Maryland entered the fourth quarter only down nine after facing a 22-point halftime deficit but couldn’t shut down Indiana’s offense for another 10 minutes.
Faith Masonius stripped Mackenzie Holmes of the ball for a potential steal early in the fourth quarter. Except the officials called a foul. Masonius was dismayed by the call, earning herself a technical foul to give the Hoosiers two easy points. They then went on a 10-0 run as the Terps missed their next seven shots.
That spurt essentially sealed the game as Maryland women’s basketball (12-9, 4-6 Big Ten) suffered its third straight defeat, this time a 87-73 loss to No. 10 Indiana (18-2, 9-1 Big Ten).
“Even after halftime I saw the fight that we have and the resiliency so that’s super positive,” coach Brenda Frese said. “This team hasn’t quit fighting.”
Indiana entered Wednesday’s game with the best field goal percentage in the Big Ten, scoring on 51.6 percent of its shot attempts. That didn’t stop in College Park.
The Terps struggled without Sellers, taking bad shots out of the gate. Maryland missed Sellers’ presence on the other end as well, as it left too many Indiana shooters open and the Hoosiers made them pay. Indiana opened the game on a 14-2 run — including knocking down four three-pointers.
An early Frese timeout momentarily settled her team down, as the Terps went on a 6-0 spurt. But the Hoosiers continued to pour down the threes, attempting 14 and making six in the first quarter alone.
Indiana got the inside game going in the second period, feeding All-American Mackenzie Holmes as she contributed eight points. Half of the Hoosiers’ second-quarter points came in the paint.
Holmes trailed only Sara Scalia in first-half scoring for Indiana, who torched Maaryland with four makes from beyond the arc en route to 14 points at the break. The duo combined for 45 points.
Jakia Brown-Turner was the only Terp to step up early in the absence of Sellers, contributing 10 first-half points, with eight coming in the first quarter. The graduate student attempted Maryland’s lone free throws of the half.
“That first half was just on us,” wing Brinae Alexander said. “I think it was more about our energy and effort which is something we pride ourselves with.”
The Terps worked deep into the shot clock early, trying to find a shot they liked. But many shots didn’t fall. Maryland started the game 3-9 on layups, unable to convert on easy looks.
Frese’s team found its stride a little more offensively in the second quarter — connecting on 50 percent of its looks from the field — but zero free throw attempts and only two made three’s limited the capability of the offense.
The third quarters have been a struggle for the Terps this season, but they looked like a different team Wednesday. Maryland caught fire, converting on nine straight field goals and got to the free throw line 13 times after reaching the stripe only four times in the first half. The Terps defense’ played more physically, forcing five Hoosier turnovers.
Maryland’s strong third frame allowed it to trim Indiana’s 22-point halftime lead down to nine as Bri McDaniel hit a pair of free throws right before the end of the period. The Terps played clean basketball, only committing one turnover in the quarter.
But Maryland couldn’t transition its strong third frame into the fourth, as the Masonious technical foul seemed to thwart any chance of a comeback.
“I think the frustration was the 44 (combined) fouls that were called,” Frese said. “… You couldn’t really get into any kind of rhythm or flow within the game.”
The Terps’ faltering down the stretch in the fourth quarter resulted in them dropping further down the conference standings.
