By: Cody Wilcox
After giving up 20 points to the Indiana Hoosiers in the first quarter, Maryland women’s basketball picked up the intensity in the second quarter as they kept the Hoosiers scoreless for nearly seven minutes while they ended the half on a 14-0 run and never looked back in their 76-56 win road win.
Kaila Charles led the charge for the Terps as she constantly filled the lane during fast break situations and created plays in the paint. She finished with a double-double, including a season-high 25 points to go along with her 10 rebounds.
Entering the game, one game separated the Terps and Hoosiers in the Big Ten standings. Both teams seemed to understand what this game meant as they began fast paced with the intent to get into transition. By the end of the quarter, Indiana had six fast break points compared to Maryland’s 10. Charles ended the first quarter with 14 points, almost doubling her last outing at Ohio State with eight points.
Maryland finished the quarter on a 6-0 run while hitting six of their last eight shots, including a crucial step back jumper by Sara Vujacic, which tied the game at 20. Vujacic finished with seven points in 20 minutes.
The Terps’ tenacious second quarter gave them a 40-25 lead going into halftime.
Maryland forward Shakira Austin, who is the only freshman remaining on the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List, only had two points at halftime but contributed with six rebounds and two blocks, one of which nearly went into the second row and caused a slight flex from the freshman.
Entering the game, rebounding and points in the paint were expected to be an advantage for the bigger Maryland team. The Terps were able to control the boards and finished with 42 points in the paint.
Junior Stephanie Jones had a large part to do with Maryland’s dominance as she silently had her second-straight 20-point game to go along with five rebounds and two blocks.
Despite the Hoosier’s defense stepping up following halftime, Maryland was able to outscore Indiana 12-10 in the third quarter, including half of their points coming from the free throw line.
Indiana continued to struggle offensively throughout the day as they shot 38 percent from the floor and turned the ball over 20 times to Maryland, who had a total of 13 turnovers.
Midway through the third quarter, frustration seemed to boil over for the Hoosiers.
After a drive by Hoosier guard Bendu Yeany in the third quarter that led to what officials considered a deflection, head coach Teri Moren, backed by the Indiana faithful, demanded an answer from the officials and received a technical foul.
A large part of the Hoosier’s offensive drought included struggles from their leading scorer Ali Patberg, who came into the game averaging 16.3 points per game. Against Maryland however, the redshirt junior could not get anything to fall for her as she would finish with three points and went 1-11 from the field and 0-for-4 from beyond the arc.
Although Indiana scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, Maryland’s second quarter run was too much to overcome.
Maryland will be back in College Park on Thursday Jan. 31 when they host the Wisconsin Badgers in their only matchup this season.
