Walker-Kimbrough and the No. 14 Terps Blowout American in 15th All-Time Meeting

By Nick Pagliarulo

The No. 14 Maryland Terrapins (8-2, 0-0) extended their all-time record to 14-1 against the American Eagles (3-5, 0-0) after defeating the local opponent Friday night, 94-50. The Terrapins have now won the last 10 meetings against the Eagles.

Sophomore Shatori Walker-Kimbrough led the way for the Terrapins with her first-career double-double, 21 points and 10 rebounds – the 10 boards she collected were a career-high. Laurin Mincy scored 16 points, a game after reaching 1,000 career points, and had eight rebounds. Brionna Jones and Kristen Confroy both added 11 points each.

The Terps cruised to a 94-50 victory over American University on Friday night. (Courtesy of UMTerps.com)

Lexie Brown also played very well in the facilitator’s role dishing out eight assists – one assist shy of tying her career-high of nine. This was her first five-plus assist game this season.

“When all my teammates are scoring as well as they are, I don’t feel like it’s necessary for me to look offensively,” Brown said. “I’ll score when I need to or have an open shot, but whoever has the hot hand, I’ll make sure to give them the ball.”

Brown was named to the Naismith Trophy Women’s 50 List earlier this week. This list recognizes the top men and women college basketball players in the country.

The Terrapins scored the games first 15 points in less than three minutes. After the Eagles hit two three-pointers to cut the lead to nine, Maryland went on another 15-0 run extending their lead to 30-6. The closest American ever got to the Terrapins was at the 6:45 mark of the first half where they trailed by 19 points.

“I thought it was one of our best games from start to finish,” Maryland head coach Brenda Frese said. “I thought our starters set the tone from the tip.”

The only bright spot for American was Jen Dumiak, who led the team with 18 points (7-for-13 FGM-A, 3-for-3 3PM-A). Maryland was too big and quick for the Eagles on the defensive end preventing them from getting easy buckets in the paint and limiting them to taking jump shots. They started slow shooting 5-for-28 (17.9 percent) from the field with only four points in the paint. The Eagles finished 17-for-58 (29.3 percent) from the field and scored 14 points in the paint.

“I think this game was a great experience for our team,” American head coach Megan Gebbia said. “It was just getting used to how quick they are.”

This was a game that featured all active Terrapin players. Eleven of the 12 active players played more than 10 minutes.

Maryland hopes to continue their impressive play when they go on the road to face Coppin State on Dec. 21. The Terps then return home to begin Big Ten play against the Ohio State Buckeyes on Dec. 29.