By Aidan Currie
In last season’s lone meeting between Maryland and Purdue the two teams were tied at 74 when then-sophomore Shyanne Sellers was set to inbound for the Terps, with just six seconds left on the clock.
Sellers’ pass went to Abby Meyers, and as Meyers drew a double team while driving into the paint she kicked it back to Sellers, who was standing wide open on the wing. As the buzzer sounded, Sellers fired from three and nailed the game winning triple to secure head coach Brenda Frese’s 600th career win.
Fast-forward to Sunday afternoon and it was Sellers making history against Purdue once again, because the junior tallied both her 1,000th career point and her 300th career assist as part of a dominant 88-66 win for the Terps.
“I didn’t [know I got my 1,000th point],” laughed Sellers. “I didn’t know I was going to get it [in] this game. … [but] I’m happy I got it in a win.”
Originally, Sunday’s game between the Terps and Boilermakers was scheduled to be played last Saturday, but a roof leak at the Xfinity Center ultimately caused the contest to be postponed.
Even though today’s matchup didn’t feature any water on the court it was a sloppy start for both offenses, as each side committed four turnovers in the opening five minutes.
Eventually both offenses managed to settle in, but the trend continued throughout as Maryland and Purdue finished with 17 and 19 turnovers respectively.
“I love that we dominated every single quarter,” said Maryland head coach Brenda Frese. “We’ve got to be able to not turn the ball over as much as we did [today], … but overall it was definitely one of our most complete games.”
When the ball wasn’t being turned over, the two teams were shooting it well and trading scores to keep the game close early on. After carrying a 20-17 advantage into the second quarter, the Terps’ three point lead quickly became 10, as Maryland posted a 7-0 run behind prolific offensive production from Jakia Brown-Turner.
“I think [it was] just [about] taking open shots,” said Brown-Turner in regards to her first half performance. “My teammates have had confidence in me, and my coaches have had confidence in me.”
Brown-Turner shot 7-7 in the first half before cooling off in the second, but nevertheless, the graduate guard had a career day as she finished with a season high 18 points and nine rebounds.
“I love that Jakia is staying the course,” said Coach Frese. “For us [coaches] we’ve … tried to tune her back into her defense and her rebounding, to not put as much pressure on her offense. It was great to be able to see her be rewarded because she has just tried to put her head down and keep working for this team.”
Despite Maryland’s comfortable 44-31 advantage at the break the Boilermakers didn’t go quietly. Coming out of halftime Purdue opened on a 10-2 scoring run, which was punctuated by back to back three’s from Madison Layden.
“It’s something we’re tuned into,” said Coach Frese in reference to Maryland’s third quarter struggles. “I knew [that] Purdue’s third quarter is their best and [our] third quarter is our worst. I liked the personal responsibility when we called the timeout. I thought we were able to change it, but like I said to [the team] after the game, we have to figure out how to fix it.”
Just as momentum seemed to be swinging in favor of the Boilermakers though, Bri Mcdaniel took over. Despite tallying a solid nine points in the first half, McDaniel wasn’t shooting all that well from the field as she went just 2-9 and scored five of her nine points from the charity stripe.
“[Bri is] having fun, … her emotions are in a better place, and she’s confident,” said Frese. “She gives us another ball handler, [and] when she’s shooting the three like she did [today she’s] another weapon from three point range.”
In the second half however, McDaniel kept getting open looks from behind the arc, and the sophomore buried nearly every scoring chance she had, hitting four of her five three-point attempts as part of her own 16-point half.
“Just pushing each other every day in practice … and fouling each other,” joked McDaniel when talking about how she’s been able to compliment Shyanne Sellers on offense. “[It’s been helpful] coming in everyday, knowing I’m going to have someone who’s going to push me everyday and get on my last nerve, and vice versa.”
McDaniel finished with 25 points, seven assists, and five rebounds as the Terps cruised to victory in the fourth quarter.
Entering Sunday the Terps had lost two of their previous three games, all of which were on the road. The win over Purdue, however, kicks off a crucial three game homestand as the Terps can climb to 5-2 in BIG 10 play if they can win their next two.
With that being said, Coach Frese did emphasize the fact that “There are no easy games [in the BIG 10],” following the Michigan State loss. This will almost certainly be the case on Wednesday night when the Terps host #17 Ohio State (12-3) at 7:00 p.m.
