In 12 games at home on the year, the Terps have won by double-digit points every time, but Ohio State flipped it, beating Maryland by double-digit points.

No. 8 Maryland women’s basketball returned to the Xfinity Center to kick off a streak of playing five ranked Big Ten opponents in a row, starting with No. 18 Ohio State.

Oluchi Okananwa was the key to the game for Maryland. When she was in the game, the Terps dominated. But when she was out, the Buckeyes did.

It came down to the final quarter, where the Ohio State defense hounded Maryland and Jaloni Cambridge took over, scoring 12 of her 28 points, to push the Buckeyes to win 89-76. 

“I’m extremely proud to be doing it in a Maryland jersey,” Okananwa said. “It’s great, not the outcome I would’ve hoped for in hitting my one thousand milestone, but I’ll take it and move on.” 

Despite the loss, Okananwa finished the night with 27 points as well as nine rebounds. Yarden Garzon picked up where she left off against Rutgers, draining five threes, getting eight rebounds as well and nine assists. 

Cambridge not only fueled the Buckeyes with her scoring, but she also pulled in nine rebounds and eight assists. She was one of four Ohio State players to hit double-digit points in the game. 

Okananwa started the game off hot for the Terps, hitting 1,000 points within the first five minutes after scoring the team’s first ten points. This put Maryland ahead by double digits as they entered the second. 

Unluckily for the Terps, Okananwa and the whole team got into foul trouble, allowing the Buckeyes to turn their fortunes around as they finished the quarter only down two. 

“They flipped the script on us,” head coach Brenda Frese said. “We put them at the free throw line way too many times and didn’t respond as well as I thought we would to their aggressiveness.”

Exiting halftime, the pendulum began to swing as Maryland struggled to get their shots to fall, and Ohio State picked up its first lead of the game and held onto it.

Entering the fourth, it could have gone either way, but the Buckeyes got hot and the Terps could not keep up. Ohio State shot 75% from the field in the quarter and held Maryland to poor offensive play. Despite Maryland trying its best to stay afloat, it could not match the Buckeyes’ intensity as they lost their first home game of the season. 

“They’re a potent team,” Frese said. “We had no answers.” 

Maryland will travel across the country for their second consecutive ranked matchup as it faces No. 21 USC on Thursday.