Maryland tops Wisconsin in road conference contest

Maryland women's basketball

Three-point shooting helped the Maryland women’s basketball team rout Wisconsin 71-44 as the Terps never trailed in their fourth conference win of the season.

The Terps got off to another hot start in the first quarter out shooting nearly 40 percent from the field and making 3-of-6 three pointers.

Kristen Confroy took a team-high nine shots behind the arc and hit four of them. The senior filled up the statsheet with 12 points and lead the Terps with seven rebounds and three steals.

Eleanna Christinaki got off to a hot start drilling her first two shots off the bench. She also finished with a team-high 14 points, her second-highest total of the season.

Christinaki has been inconsistent since joining the Terps through five games. Her performance against Wisconsin was her first strong performance against a conference opponent.

Meanwhile, Kalia Charles scored only 10 points despite leading the Terps in usage percentage for the game. She shot an effective 5-of-7, but only picked up one assist.

Wisconsin was able to climb back into the game during the second quarter when Maryland went cold from behind the arc. The lead was cut to just eight points after a commanding 15-4 first quarter lead. Just as Wisconsin was closing in on the Maryland, the Terps long-range shooting returned and pulled away for good.

Despite making a bit of a run in the second quarter, Wisconsin was completely outplayed. The Terps nearly doubled the Badgers every quarter in points except for the fourth when Brenda Frese went deep into her bench.

The Badgers three-point shooting was nonexistent for the entire game, as they shot 17 percent. Poor shooting as been an issue for them all year as Wisconsin averages only four three pointers a game on 23 percent shooting.

Rebounding also played a huge role in the win as the Terps had nearly twice as many rebounds as Wisconsin. Marsha Howard shockingly grabbed half of the Badgers rebounds on her own. The junior also had 10 points of her own finishing just one rebound shy of a double-double.

Maryland will return home on Thursday to face the Michigan State at 8 p.m.