardinal as the best team she has faced this season.

“Their length, the way they pass, the way they can score the basketball, and obviously that length gives you fits on the defensive end,” she said. “With their size, we really struggled on the offensive end. I don’t think they probably get even enough credit nationally of what they’ve done all year. They’re the most talented team I’ve ever faced this season.”