Both the Maryland and the University of Maryland-Baltimore County women’s basketball teams will play their first-round NCAA tournament games at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Conn., Sunday. Second-seeded Maryland (27-5) faces No. 15 Harvard (15-12) at 2 p.m. in the Dayton Region, while No. 16 UMBC (16-16) faces top-seeded Connecticut at 9:30 in the Fresno Region.

But that’s where the similarities end for the two local programs.

Maryland has one goal in mind at this point of the season — to win a second straight national title. Anything short of cutting down the nets at the end of the season in Cleveland would be a disappointment for the Terps.

On the other end of the spectrum is UMBC. The Retrievers are just excited to be playing anyone at this time of year after they made the tournament for the first time in school history following a 48-46 win over Vermont in the America East Conference final last week. For UMBC, just playing in the tournament gives the school unprecedented positive exposure regardless of the final score against top-seeded Connecticut.

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“This game puts UMBC women’s basketball on the map,” Retrievers coach Phil Stern said. “This allows us to give back to the university and show the rest of the nation that UMBC is not only a great academic school, but has a lot to offer athletically, as well.”

For Maryland, ending the season as the top team in the country again would solidify this current team as one of college basketball’s all-time best and ease the Terps’ pain after failing to win the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament and losing twice each to Duke and North Carolina on a national stage.

“Our main problem was putting too much pressure on ourselves in the regular season because we didn’t go undefeated and win the ACC title like we hoped,” Maryland sophomore guard Marissa Coleman said. “But if we get back to the Final Four, win another national title and hang that championship banner in the Comcast Center, no one is going to remember those losses.”

Maryland coach Brenda Frese understands the impact of making the tournament all too well. The Terps went 10-18 when she took over in 2002. But Maryland made the tournament the next two seasons, which laid the foundation for last year’s national title season.

“It’s easier to get to the top than stay on top,” Frese said. “That’s something new for this team this season because when you’re expected to win, there’s a lot more pressure on you. But as a competitor, that’s what you want to face, and this team has always accepted that challenge.”