The Maryland Jewels shines bright in Orlando!

The Maryland Jewels entered their inaugural season with the WBDA and they made noise all season long. Living up to their history of professionalism and on court togetherness, they put on a show in this year's National Tournament.

Starting the weekend off was the WBDA's 3 point contest. Representing the Jewels was Abby Weiss, who scorched the competition in the 1st round. After a hard fought battle, Weiss came up short and finished 2nd in the competition, with Taylor Buchanan for the Orlando Boom being crowned the 3 point champion.

Game 1 the Maryland Jewels, who represent the DMV area, faced the Riviera Beach Heatwave. This game was intense as the winner of this game set the course for the rest of the playoff bracket. Despite their well balanced attack effort, the Jewels came up short against the Heatwave 83-70. This loss provided Maryland with a sense off urgency for their next game.

Game 3 the Jewels faced the Orlando Boom in a must win game to avoid elimination. Maryland came out focused and determined as they went up as much as 17 on the Boom in the first quarter. This game got better after each quarter as the Jewels kept exchanging the lead deep into the 4th quarter. The Jewels were up by 3 with 1.6 seconds on the clock, they just needed 1 stop to secure their first playoff win. Coming out of the timeout, Maryland played great defense as the Boom shot up a prayer from 3 and sending it to overtime. The Maryland Jewels knew they had more work to do and fought with everything they had through double overtime, resulting in beating the Orlando Boom 99-97. "This by far was the most exciting game of the season and one of the best games ever in WBDA playoff history."- William Kelly, WBDA CEO

Game 4 the Maryland Jewels were able to carry over the momentum from the double overtime game as they faced the Riviera Beach Heatwave in an elimination game. The Jewels knew that winning this game would put them in the Championship against the Boom. Led by their big 3 (Simmons, Fox & Oloyede), the Jewels secured their spot in the finals after beating the Heatwave 81-63.

The Championship game was intense and hard fought. You can see and feel the emotion of the Jewels as they fought for their 1st National Title. After a close 1st half, Maryland came out flat in the 3rd quarter. In the 4th quarter they gave it all they had and closed the gap some, but ended up falling short in the end 72-56. Despite their season ending differently than planned, Head Coach Bree Gross received high praises for their performance and great season.

Stay tuned for updates on the Maryland Jewels for next season. In the meantime, follow their journey through the playoffs by CLICKING HERE!