Maryland women’s basketball went into Value City Arena and gave No. 2 Ohio State all it could handle. But the Buckeyes sealed out the result, hitting four-straight field goals across the final five minutes.
Maryland stuck with a seven-player rotation following Lavender Briggs’ season-ending injury, and the Terps’ lack of depth caught up to them as Ohio State earned a 79-66 win in Columbus Sunday afternoon. Maryland’s four-game winning streak was snapped, while the Buckeyes extended their own winning streak to 14 games.
All five of Ohio State’s starters scored double figures, with Celeste Taylor pacing the team with 20 points. The Buckeyes (24-3, 15-1 Big Ten) clinched at least a share of the Big Ten regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament with the victory.
The loss was Maryland’s (16-11, 8-8 Big Ten) first since Feb. 3, returning its conference record back even to .500. The result moved the Terps into a tie for sixth place in the Big Ten standings.
“We have a small margin for error,” coach Brenda Frese said. “Everybody’s got to show up, we can’t have no shows anymore. We can’t have players in foul trouble in the first half.”
Both those issues plagued Maryland. The Terps had four players pick up two fouls at halftime and four players combined for 19 total points.
Maryland and Ohio State both started off hot, moving the ball up and down the court quickly to trade baskets. The Buckeyes then began to gain some separation from the Terps with their hot 3-point shooting, making four of their eight attempts from beyond the arc in the first quarter.
Maryland’s leading scorer Shyanne Sellers picked up her second foul with 1:04 left in the opening quarter, going to the bench as a result. Sellers played just seven minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, scoring just two points by the end of the second quarter.
Sellers’ lack of playing time in the first half allowed Brinae Alexander and Bri McDaniel to lead the Terps’ offense.
Alexander has been attempting more looks from beyond the arc recently, and that continued in Columbus. The graduate student converted her first three attempts from 3-point range, providing an offensive spark for Maryland.
McDaniel showcased her offensive prowess during the final stretch of the second quarter, a sight most seen in January. McDaniel went on a huge 6-0 run all by herself to trim the Terps’ deficit entering the break, finishing the first half with 13 points to pace Maryland at halftime.
Even with Alexander and McDaniel’s scoring boosting the offense, the Terps still trailed 44-31 at halftime.
“Going down in the first half did really limit us,” Alexander said.
The Terps’ defense couldn’t stop Taylor in the first half. The Duke transfer exploded for 13 points on 5-7 shooting from the field, including three made 3-pointers. Maryland held Taylor to 11 points on 4-11 shooting from the field earlier this season but couldn’t find the same success in the second meeting between the schools.
Cotie McMahon got called for a technical foul in the third frame after Sellers drew the foul and sprinted away from her. Sellers missed her first free throw but then calmly hit the next three to give the Terps easy points from the stripe as they tried to further decrease their deficit.
McMahon’s technical was a result of unsportsmanlike conduct, sending her to the bench with four fouls and 10 points. Maryland capitalized with McMahon on the bench, cutting its deficit to five by the end of the third quarter. The Terps scored the last four points of the frame, including Jakia Brown-Turner scoring a fast break layup right before the buzzer sounded.
Maryland couldn’t capitalize on the momentum it seized at the end of the third frame as Ohio State scored six unanswered points to start the fourth quarter. But the Terps answered back, with Alexander hitting her fifth 3-pointer of the game — her most in a game since November — to trim the Buckeyes’ lead to 66-60 with seven minutes left.
McMahon hit a three with under five minutes left to push Ohio State’s lead to double-digits. Maryland struggled to get stops on the defensive end and find buckets on the offensive end, stalling out the hopes of securing a major resume boosting win.
“This is three games against top five teams in the last month and all three were one or two possession games in the fourth, we’re just staying resilient and knowing that it’s going to pay off for us,” Frese said.
