The Terps celebrate during Maryland’s 17-5 win over Northwestern in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament at the Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex on May 17, 2015.

On March 26 in Evanston, Illinois, the Terrapins women’s lacrosse team defeated Northwestern, 16-5, in both team’s conference opener.

Seven weeks after the lopsided contest, the No. 8-seed Wildcats arrived in College Park to face the top-seeded Terps in an NCAA quarterfinal match.

[GALLERY: Women’s lacrosse bests Northwestern in NCAA quarterfinals]

Much like the midseason duel, the Terps rode a surging second-half effort Sunday afternoon and trounced the Wildcats, 17-5, to advance to the program’s seventh straight Final Four. The Terps will play in the semifinals Friday against No. 4-seed Syracuse in Chester, Pennsylvania.

“I can’t even speak enough to how we came out in the second half,” coach Cathy Reese said. “Just super proud of how we played defensively, how we came up with turnovers, caused some loose balls, and then on the offensive end, how we executed everything that we were asking of them to a ‘T’ in the second half.”

Attacker Kristen Lamon led the Terps with a career-high six points on four goals and two assists. Six Terps scored at least three points, and the team registered a 71 percent shooting percentage, connecting on 17 of 24 shots.

“We saw that our crease players with Lamon and [attacker Brooke Griffin] and [midfielder Erin Collins] getting backdoor, cutting quite often; these were our open options,” Reese said. “We talk about shooting percentage a lot, and it really paid off.”

But before the Terps broke open the game in the second half, they struggled to distance themselves from Northwestern’s physical and methodical approach in the opening period.

With her team trailing 1-0, Wildcats midfielder Selena Lasota streaked across the circle and converted against Terps goalkeeper Alex Fitzpatrick. Midfielder Sheila Nesselbush did the same about six minutes later, giving the Wildcats their only lead of the game.

Northwestern (14-7) outdrew the Terps (19-1) 8-3 in the first half and dictated a slow tempo. The pace frustrated the Terps offense, which is built on fast passing and transitions, to the point that Reese moved midfielder Deb Milani into the circle late in the first half in an attempt to reverse the Terps’ possession issues.

“You play against a defense like Northwestern, where they were sending double, and we worked all week on this,” Reese said. “We knew that they were coming. We knew that they were very physical and very aggressive, and we needed to make sure that we were sliding into open spaces.”

Though Reese’s squad recorded less shots on goal than its opponent in the first half for the second time in the team’s 20 games, the Terps took advantage of their free-position opportunities and held a 6-4 lead at the break.

After intermission, the Terps returned to their usual form when midfielder Zoe Stukenberg secured the first draw and relayed it to Collins. The senior midfielder found Lamon, who found the back netting and opened the second-half scoring 28 seconds into play.

“We have such a great offense and midfield players, so I think the defense draws a lot of attention to them,” Lamon said. “They found [me] wide open down below a lot.”

Lamon’s strike spurred a 9-0 run, including five straight goals in the first 7:48 of the period, and squashed the Wildcats’ momentum from the opening half.

Griffin scored the seventh and eighth goals of the Terps’ streak, giving the Terps a running clock for the remainder of the contest. And while the Wildcats added a goal with about nine minutes remaining, it wasn’t enough to keep pace with the Terps’ explosive offense.

These two teams had combined to win 16 of the past 20 national championships, but only the Terps will have an opportunity extend that streak.

With their season on the line, the Terps put together a dominating second-half performance to down their Big Ten foe and generate momentum as they travel to Philadelphia in hopes of repeating as national champions.

“We were getting beat around the draw circle in the first half,” Reese said. “We have so many powerful players on our offensive end. … It was huge [in the second half] for our team to have everyone step up and contribute.”