Maryland women’s basketball coach Brenda Frese and her players take on Georgetown tomorrow night. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)

Let’s be honest: unless you’re Rachel LaBruyere or hail from Richmond, the men’s NCAA Tournament has lost a bit of its luster for D.C. homers. Georgetown and George Mason failed to advance past the tournament’s first weekend, and the tournament itself has packed up from the Verizon Center, taking it’s insane finishes and Kemba Walker’s acrobatics along with it. But though local interest in the men’s tournament is waning, the women’s competition actually has some regional juice, featuring a matchup between long-dormant rivals Georgetown and Maryland.

While the Georgetown men swiftly exited the tournament on Friday, the fifth-seeded Lady Hoyas (23-10, 9-7 Big East) defeated #12 Princeton 65-49 in the first round of the women’s bracket yesterday afternoon. Sophomore guard Sugar Rodgers had a dominating performance, topping the box score in points, rebounds, assists and steals. Rodgers was responsible for 40 percent of Georgetown’s scoring, hitting four three-pointers and making all of her free throws.

Meanwhile, the fourth-seeded Terps (24-7, 9-5 ACC) took care of business against St. Francis in a 70-48 romp. Freshman forward Alyssa Thomas lead the team in scoring with 16 points while Tianna Hawkins came off the bench and collected ten boards.

In a twist of fate, the two local squads will face each other for the second time this season tomorrow evening in the second round of the tournament at College Park. In their first meeting back in November at McDonough Arena, Georgetown defeated Maryland for the first time in program history, 53-45. Before then, the two programs had not played each other since 2003. Of course, the Maryland and Georgetown men’s teams have only played each other four times since 1980, including twice thanks to the draw of the NCAA tournament — maybe a competitive game could get the two big local programs to rekindle the rivalry? (We’re not holding our breath.)

Tuesday’s game takes place at the Comcast Center in College Park, MD. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPN2. Tickets start at $12 and can be purchased at the Terrapin Ticket Office.