On the final possession of the first half, Riley Nelson passed the ball back out to point guard Shyanne Sellers. Sellers waved the ball around, questioning her shot, but with the seconds winding down she had to put up a shot. She did exactly that, the ball bouncing off the backboard before dropping in and giving Maryland a 36-33 halftime lead.
The Terps never looked back after that.
Maryland women’s basketball (7-3, 1-0 Big Ten) held Northwestern (3-6, 0-1 Big Ten) to just six points in the third quarter and used multiple runs to earn its first Big Ten win of the season with a 71-58 win.
“I was about to dribble and try to go to the rim but then I saw there was like a second left so I shot it,” Sellers said. “It gave us momentum going into halftime which we needed.”
Bri McDaniel was in the starting lineup despite suffering a back injury against George Mason last Sunday.
Northwestern started the game 1-for-9 from the field as Maryland jumped out to a 10-4 lead. But the Wildcats scored a couple of quick baskets to trim the Terps’ lead to 10-8.
Maryland had its way getting to the basket and scoring in the paint, with 18 of its 22 first quarter points coming from there. The first quarter also featured a balanced scoring attack with all seven Terps who touched the court scoring at least two points.
Sellers drove to the basket, flicked a pass off to Allie Kubek who put the ball into the basket giving Maryland a 27-20 lead. The Wildcats came roaring back with a 7-0 run.
Northwestern’s Casey Harter knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the key tying the game at 27-27 with 3:26 left in the second quarter.
Then the teams traded turnovers as Northwestern took a narrow 30-29 lead following a successful and-one. The Wildcats scored 8 points off Maryland’s second quarter turnovers to get back into the game.
Maryland took a 36-33 lead into halftime as Sellers connected on the Terps’ first three-pointer of the afternoon that beat the buzzer.
Only three players scored for Maryland in the second quarter leading to that steep offensive decline as Northwestern shot 43.8 percent from the field in the second quarter.
Coming out of halftime, Maryland forced a shot clock violation and then Alexander knocked in a three-pointer from the corner.
“I thought we got a lot more aggressive pushing catches out, aggressive in our press making it difficult for Northwestern,” coach Brenda Frese said. “That led to our offense.”
The onslaught continued from there, with Jakia Brown-Turner diving to the floor to secure a loose ball. Brown-Turner flung a pass to McDaniel streaking towards the Terps basket. McDaniel scored the fast break points to give Maryland its double digit lead back as Maryland opened the third quarter with a 12-2 run.
The Wildcats started the third quarter 0-for-4 from the field as the Terps defense shut them down. Maryland outscored Northwestern 20-6 in that third quarter while forcing six Wildcat turnovers.
Maryland drew 22 fouls and got to the free throw line 23 times which helped them build up a nearly 20 point lead late in the fourth quarter. Kubek scored 17 points while Brown-Turner added 13 points including 5-6 from the free throw line.
“It shows that we are aggressive and getting to the free throw line is just easy points,” Brown-Turner said. “We just always want to be the aggressor.”
Sellers recorded a double-double again with 13 points, 10 assists and added five steals and was two rebounds away from a triple-double as the Terps secured a win in their Big Ten opener.
