IOWA CITY, IA — A boisterous Carver-Hawkeye Arena crowd got progressively louder throughout the second half as No. 23 Iowa women’s basketball clawed its way back from a 25-point deficit against No. 8 Maryland.
The Hawkeyes cut the difference to six points with just over three minutes remaining on Sunday. Needing a response, two of Maryland’s premiere scorers answered the call.
After Saylor Poffenbarger lobbed in a midrange jumper, Kaylene Smikle sought another two-point bucket on the Terps’ ensuing possession. The Rutgers transfer tried to drive toward the basket but was quickly cut off. Instead, Smikle dribbled back behind the three-point line, set, and drilled a deep triple to push Maryland’s advantage back beyond double digits.
Smikle’s crucial long ball — her final field goal in a game-high 26-point performance — virtually iced Sunday’s game. The Terps weathered one final Hawkeye push, taking down Iowa 74-66 for their first road victory of the season against a ranked opponent.
“We gotta be 10 points better on the road,” senior guard Shyanne Sellers said. “I think, obviously, we built ourselves a great lead in the first half. [We just] gotta come out a lot stronger in the third [quarter].”
The statement victory also extended Maryland’s undefeated start to the campaign, as the Terps now sit at 14-0 (4-0 Big Ten) for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
Sellers propelled Maryland’s offense to a blistering start on Sunday.
Both teams traded two-point baskets to start the game before Sellers assisted Poffenbarger on a high-arching left-wing three. On the next possession, Maryland’s senior point guard drained a triple of her own from the opposite sideline
The Terps shot a blistering 71 percent from beyond the arc through the first six and a half minutes of the game. During that same time, Iowa (12-3, 2-2 Big Ten) — typically one of the highest volume three-point shooting teams in the country — missed both of its long-ball attempts.
The Terps built a lofty lead — which once sat at 22-8 — but it was cut in half by the end of the first quarter.
Iowa finished the opening period on a 7-0 run, as junior guard Taylor McCabe capped the scoring with a three-pointer from the top of the arc. But that offensive momentum wouldn’t persist.
After senior Sydney Affolter finished a layup with just under a minute gone in the second quarter, Iowa’s offense went cold — extremely cold.
A Hannah Stulke free throw gave the Hawkeyes their lone point over the next seven-plus minutes. During that stretch, the home side missed seven straight field goals — four of which were layups — and committed six turnovers.
Maryland conversely scored at will on the other end.
Smikle, Sellers, Bri McDaniel, and Sarah Te-Biasu all hit from behind the arc in the second quarter, as part of an uber-efficient first half. Maryland was averaging just 6.1 three per game entering play. Its tally was at nine by halftime.
The Terps even connected on unintentional shots as well.
In a moment that encapsulated Maryland’s positive offensive fortune in the early going, McDaniel drove along the baseline midway through the second quarter. The junior guard tried to pick up her dribble as she knifed between two defenders. Instead, though, McDaniel lost the handle.
The ball floated aimlessly upward before conveniently landing on the rim as it came down. After a couple of clanks on the iron, McDaniel’s unintentional shot fell for a rather miraculous two points.
As was the case in the first quarter, Iowa’s offense showed signs of life as the second frame dwindled to a close. Hawkeyes leading scorer Lucy Olson hit a pair of threes and added a trio of free throws as she scored her team’s final nine points of the half.
Even with Olson’s late burst, the Terps still held a comfortable 48-27 lead at the break. But this time, a pause in the action didn’t break Iowa’s offensive rhythm.
Affolter and Olson combined for 10 points in a 12-0 third-quarter run that brought the score to 51-39.
Not only did the threes stop falling for Maryland, but the Terps seemingly abandoned the method that drove them to their massive first-half lead. After Poffenbarger nailed a shot from beyond the arc on their first possession of the half, the Terps attempted just two more three-pointers the rest of the quarter.
“We hit a lot of threes in the first half, and you knew that we couldn’t be married to that for the entire game,” coach Brenda Frese said. “I thought we got a little bit too ‘one-on-one.’ We were all intentionally trying to do our best to make a play for one another, but credit … Iowa’s defense.”
Maryland re-established a comfortable advantage — 59-43 by quarter’s close — with shorter field goals and efficient free-throw shooting. But the Hawkeyes remained persistent.
The Terps’ offense went quiet from all sectors of the floor to start the final frame, while Iowa conversely found a rhythm behind its rejuvenated crowd. Redshirt senior Kylie Feuerbach finished off a 14-4 Iowa run with a steal and layup that cut Maryland’s lead to just six.
Each side added three more points over the next two minutes before Poffenbarger and Smikle sunk their aforementioned scores down the stretch to seal Maryland’s hard-fought victory.
“We’re not gonna crumble from teams going on runs, because that’s just how basketball is,” Smikle said. “I feel like we stayed composed. We spoke in our huddles to stay together … and I think we accomplished that.”
The undefeated pool in women’s college basketball shrunk once more on Sunday, as No. 15 Tennessee fell at home to No. 9 Oklahoma.
Just five top-25 undefeated teams remain — Maryland being one of them. That distinction will be on the line once more when the Terps host JuJu Watkins and No. 4 in a monumental Big Ten clash this week.
Jack Bowan and Tyler Lochte will have the call for Wednesday’s 8:30 pm tipoff for WMUC Sports.
