In a game where they never trailed, the No. 7-ranked University of Maryland women’s basketball team defeated the UMBC Retrievers 92-61 to improve to 8-0 on the season.
The victory sees the Terps improve to 12-0 all time against the Retrievers, and 6-0 overall when playing at the Xfinity Center.
Five Terps scored double figures in the contest, highlighted by Stephanie Jones finishing with 17 points and adding five rebounds. Shakira Austin was fantastic all night for the home team, finishing the game with a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds.
“The talents don’t go anywhere, it’s just making sure you bring it all to the court each and every game and stay focused and making the right play,” Austin commented on her performances throughout the season.
The remaining Terps who finished with double-digit points included Sara Vujacic with 13 points, Kaila Charles with 11 points and Taylor Mikesell with 11 points and seven rebounds.
Rebounding was the story of the night for the Terps. The Terrapins, who lead the nation with 51 rebounds per game, finished with 44 boards, 15 of them coming on the offensive side. Many of those offensive boards came from either close range or missed free throws, leading to 20 second chance points for the home side.
The Terps also had a solid night offensively. They shot 55 percent from the floor, and were 7-14 for 50 percent from behind the arc. Two of those perimeter shots were back-to-back 3-pointers hit from Vujacic, which was a huge momentum booster for the Terps.
“I’ve just got to stay ready and trust my coaches and teammates,” Vujacic said about her back-to-back threes.
However beyond the arc certainly wasn’t the only place where the Terps got their points from. The home side played well inside all game, producing 50 total points in the paint. They were also able to spread the wealth in scoring, with a total of 45 bench points.
“I thought we got a lot of valuable minutes today from the bench, you know being able to have every player come in and score and really be able to extend the lead,” head coach Brenda Frese said.
The Terrapins also saw some success from their press, forcing 19 UMBC turnovers and capitalizing off of them for 24 points off turnovers.
The home side was red hot to start the first quarter. They began with a 15-3 run, and eventually their lead grew to 17 with a 22-5 lead.
“I loved the start to the game, it was a strong run, I think 15-3 to start the game and we were able to really force a lot of turnovers,” Frese noted.
The second quarter was more of the same for the Terrapins, going on a long and methodical 21-3 run to help them lead 58-30 at the break.
The Retrievers began to find their rhythm at the beginning of the third quarter, hitting four field goals in a row which brought the score to 60-40 in favor of the home side, prompting a Maryland timeout.
“Third quarter obviously we need to improve. I thought it was a really start for us, that’s an area that we’ve got to be able to clean up,” said Freese.
However after the timeout, the Terps were once again able to produce success on both sides of the ball, going on a 20-3 run, aided by Vujicic’s’ back-to-back shots which saw them once again establish a commanding lead, ahead by the score of 81-48 with one quarter left to play.
The final quarter saw both teams struggle to produce offensively, turning the ball over multiple times while neither team could seem to get the ball in the hoop. Maryland finished the game just as it started, going on a run and cruising to yet another victory on the season.
The 8-0 Terrapins next host James Madison on Saturday, Dec. 8 at the Xfinity Center.
