Maryland women’s basketball falls to No. 18 Ohio State, 84-76

Cotie McMahon drove down the right baseline towards the basket and absorbed contact from Jakia Brown-Turner. McMahon’s shot rolled into the basket despite the foul. The sophomore flexed as Ohio State led by seven.

The forward missed her ensuing free throw but it didn’t matter. Three offensive rebounds later, McMahon drove right back down the paint and secured another layup, putting the Buckeyes ahead by nine — seemingly cementing the lead and win.

Maryland women’s basketball continued to decrease the deficit by as much as four but had no answer for Ohio State , who continued to answer back — making its last five shots as the Buckeyes (14-3, 5-1 B1G) defeated the Terps (11-6, 3-3 B1G), 84-76.

Maryland entered Wednesday’s matchup against No. 18 Ohio State looking to notch its first win over a ranked opponent this season — the Terps fell in their previous three matchups, all in November. Maryland looked on track to claim that win, holding a halftime advantage.

“If you look at our three conference losses, we were right there on all three of them,” coach Brenda Frese said. “[We need to] fine tune some things, obviously on the glass and being able to close some things out.”

But foul trouble and turnovers plagued the Terps, who again failed to stay ahead after the Buckeyes took a lead in the third quarter. 

Maryland’s turnover struggles began in the opening period as it recorded seven in the frame. Faith Masonius recorded three of her five first-half turnovers in the opening period. The forward played only six minutes after halftime.

The Terps held onto a one-point lead after the first quarter thanks to a great start by Bri McDaniel, who scored the final points of the period on a bucket still in the final seconds. McDaniel scored nine of her 16 points in the opening frame.

Ohio State stayed close in the second quarter due to foul trouble from Maryland, shooting 7-8 from the foul stripe off six Terp fouls. Guard Shyanne Sellers, fresh off an outing where she scored her 1,000th career point, picked up her second foul in the frame and was limited to only seven minutes in the first half.

The Buckeyes totaled 30 free throws over the course of the game — 11 more than the Terps. Their heavy work at the stripe played a key role in their excellence in the second half, as they shot 20 of their 30 free throws after halftime.

“We need to shift over and just be disciplined with that,” guard Lavender Briggs said. “All five of us have to hit [on defense].” 

Sellers did not attempt a shot over the first 20 minutes, failing to even reach the free throw line. The junior finally secured points on a pair of free threes a minute into the third quarter.  

Maryland held onto a two-point lead heading into halftime despite its star point guard not scoring. Brown-Turner scored six of her 16 points in the quarter while Briggs added another five in the frame to pace the Terps’ scoring. Brown-Turner fouled out of the game late in the fourth quarter while Briggs finished with 16 points, tied with McDaniel for the team-high.

The Buckeyes pulled away and grew a four-point lead in the third quarter, their first lead since the opening period. McDaniel had a chance to tie the game with seconds left in the third but made only one of two free throws — Maryland never had a better chance to take a lead in the final frame.

The Terps had no answer for center Rebeka Mikulasikova in the third quarter, who scored eight of her 20 points in the frame. Meanwhile Sellers continued to struggle in the frame, making only one of her first five shots of the game and picking up her third foul with under thirty seconds remaining. 

“I feel like we just did the little things in the fourth quarter that was going to wear them out and we just did little things that really were going to win us this game and that was it,” McMahon said. 

The Buckeyes hung onto the lead in the fourth, out-scoring the Terps 28-21 in the final quarter. Maryland will look to bounce back in the finale of its three-game homestand Saturday against Illinois.