The Terps will finish the regular season with a 9-1 road record.
With two games remaining in the regular season and Big Ten Tournament seeding on the horizon, No. 19 Maryland women’s basketball took down Indiana, 74-60, on the road Thursday.
Here are three takeaways from Thursday’s game.
Sellers dominated the fourth quarter
Shyanne Sellers was quiet through three quarters. She started the night shooting 2-of-8 with four points through 30 minutes.
Then, the fourth quarter started and a switch was flipped. Sellers took complete control and made it a mission to ruin Indiana’s senior night. Sellers had one of the best quarters by a Maryland player all season, scoring 21 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-4 shooting from deep. She also got to the line four times in the frame and went a perfect 8-of-8.
“The first three quarters weren’t really going my way. Felt like I was kind of letting my team down,” Sellers said.
But she found her stride and never looked back. The only caveat to her performance was a lapse in judgment on an intentional foul that almost allowed Indiana to come back.
“I love when she steps up with that kind of confidence,” head coach Brenda Frese said of Sellers. “Once we saw it, and she had that spark back, we were able to play call for her, and she wanted the ball.”
Sellers drained a late jumper that put the game on ice. It was the first time in her four-year career that she won a game in Bloomington, Indiana.
“Ultimately, coming in here, I knew I hadn’t won here, that was really important to me,” Sellers said. “Illinois spoiled our senior night, and it was time to spoil somebody else’s.”
Battling through being short-handed
The Terps were without Saylor Poffenbarger Thursday night, resulting in few rotation options. Still, Maryland got production from everyone, as all eight players that saw the court found the bottom of the net.
“Losing Saylor before this game, a double-double and obviously not having Bri [McDaniel], I just thought we were really resilient through their runs,” Frese said.
Christina Dalce, who hasn’t been noticeable offensively as of late, got the Terps through a rough start to the night, scoring seven of her 11 points in the first quarter.
Then, Kaylene Smikle took the reins. Her 16 points allowed Maryland to build a lead and set up Sellers’ big fourth quarter.
“I mean, we got close to 40 minutes off the bench,” Frese said. “To be able to extend your depth like that, where you can keep that rest within the team.”
Amari DeBerry was impactful in her nine minutes, notching four points and two blocks. She gave Maryland some much-needed size in the first half.
Sarah Te-Biasu played well, going 2-of-3 from deep and totaling eight points. Meanwhile, Allie Kubek recorded 11 rebounds and six points. Emily Fisher and Mir McLean both scored two points, with McLean also grabbing four rebounds and dishing two assists.
“Amari DeBerry came in and gave us great minutes, was really confident. Mir [McLean] and Emily [Fisher] as well,” Frese said. “So, just love the fact that every single player made some big plays for us tonight.”
Second quarter loomed large
After a sluggish start, the Terps knotted the score at the end of the first quarter. But the second quarter is when things took off.
After trading two buckets, the Terps went on a 12-0 run to build a lead they never surrendered.
“That run was massive,” Frese said. “I just thought they each individually made some great plays.”
Maryland outscored Indiana, 16-6, in the second quarter and headed into halftime with a 10-point cushion.
Smikle and DeBerry took charge around midway through the frame after both teams struggled to find a basket. The run was chock-full of layups and mid-range jumpers. Smikle’s six points in the frame led the way, but DeBerry’s only four points of the night had a big effect.
Maryland shot 8-of-14 from the field in the frame but did not make a 3-pointer. Indiana, meanwhile, was dreadful from the field, shooting 3-of-14 and 0-of-6 from deep. The Terps also outrebounded Indiana by six in the quarter.
“I learned that we can do hard things, that we can do anything that we can put our mind to,” Smikle said. “We had so much fun today playing together. Even though we made mistakes, you probably wouldn’t tell because we had so much energy.”