Coming off its first loss in six games against No. 6 Indiana on Thursday, the No. 9 Maryland women’s basketball came back from its previous 16 turnovers, obtaining 19 points off turnovers by the Scarlet Knights.

“I thought we got to get back to who we are on both ends of the floor, forcing turnovers defensively and sharing the basketball on the offensive end,” Frese said. “It was great to be able to see the tone we set early, forcing 11 turnovers in that first quarter.”

Maryland won 80-56 against Rutgers in a high defense-filled game at the Xfinity Center.

Abby Meyers took a big spill into the cameras but got right back on her feet with a big smile on her face.

“Just bad play after bad play. But no, I think I just tripped over the wax floor. It definitely gets you a few times,” Meyers said. “We can put together a whole compilation of like me and other people falling, you know, just randomly during a practice game, so I need to I need to be better about that.”

Maryland’s Brinae Alexander reached 1000 career points on her home court Sunday.

“1000 points means a lot. I mean, credit to my teammates for finding me and getting me open looks,” Alexander said. “I feel great.”

With two minutes left in the fourth quarter, Alexander sunk a three-field goal expanding Maryland’s largest run (13-0) and lead of the game. Alexander dominated with 20 points, while Shyanne Sellers led the Terps with nine rebounds and seven assists.

“I didn’t know exactly if I was like one or two points shy, but I saw Abby coming down, so I was like, I’m gonna get me a quick three,” Alexander said. “But the bench was screaming at me, and I was like, well, I guess I’ll shoot it. It went in.”

Sellers exploded with 12 points, five free throws, one three, nine rebounds, and seven assists. After scoring eight points, Sellers ran back into a defensive position and immediately took a charge.

Diamond Miller had 17 points, seven field goals, and three free throws. Miller used her height within the paint to obtain six rebounds. She set the tone, swiping three steals and 11 points in the first half.

“She [Miller] really set the tone up top,” Frese said. “She played with 17 points and six boards and five steals, and I thought she just played one of her most complete games on both ends of the floor and just really kind of getting understanding.”

Defense by Elisa Pinzan and Sellers created massive plays while forcing turnovers on full-court presses. Additionally, the Terps’ bench played a massive role in Sunday’s game with 30 points. 

“For one, our press, like we’ve really worked on, we had a lull there that third quarter, but I think pressing gets us going. Only to kind of sit back out of our press,” Alexander said. 

The scrappy eight-player Rutgers team had a lot of fight with the Terps. Chyna Cornwell laid the ball in for the first points of the game. She ended with 15 points.

Kaylene Smikle led the Scarlet Knights with 21 points and finished ten for ten from the charity stripe.

The Scarlet Knights averaged 85 % free throws with a high of 21 points from Kaylene Smikle, 13 rebounds by Chyna Cornwell, and Awa Sidibe with four assists. 

After Rutgers’ previous loss against Maryland on January 2nd, three-time coach of the year in the Big Ten and first-year head coach Coquese Washington wanted to focus on limiting turnovers. The Scarlet Knights have a bit to go with 23 turnovers after the second half.

“We’ve been practicing it all week was to really come in be aggressive, high hands, and we actually were working on in practice, how to try and steal the ball without fouling,” Meyers said. “And so I think that kind of just translated really well, and it definitely helped us find the momentum in that first quarter leading into the second, third, fourth.”

The Scarlet Knights exemplified its skills and quality with an impressive win over Minnesota.

Rutgers beat Maryland in rebounds, but the Terps outran the smaller team proving itself with 24 total assists.

New Terrapin Meyers relieved the pressure with outside shots and was able to knock down those deeper three-point shots. Meyers connected with her second attempt creating a two-point lead for the Terps, ending the first half with 12 points. 

“I think our identity for the first half of the season, but as a team, it’s really just our transition basketball or offense. But I think what we’re learning about ourselves every day is that we can really defend and get really great momentum,” Meyers said. “I’m always using the word momentum because that’s something that we’ve really really emphasized the past couple of weeks. It’s just really good to have team offense and defense, and that’s going to help us down the stretch when we play really good teams and when we had to get stops.”

The Terps hit the road going to play Wisconsin and Nebraska on Jan. 19 and Jan. 22.