By Joseph Foley
Lauren Mincy was front and center from start to finish in Maryland’s 83-72 win against Indiana on Thursday night.
Before tip-off, the Terps lone senior was honored with a highlight video commemorating her four years with the team. Her family then escorted her onto the court for a pregame ceremony, as she received a standing ovation from the Maryland crowd. This was just the beginning of Mincy’s night.
On her senior night, Mincy would go on to drop a career-high 28 points to go along with five rebounds and three assists.
Maryland (25-2, 17-0) head coach Brenda Frese praised Mincy for her diverse offensive abilities. “She exploited off the bounce, hit pull up shots, she was really aggressive.” There may have been a reason for that extra aggressiveness from the senior guard.
“I didn’t have a senior night in high school,” stated Mincy, who remained in attack mode the entire game. Mincy got to the line a team high 12 times, while the Terps attempted a total of 30 free throws as a team.
Maryland rode a strong post game from junior center Malina Howard and sophomore guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough in the first half, where they outscored the Hoosiers 20-12 in the paint. The Terps took a 12 point lead into halftime after Mincy hit her second three of the half with three seconds left on the clock.
However, Indiana would not go away quietly. A pair of threes from Indiana guard Karlee McBride cut the Terps lead to just four with 8:10 remaining in the game.
The senior Mincy wouldn’t let it get any closer though, getting to the line on back to back possesions and hitting four consecutive free throws.
“That really hurt us,” explained Indiana (14-14, 4-13) head coach Teri Moren on Maryland’s success at getting to the line. When asked about Mincy’s career night, Moren simply stated she was, “Not surprised.”
In a game where the Terps only got a total of four points from their bench, it was the starting unit that paced Maryland. Four starters scored in double digits for a team that is only one victory away from a perfect inaugural Big Ten season.
Maryland will go on the road to this weekend to take on Northwestern in a Sunday matinee showdown. The action can be seen on BTN at 1 p.m. from Evanston.
When asked about the pursuit of perfection, sophomore guard Lexie Brown stated, “We look at every game the same,” a tough task when you know you have a target on your back. Maryland looks to extend their current twenty game win streak and finish Big Ten play perfect, with the postseason right around the corner.
