The Terps have won three straight games.
Three weeks ago, No. 19 Maryland women’s basketball’s Senior Day celebration was spoiled by a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of Illinois.
Thursday night, the Terps got to do the spoiling, taking down Indiana, 74-60, on its Senior Night in a gritty road victory.
“Illinois spoiled our senior night. It was time to spoil somebody else’s,” Shyanne Sellers said.
Sellers led the way for Maryland (22-6, 12-5 Big Ten), scoring 21 of her 25 points in the fourth quarter. Kaylene Smikle scored 16 and Christina Dalce added 11 points and eight rebounds.
For the first few minutes after tip-off, there seemed to be a lid on Maryland’s offensive basket. The Terps were shorthanded without Saylor Poffenbarger, and Allie Kubek moved back into the starting lineup.
Eventually, Dalce took matters into her own hands, taking on her defender in the low post and finishing a creative layup through contact to break the seal. Dalce sparked a 7-0 run that put Maryland into the game despite struggles from Sellers and Smikle.
Poffenbarger’s injury meant an increased role for 6-foot-6 Amari DeBerry off the bench. She provided the Terps with some help on the defensive end, using her length to reject two shots.
“DeBerry came in and gave us great minutes,” Frese said. “She was really confident, Mir [McLean], and Emily [Fisher] as well. I love the fact that every single player made some big plays for us tonight.”
The quarter ended on a high note, as Sarah Te-Biasu got her defender on an isolation, created separation off the dribble and splashed a three to tie the game before the end of the first.
Though Maryland entered the second quarter knotted at 14, it didn’t stay that way for long. After a quiet first quarter, Smikle woke up and helped Maryland open up its first significant lead. While she wasn’t hitting from deep, Smikle utilized her ability to attack defenders off the dribble.
More importantly for the Terps, the lid seemed to transfer from their basket to the Hoosiers’. Defensive intensity from the Terps helped limit the Hoosiers, who managed just three field goals in the entire second quarter.
As a result, Maryland headed to its locker room with a 10-point advantage.
Indiana wasn’t going to shoot 21% the rest of the night, though. It pushed its way back into the game in the third quarter, as Shay Ciezki and Yarden Garzon started knocking down triples.
The Hoosiers got as close as two points, but Maryland came up with a massive response when Smikle capped the quarter off with an acrobatic and-1.
“I thought we were really resilient through their runs,” Frese said.
The Hoosiers were within seven points heading into the last 10 minutes. Maryland needed something from Sellers to help it secure the win, but she looked hobbled and not like her typical self. But Sellers quickly proved she found something, opening the quarter with two quick threes to put Maryland back up double-digits.
“First three quarters weren’t really going my way, felt like I was letting my team down,” Sellers said. “Thankfully [my shots] started falling in the fourth quarter.”
Indiana made a last gasp comeback effort and a chance to cut the lead to four points after a Sellers intentional foul. Instead, Sydney Parrish threw an errant pass that sailed out of bounds.
On the other end, Smikle delivered a dagger three from the corner, and Sellers continued to knock down jumpers to deliver the victory.
The victory propelled the Terps to a 9-1 road record this season.
Three things to know
1. Fast-paced affair. Thursday’s game ended just one hour and 17 minutes after its scheduled tip-off. The teams shot a total of just 17 free throws and neither coach was very aggressive in timeout usage until the last two minutes.
2. Postseason implications. The win kept Maryland in a good position to claim a second-round bye heading into the Big Ten Tournament. On Sunday, Maryland will just need a win or an Illinois loss to claim the No. 4 seed, which would allow them to rest until Friday afternoon.
3. Maryland dominated the glass. As it has done in many of its victories this season, Maryland outrebounded the Hoosiers significantly. The Terps grabbed 39 rebounds to Indiana’s 24, and snatched nine offensive rebounds while only allowing the Hoosiers to nab one. Replicating this will be a key to its postseason success.
“That was an area we felt we could expose them in,” Frese said. “We knew our advantage was with the rebounding, being able to get to that strength for us was a big play.”