Alyssa Thomas was five points away from another historic milestone.

But as the Terrapins women’s basketball forward inched closer to Juan Dixon’s all-time school scoring record, the team’s 18-15 deficit to Army in a first-round NCAA tournament matchup was her first concern.

During a timeout with 9:09 remaining in the first half, the three-time ACC Player of the Year spoke in the huddle, assuring the team it had plenty of time to turn things around, and shortly thereafter, the Terps settled their nerves.

They returned to the up-tempo offense and solid defense that led to many of their wins this season. Six minutes later, Thomas sank a free throw to become the highest-scoring player in Terps basketball history.

And behind a dominant run minutes before halftime, the No. 4-seed Terps beat No. 13-seed Army, 90-52, Sunday afternoon at Comcast Center, setting up a round of 32 matchup Tuesday against No. 5-seed Texas.

“We had a lot of nerves in the beginning, and we weren’t really getting out in transition,” Thomas said. “Once we started getting stops and getting rebounds and just pushing the ball and picking up tempo, it just opened it up a lot for us.”

The Terps ended the first half on a 20-0 run in the final five minutes, which helped them cruise to a lopsided victory despite a seesawing opening 12 minutes. Thomas finished with 13 points — bringing her career tally to 2,271 points — and grabbed 14 rebounds.

During the Terps’ slim loss in the ACC quarterfinals on March 7, they shot 59.1 percent from the free-throw line and 1-of-12 from three-point range. After a more than two-week layoff entering the NCAA tournament, the Terps (25-6) shot 7-of-13 beyond the arc and 72.2 percent from the line.

Guard Lexie Brown led the team with 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field, while guard Katie Rutan boosted the Terps offense in the second frame and finished with 11 points.

“After we got the jitters out to start the game and both teams were really fired up, I thought we were able to really show what really separates us and makes us special,” coach Brenda Frese said.

It took some time for the Terps to get comfortable, though. Army guard Kelsey Minato, who finished with 27 points, sank a 3-pointer from the left side to cap an 8-1 run that gave the Black Knights that 18-15 edge, causing their bench to erupt in celebration. After a Terps timeout and Thomas’ calming words, however, the Black Knights scored two points in the remaining nine minutes of the first half.

Army struggled to get into their offensive sets as the Terps ramped up their defensive pressure to force four turnovers in the last five minutes of the first half. And the Terps took advantage.

Brown hit a 3-pointer to make it 35-20. After the sharpshooter hit another three on the next possession, the Terps smiled and clapped as they jogged back on defense.

“It was a lot of fun,” Brown said. “We had two great weeks of practices. We were a little nervous because of the stage, but when we got rolling, we were hard to stop.”

With a 44-20 lead to start the second frame, the Terps shot better than 65.5 percent from the field in the second period, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. By 12:25, they led 63-33, and Frese substituted Thomas for the final time of the afternoon.

While Thomas’ leadership ignited a pivotal scoring run, her latest milestone left another memorable imprint on the program as the Terps move on to the round of 32.

“From Alyssa’s end, for her to break the all-time record at home is fitting in front of such a tremendous crowd today,” Frese said. “With the help of her teammates, obviously [she] continues to lead us to great things.”