COLLEGE PARK, MD — With seven seconds left in overtime and both teams knotted at 90, Shyanne Sellers inbounded the ball to Sarah Te-Biasu. The VCU transfer blitzed past sixth-year Ohio State guard Madison Greene — who had just tied the game — and looked up at the clock. 

With 3.5 seconds left, Te-Biasu pushed off her left foot from well outside the arc and let off a running floater. The ball didn’t even touch the rim as it nestled through with just a second remaining.

Inside a building that has seen plenty of late-game heartache recently, there was pandemonium inside the Xfinity Center on Sunday. Fueled by Te-Biasu’s majestic game-winner Maryland outlasted Ohio State, 93-90, in the final regular season game. 

“This was an important game for our confidence,” head coach Brenda Frese said. “To know we can go into overtime, and we can be short handed, we can be in foul trouble and be able to pull out a game like this… I thought our resiliency was really good.”

The Terps entered Sunday with room for shifts in seeding for the Big Ten Tournament, but results elsewhere simplified matters. 

Michigan beat Illinois earlier in the afternoon, allowing Maryland (23-6, 13-5 Big Ten) to clinch the fourth seed and a double bye in the Big Ten Tournament before it even stepped on the court on Sunday. 

Sellers, potentially playing in her final game at the Xfinity Center, got off to a stellar start for Maryland. The senior set the tone for the Terps by draining two triples in the first three possessions.

However, Ohio State (24-5, 13-5 Big Ten) was not easily deterred in the hostile road environment. Three straight triples midway through the first quarter kept the Buckeyes within striking distance, but four turnovers and multiple offensive fouls hampered their efforts.

Maryland, to its credit, found success attacking Ohio State’s low post, with the Buckeyes’ interior folding again and again. 

Saylor Poffenbarger’s continued absence — the redshirt junior again sat out wearing a walking boot — afforded extra minutes for Amari DeBerry and Allie Kubek. The pair shined, combining for ten points as Maryland a 24-17 advantage after one quarter. 

“What I love about the bench is that they’ve never quit working… they continue to just keep putting their head down and going to work,” Frese said.

Ohio State dialed up the intensity in the second quarter, unsettling Maryland with its patented aggressive full-court press. 

The Terps started struggling offensively, shooting just 5-for-15 in the second quarter, while the Buckeyes followed a contrasting trend. A 13-3 run midway through the second quarter flipped Maryland’s lead into a deficit. 

It took another late three from Sellers for the Terps to go into halftime down just one score. 

Maryland returned to its strength in the second half, immediately working the ball back in the paint. 

A free throw from Kubek and a transition layup by Smikle put the Terps back ahead less than a minute into the third quarter — before the Buckeyes’ Taylor Thierry went down the other end and sunk a three-pointer.

Sellers temporarily exited, having aggravated her knee injury. As she was off the floor, the game lost some of its decorum. Christina Dalce was whistled for a technical foul after an uncouth comment towards an Ohio State defender, and the Terps were called for multiple other fouls that enraged the home support.

“Senior Shy” soon returned though, flipping home spirits as she received a boisterous standing ovation.

Neither team had led by more than four points since 13 minutes into the game, but Maryland had an opportunity to assert itself late in the third quarter. The Terps couldn’t shake Ohio State, though, taking a one point lead to the fourth quarter.

Once there, everything broke the Terps’ way — Ohio State committed four turnovers and Maryland went 5-of-5 from the field, including nine points from Smikle, who finished with a game-high 26. 

But after building a nine point lead — the largest of the game — Maryland committed four turnovers, allowing the Buckeyes a backdoor entrance.

Ohio State took full advantage, embarking on an 11-2 run to tie the game at 72 with just under three minutes remaining. Maryland retook a lead, but Cotie McMahon floated an audacious airborne layup to tied the game once more for the Buckeyes with just over a minute remaining. 

The Terps immediately looked to Sellers in isolation; her turnaround jumper went in with 40 seconds to go. 

Again, McMahon pierced Maryland’s defense, tying the game and giving the Terps the final shot. Maryland went back to Sellers in isolation; this time, she was well marshalled by the Buckeyes and couldn’t get a shot up. 

Tied at 78, the game went to overtime. 

Ohio State immediately jumped out to a five-point lead. Needing a spark, Te-Biasu took matters into her own hands. With the shot clock dark, the senior banked in a soft layup off the glass to keep the game as a one-score affair. 

An Emily Fisher foul on McMahon sent the junior forward to the line. She made one of her two free throws, getting a narrow lead with 33 seconds remaining. 

The Terps went right down the other end, and again, Te-Biasu went to the rack and earned two points, wrestling back control. Ohio State then missed a shot. Kubek was fouled on the ensuing trip but only made one of two attempts, allowing Ohio State to tie the game with seven seconds left.

From there, the stage was set for Te-Biasu to drain her three. Frese will hope that shot can re-energize a battle-scarred Terps team as they now prepare for win-or-go-home basketball.

“It means everything to be here and play here… and I just enjoyed every moment of it,” Sellers said. “It’s surreal to think [that this may be her final game at the Xfinity Center], but if it is, what a way to go out.”