No. 10-ranked Indiana women’s basketball defeated Maryland 87-73 at the Xfinity Center on Wednesday night. It is the first time that Indiana defeated Maryland on the road in program history after six previous attempts.
“Proud of our group tonight,” Indiana head coach Teri Moren said. “I thought our kids handled themselves well on the first half.”
Indiana graduate student forward Mackenzie Holmes had 23 points and 10 rebounds while senior guard Sara Scalia had 22 points and shot 4-for-8 from 3.
Sophomore guard Yarden Garzon 11 points and five rebounds and senior guard Chloe Moore-McNeil had 10 and five in the same categories. Sophomore guard Lexus Bargesser, who played 31 minutes and notched a career-high nine rebounds and did not score against Northwestern, scored nine points and facilitated the ball with six assists in 31 minutes on the night.
Maryland junior guard Shyanne Sellers, the team’s first option who averages 15.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game, missed the game with a knee injury. She was replaced by graduate student guard Lavender Briggs, who had 10 points and five rebounds.
The Terrapins were led by graduate student guard Jakia Brown-Turner, who had 22 points, four rebounds and went 8-for-9 at the free-throw line.
The Hoosiers got off to 14-2 as they shot 57.1% from the arc in the first four minutes while holding the Terrapins to only two free throws. Four separate players made a 3 with 6:10 to go in the first quarter.
Indiana was able to restrict Maryland from scoring opportunities in the first quarter as well. Maryland only had six points in the paint and four second-chance points. Indiana also capitalized on turnovers, scoring six in that category with a Holmes layup to polish off a 24-14 lead to end the quarter.
The second quarter rolled around and as Indiana continued to shoot from outside at 50%, opportunities in the paint started to open. Indiana was able to capitalize on it and score 14 inside and shoot 11-for-14 from the field. Scalia and Holmes each had eight in the quarter to lead the charge to secure a 52-30 lead going into halftime.
The team shot 44.4% from the 3-point line and 59.2% from the field during the first half. Scalia led the team with 14 points and shot 5-for-6 from the field. Bargesser had four assists and Holmes had seven rebounds.
The Terrapins outscored the Hoosiers in the third quarter 29-16. Half-court defense and pressure from the triangle defense on the Hoosiers allowed the Terrapins to score 12 in the paint and eight off turnovers.
The Terrapins, who lost the rebounding battle in the first half 16-11, cleaned that up and tied the Hoosiers in that category 7-7 throughout the quarter.
“We knew that Maryland was not just going to go away,” Moren said. “There was going to be a run made by them and that was in the third quarter.”
Indiana was still able to capitalize in the paint by notching eight points. Despite the effort inside, Moore-McNeil led the team in scoring this quarter with six of the team’s 16. Maryland would cut the lead to nine heading into the fourth at 68-59 having Brown-Turner and sophomore guard Bri McDaniel each score six to give Maryland a chance.
Indiana got many opportunities at the free-throw line and shot 11-for-14 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter. Maryland on the other hand went 4-for-5 in the final frame. Maryland was once again able to aggravate Indiana in the paint by scoring 10 there. However, Maryland shot 5-for-15 from the field and 0-for-3 from outside the arc and gave Indiana four points off turnovers.
Indiana also had six points in the paint and shot 4-for-10 from the field. Scalia and Holmes once again tied each with six and Garzon had five to help finish the game as the victors, 87-73.
The Hoosiers are now 9-1 in Big Ten play with an 18-2 overall record. They head on the road for a top-10 matchup against the No. 8-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes on Sunday at noon.
