No. 4 Maryland women’s basketball wins convincingly over Villanova

By the third quarter, the game was already comfortably in the hands of Maryland women’s basketball. However, it was not done exercising its dominance.

For six minutes of the third quarter, the Terps played almost perfect basketball, scoring 20-straight points and putting any concerns about a potential comeback to bed.

Mimi Collins led the show during that run, accounting for eight-points alone. She finished the game with 17.

“I think it was just me picking up my defense. Coach Frese wanted me to play better defense,” Collins said. “So when I turned on my defense it just turned on my offense.”

However, it was Angel Reese who again led the team in points with 23 in three quarters. In spite of the tremendous play, she was still critical of her game.

“I couldn’t get that many rebounds tonight, but I did a good job finishing,” Reese said.

Chloe Bibby was quick to respond to Reese’s pessimism.

“Angel, I really think you [didn’t] get that many rebounds because you were hitting all your shots today!” Bibby said.

How Maryland played against Villanova started off much like they did in their first match against Longwood. The first quarter was a tight, back-and-forth affair. By the start of the second quarter, however, Maryland was able to separate themselves thanks to a dominant 15-3 run.

By the end of the half, Maryland held a comfortable 14-point lead. It could have been even larger, but Villanova’s saving grace was their plethora of three-pointers. By the end of the second quarter, over half of their points came from beyond the arc.

Maryland’s dominance only grew more commanding. In the third quarter, Maryland scored 20 straight points. During that run, forward/guard Chloe Bibby celebrated her 1,000th career point.

“I knew I was getting there but I didn’t know when,” said Bibby. “But I mean, it’s just a credit to my teammates that they find me when I’m open and it’s just hitting down shots.”

With the game adequately in Maryland’s grasp, the fourth quarter served as more of a glorified scrimmage than an actual game. When the clock expired, Maryland won comfortably with a final score of 88-67.

“I liked the fact that we were able to rest some of the players given the fact of how many games we have in a row,” head coach Brenda Frese said.

One way the Terps bested the Wildcats were through free-throws. Maryland went to the line an imposing 18 times, compared to Villanova’s six.

“I thought we were really aggressive attacking off the bounce and being able to draw fouls,” said Frese.

Additionally, Maryland controlled the rebounding category with 38, compared to Villanova’s 21.

Maryland will be on the road for the first time Sunday in their match against James Madison.