By: Alejandro Cornman
In a sloppy, Big Ten-esque type game, the No. 11 University of Maryland women’s basketball team overcame 23 turnovers an earned a hard fought 70-57 victory over Ohio State, improving to 17-2 on the season and 6-2 in the Big Ten.
While the scoreline doesn’t indicate it, the visiting Terps certainly had their hands full. The Buckeyes tried everything they could to make the game as gritty as possible, which kept them close for the first two and a half quarters, but the Terps used two late third quarter runs to pull away from the home side.
Despite everything the home side threw at them, the Terps were ultimately too much to handle offensively.
Overall the Terps shot very consistently, going 51 percent from the floor on 25-of-49 shooting. They also found success behind the arc, going 43 percent and sinking 6-of-14 shots from deep.
Much of the Terps offense came through junior forward Stephanie Jones, who finished the night with a season-high 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting, and four rebounds. Freshman guard Taylor Mikesell also found offensive success, finishing the night with 14 points on 50 percent shooting, and seven assists.
Other notable performers were 6-foot-5 forward Shakira Austin, who finished the night with eight points and 11 boards, while Kaila Charles chipped in eight points of her own.
Despite the offensive success from the Terps, one of the other storylines on the night was the way they handled adversity. Despite having 23 turnovers, they limited the Buckeyes to just 14 points off of them. They also fended off numerous scoring droughts throughout the game and came back stronger from each of them.
While the Buckeyes held their own, the Terps still held the edge on the glass, winning the rebounding battle 35-31.
The Terps also showed that they could keep their composure consistently, despite the grit of playing a conference game away from home. After starting the game out on an 8-2 run, the Buckeyes came storming back with a 7-0 run of their own, seeing the Terps trail 9-8 at the first quarter media timeout.
The Terps weren’t phased by this however, trading baskets with the Buckeyes until the end of the quarter, with the score tied at 18.
The second quarter followed suit of the end of the first, neither team could pull away as both teams struggled offensively. While the Terps couldn’t quite find their rhythm, they weren’t phased and went into the locker room holding a 32-28 lead.
Out of the break the teams continued to trade baskets, with UMD still holding on to a small lead. However the Buckeyes went on another 7-0, tying the score at 38 following a Maryland timeout.
The Terps once again struggled to score out of the timeout, but once again showed their resiliency. Their patience eventually paid off, as they went on seperate 7-0 and 6-0 runs to close out the quarter. They also saw improved effort from their defense, holding the Buckeyes scoreless in the final 2:21 of the quarter.
From there it was smooth sailing for the Terps, who held onto their lead to take home a 70-57 victory.
The Terps will look to pick up another road victory against Indiana, when they travel to Bloomington to take on the Hoosiers on Sunday, Jan. 27.
