The Terps closed their regular-season road game Thursday night in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall by defeating the Indiana Hoosiers 74-60.
Maryland finally snapped its four-game losing streak against Indiana after picking up a win Thursday. This is the 18th all-time meeting between the two teams. The Terps continue to own the series 13-5 and are 5-3 at Assembly Hall.
It wasn’t until four minutes into the first quarter that Maryland saw its first jumper from guard Christina Dalce, followed by her successful free throw and layup. That’s when things started to get rolling for the Terps. As time began to expire in the first quarter, the Terps were trailing.
That was until guard Sarah Te-Biasu carefully dribbled the ball up the court. With five seconds left, she stepped back and dropped a 3-pointer to tie the Hoosiers 14-14.
The second quarter was pure domination by the Terps. They scored 16 points compared to the Hoosiers’ 6, allowing Maryland to have a 10-point lead, 30-20, going into the half.
Maryland knew that going into tonight’s matchup against Indiana wouldn’t be easy. Assembly Hall was packed to the brim for the Hoosiers senior night. But the Terps ensured that they wouldn’t let that be a distraction.
Head coach Brenda Frese said, “you know, just really, really, proud of this team. You know, to be able to come into a really tough environment against a really good team with Indiana, and just, you know, all the adversity we faced.”
The Terps scored another 16 points in the third quarter, but Maryland really shone in the fourth quarter, especially guard Shyanne Sellers.
Maryland scored 28 points in the quarter, and 21 came from Sellers. She opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers. She ended her night with 25 points and two assists.
Sellers reflected on her past three quarters, saying she felt like the quarters just weren’t working out for her. She didn’t see any points in the first quarters and only got two points in the second and third quarters.
"I was kind of letting my team down. I mean, the shots I was taking, I felt like most of them were pretty good shots, and they felt good, so I knew they would start falling. So thankfully, they started falling in the fourth quarter, but ultimately, coming in here, I knew I hadn't won here. That was really important to me,” Sellers said. She now ranks third on Maryland’s all-time assist list.
Dalce ended her night with 11 points, and guard Kaylene Smikle recorded 16 points. The Terps also shot 83% from the free-throw line and 40% from three.
Frese said holding the Hoosiers to 60 points tonight was impactful. “I thought we were disruptive. We had a ton of deflections. You know, a lot of stops that really helped us to be able to get stops to score, and so that’s where you gotta be able to have it this time of year,” Frese said.
Maryland saw a missing face in the starting lineup. Guard Saylor Poffenbarger remains out after sustaining a lower leg injury last week against Northwestern. The injury has left Poffenbarger in a walking boot.
Following the win, Maryland is currently ranked fourth in the Big Ten standings. The Terps are fighting to hold onto that rank as the Big Ten Tournament is just around the corner. The top four teams will receive a double bye, and Maryland is working hard to ensure it stays that way.
The Terps look forward to Sunday, March 2, as they close the regular season at home. Maryland will face No. 12 Ohio State at 4:30 p.m. at the Xfinity Center. The game can be streamed on FS1.
By: Brinkley Smith
Related Links
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on Instagram
Follow us on YouTube