Injury overshadowed the Terps’ win.
A night No. 21 Maryland should have been celebrating a dominant road victory over a conference opponent was again overshadowed by injury.
Saylor Poffenbarger suffered a noncontact fall in the third quarter — seemingly rolling her left ankle — and had to be carried off the court. She did not return.
The Terps survived almost blowing a 20-point lead, defeating Northwestern, 85-79, at Welsh Ryan Arena Thursday.
Before the game, Poffenbarger sprained her right ankle in practice and had a scary moment in the second quarter, but she returned. In the third quarter, it was her other ankle that was maimed.
Poffenbarger finished with 16 points in 24 minutes before leaving the floor.
“I thought losing Saylor [Poffenbarger] was impactful,” head coach Brenda Frese said. “She gave us a great spark. And you saw losing her, what kind of impact that made on our team.”
Despite the setback, Maryland secured its fourth win in five games, resetting its season after things seemed to be spiraling out of control.
The Terps were in full control through three quarters, but Thursday’s game got as close as four points before Sarah Te-Biasu knocked down a clutch 3-pointer to seal things.
“Disappointed in our second half. We knew they were going to come out [with] zone and make some adjustments,” Frese said.
The Terps forced 16 turnovers in the first half, which they turned into 18 points and helped aid an 18-point halftime lead.
After being benched in the fourth quarter on Monday, Kaylene Smikle had a strong start, notching 13 points in the first half.
Maryland continued to be inconsistent between quarters, getting off to a less-than-ideal start to the second half. In the third frame, Northwestern embarked on an 11-0 run to cut the lead to 10 points. With the Terps already struggling, Poffenbarger’s injury made the rotation even slimmer.
Maryland looked like a completely different team in the second half, starting the final 20 minutes 6-of-31 from the field.
Northwestern cut the lead to six points with just over four minutes remaining after two unforced Maryland errors. Then, the lead dwindled to four after another giveaway. The Terps simply could not solve Northwestern’s press.
“Turnovers are costly,” Shyanne Sellers said. “Teams can capitalize off them and Northwestern did at the end of the game.”
But the Terps escaped their late-game woes once again, securing their second straight win.
Three things to know
1. Free throws. Both teams got to the charity stripe often, but Maryland shot much better, going 22-of-26 (84.6%). Northwestern went to the free-throw line 35 times, but only made 68.6% of its attempts.
2. Three-point differential. Maryland attempted 26 shots from deep Thursday and only made nine. That being said, the Terps made eight more 3-pointers than Northwestern. The Wildcats attempted three shots from beyond the arc and made just one — their final shot of the game.
3. Poffenbarger’s status. Maryland will have to wait and see regarding Poffenbarger’s health. With two regular season games remaining, her availability will be crucial.
Frese had no update on Poffenbarger’s injury postgame and believed that she rolled her ankle.