By: Noah Gross

The Maryland Women’s Basketball team survived their first real test of the season when they beat the No. 7 Louisville Cardinals on Thursday 78-72.

The marquee game of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge was dominated by Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, who had herself a night as she went for 26 points. Kimbrough was 9-9 from the charity stripe, and was 8-15 from the field.

The Terrapins got off to a slow start, falling behind 18-9 early on. They rebounded in the second quarter grabbing a four-point lead at halftime.

Maryland started to distance themselves in the second half, but then had to withstand a furious comeback by the Cardinals. Brenda Frese showed that her team has serious mental toughness and can deal with adversity in sealing the victory away from home.

Rebounding was big tonight for the Terps as they won the battle 48-35 over Louisville. Guard Kristen Confroy grabbed 11 boards, while center Brionna Jones earned a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Destiny Slocum continued her great freshman season. She can contribute in a number of ways, and tonight showed how she can help when she isn’t scoring. She still added 13 points, including some big ones late, but her five rebounds and four assists were big for Maryland.

Maryland, a good shooting team, struggled from distance tonight. They were just 3-15 from beyond the arc, and still managed to score 78 points against a top-tier opponent. That is the mark of a good ball club.

The Lady Terps are now in sole possession of first place in the Big Ten, at 7-0 for the season. They do not play another ranked opponent until December 29, when they take on the No. 2 Connecticut Huskies.

Maryland will come back to the XFINITY Center for their next game, against Towson on Sunday December 4 at 7:00 PM.