BLOOMINGTON, IN — No. 19 Maryland women’s basketball forward Amari DeBerry set a screen for guard Sarah Te-Biasu as Thursday night’s first half against Indiana wound to a close. Standing near the right wing, DeBerry rolled to the top of the free throw circle where Te-Bisau dished it back to her screen-setter.
Without hesitation, the wide-open DeBerry drained a straight-on jumper from just inside the arc. The forward couldn’t hide her grin, as she swiftly turned to run back on defense.
DeBerry’s bucket accounted for the final two points in a 14-0 Maryland run — the largest scoring stretch that either team had all game. That first-half run ultimately propelled the Terps to a 74-60 win over Indiana, at Assembly Hall.
“What I loved is every single player contributed with scoring. Every single player in the box scored,” head coach Brenda Frese said. “[And] that run was massive.”
The win — Maryland’s (22-6, 12-5 Big Ten) cleanest away from home since defeating Oregon three weeks ago — sees the Terps finish their regular season with an admirable 10-1 record in road games.
A stagnant Maryland offense struggled to create open looks inside the paint against an undersized Indiana lineup straight from the opening tipoff. The Terps started 0-for-8 from the field, while the Hoosiers (17-11, 9-8 Big Ten) buried several looks under the basket to establish a 6-0 lead in just under three minutes.
After starting the game with two forwards on the floor — mostly due to Saylor Poffenbarger’s lower left leg injury — Frese turned to even more size.
The Terps continued working possession into forward Christina Dalce, who grabbed her team’s first points with an and-one hook shot. She made the subsequent free throw, before driving to the hole for Maryland’s next two points a few possessions later.
DeBerry’s effort was quickly realized during her early minutes. Using her spacious reach, DeBerry got fingertips to a three-point attempt by Julianna LaMendola. Kaylene Smikle grabbed the deflection and sprinted to the other end, where she finished a layup that gave Maryland a 7-6 advantage.
“It was a really physical, really tough game, but I thought we were disruptive,” Frese said. “We had a lot of … stops to scores.”
The Terps maintained their steady offensive output until the end of the period.
Both teams finished the opening ten minutes on 14 points apiece after Shay Ciezki and Yarden Garzon — the Big Ten’s joint leader in three-pointers per game — each hit triples near quarter’s close. Those were Indiana’s only three-point makes in Thursday’s first half.
With the Hoosiers struggling from deep, Garzon picked up her second personal foul early in the second quarter. Garzon was Indiana’s leading scorer entering play; losing her three-point presence for over four minutes of the quarter had detrimental effects on both sides of the ball.
Indiana’s offense simply couldn’t keep up with the Terps as they embarked on their crucial 14-0 run. Five different Terps combined to score seven two-pointers, ending with DeBerry’s pure jumper from just a few feet inside the three-point line.
After holding the Hoosiers to just six second-quarter points, Maryland soon carried a 30-20 lead into halftime. But that difference would dwindle as the Terps’ offense sputtered throughout the penultimate quarter.
The two teams traded buckets through the first three minutes of the quarter before Chole Moore-McNeil grabbed a layup that sparked a 13-3 Indiana run over the next four minutes.
Free from the worry of foul trouble, Garzon scored the next five for Indiana, but Ciezki nailed a corner three from the left side. Garzon followed up Ciezki’s make with a catch-and-shoot triple from practically the exact same spot on the floor.
Indiana’s sudden scoring frenzy prompted Frese to call a timeout. That move tempered the Assembly Hall crowd, allowing the Terps to reset defensively.
On the other side of the ball, Smikle delivered five crucial points inside the final minute and 40 seconds of the quarter, providing Maryland with a 46-39 lead heading into the last 10 minutes.
Senior Shyanne Sellers had just four points to her name when the final quarter started. But that tally rose exponentially down the stretch.
Sellers foreshadowed her dominant final quarter by splashing a pair of triples inside the period’s opening minute. Maryland never went on a sizable fourth-quarter run, but Sellers’ contributions from deep — three triples in total as part of a 21-point frame — allowed the Terps to outpace the Hoosiers, who were in the midst of their highest-scoring quarter of the night.
“The first three quarters weren’t really going my way. I felt like I was kind of letting my team down,” Sellers said. “The shots I was taking, I felt like most of them were pretty good shots. They felt good, so I knew they would start falling.”
Ciezki, a 93% free-throw shooter, sank a pair of charity stripe attempts after officials ruled that Sellers committed an intentional foul. Those makes shrank Maryland’s once double-digit fourth-quarter lead to just six points. But the Terps had one final answer.
In immediate response to Ciezki’s free throws, Smikle drilled a right-corner three that firmly swung momentum back in Maryland’s favor.
Sellers iced the game with a perfect 8-for-8 showing from the free throw line in the final few minutes. Those scores helped Sellers finish with a game-high 25 points, as the Terps closed out their victory over Indiana on the Hoosiers’ senior night.
“Illinois spoiled our senior night, and it was time to spoil somebody else’s,” Sellers said.
Maryland’s chances of a double-bye in the Big Ten tournament will likely rest on Sunday’s home clash against No. 12 Ohio State at 4:30 p.m. The Terps hold a one-game lead over Illinois, which plays Michigan at 1:30 p.m. EST. Maryland can secure the coveted fourth spot in conference by matching or bettering the Fighting Illini’s result against the Wolverines.
