The Terps dominated en route to a massive conference victory.
No. 8 Maryland women’s basketball put together a statement 78-61 win over Rutgers Thursday, completely dominating the Scarlet Knights from buzzer to buzzer.
The final score was much closer than the difference between the two teams. It was the first time in conference play the Terps had an immense advantage over their opponent.
Here are three takeaways from Thursday’s win.
Sellers had her best game of the season
Shyanne Sellers is an integral piece of Maryland’s success, but hasn’t had to be the primary scoring option like she was last year. Thursday, though, Sellers had a season-high 22 points — the first time she’s had more than 17 points this season.
Sellers has taken a pass-first approach to her game this year, setting up teammates at a high level. She decided to take things into her own hands Thursday, though, going 7-of-13 from the field, 2-of-3 from deep and 6-of-7 from the free-throw line.
“It’s a tough matchup for a team because they don’t really know what I’m gonna do,” Sellers said. “That’s just a benefit to us and just how versatile we all are, and I think that anybody on the team can really do it.”
Sellers was Maryland’s most efficient player, and her 104.9 offensive rating was second-best behind Allie Kubek. Sellers also notched a season-high eight rebounds Thursday.
“She set the tone from the tip,” head coach Brenda Frese said. “That’s what you need to trickle down. I thought she did a great job both on the offensive as well as the defensive end.”
Production off the bench
Maryland had five players come off the bench Thursday. Three had important roles in the team’s domination.
Kubek, Bri McDaniel and Mir McLean were key components in bringing a strong addition from the bench on both sides of the ball.
Maryland has almost solidified an eight-player rotation — one in which anybody can be impactful. It showed Thursday, as the Terps outclassed with their fluidity up and down the rotation.
Kubek was phenomenal for the Terps, and has only gotten better since being moved to the bench. On Thursday, she posted 17 points, five rebounds and an assist. She was Maryland’s second-most efficient player and notched its highest offensive rating at 128.6.
Kubek has built a connection on the court with Sellers, creating a strong scoring process.
McLean was strong on both ends with seven points, seven rebounds and two assists. She made some key plays on the defensive end that turned the game into a dominating win for the Terps. For someone who has had difficulty finding her role on the team, Thursday was an encouraging performance from McLean.
Meanwhile, McDaniel totaled nine points, three assists and a rebound. It was a typical performance for her off the bench, bringing new energy and providing a different presence than the starting five.
Strong defense
With the exception of what can be considered garbage time with the game in hand late, the Terps didn’t give up much of anything on the defensive end.
“Our defense has really been improving within the last couple weeks,” Frese said. “You started to kind of see that chemistry really quick and coming together.”
The Terps held both of Rutgers’ top two scorers under their season averages, as Destiny Adams posted 15 points and Kiyomi McMiller tallied 14. McMiller was held off the scoresheet in the second half, and Adams ended up fouling out. No other Scarlet Knight reached double-digit scoring.
“[McMiller] likes to do a lot of flashy stuff,” Sellers said. “We did a good job of just playing team defense on her and just making it difficult for her. We did a great job forcing her into seven turnovers.”
The Terps swarmed the Scarlet Knights all night and forced 24 turnovers, the most Rutgers has committed all season.
Kaylene Smikle, who has struggled defensively this season, played particularly well on that end on Thursday. Smikle tied a career high with five steals, the most she’s had in a game this season.
“She understands and has a knack for where the ball is. It’s huge for us,” Frese said of Smikle.
Kubek, McDaniel, Sarah Te-Biasu, Ava McKennie and Christina Dalce all held defensive ratings over 100.
“I would say we’re much better with scout tendencies and where we were in the nonconference,” Frese said. “That’s also been leading to our defense being able to improve.”