No. 10 Maryland women’s basketball defeats No. 13 Michigan, 72-64

Faith Masonius jogged down the court shaking her head with a sly smile on her face, almost as if she was stunned the Michigan defense had just left her that open. One could not blame them, for Masonius had come into the game with just five triples on the year.

But when she found herself open at the top of the key, the senior forward/guard let it fly, canning two second half triples en route to an all-around performance.

It was the performance of two unheralded scorers who have gone through their fair share of injuries, Masonius and senior forward Lavender Briggs, who propelled No. 10 Maryland women’s basketball to a 72–64 victory over No. 13 Michigan.

To open the highly anticipated matchup, multiple Wolverines got to their pull-up midrange game early on, as both sophomore guard Laila Pheila and senior guard Leigha Brown converted two short jumpers. 

However, the Terps and senior guard Abby Meyers responded. Meyers was aggressive in the first, putting up six shots in the first quarter.

In a physical game, both Meyers and senior guard Diamond Miller had multiple and-one finishes to keep Maryland close. Finally, it was a Briggs three with 2:40 left in the first quarter to give the Terps their first lead. 

“Lav was the X-factor tonight … the other night I was thinking that she was due for a big performance,” coach Brenda Frese said.

While neither side shot the ball particularly well from deep in the first quarter, the opening period was physical and entertaining. Maryland gained control of the first quarter when Masonius hit a triple, and then freshman guard Bri McDaniel forced a Michigan turnover.

At the end of the first quarter, the Terps led 22-15. 

Surprisingly, Maryland opened up the second quarter in a 1-2-2 trap look, seemingly designed to speed Michigan’s offense up. The Wolverines started to open the scoring against the press, scoring four straight points.

Wolverines turnovers. The constant Maryland ball pressure seemed to rattle Michigan, forcing it into long cross court passes and tough post entries.

Miller continued her streak of performing well in big games, scoring nine first quarter points. She then followed that up by showing off her defensive versatility, recording two steals in the second quarter.

“It was important for us to keep them off balance with some of the full court stuff, man and zone,” Frese said. “Us being able to have those different wrinkles is big for us.”

In the second quarter, it was the Masonius show though. Coming into the game, Masonius was shooting 30% on the year from. But in the second quarter she drained two triples, and found sophomore guard Shayanne Sellers for a corner three that had the XFINITY Center crowd jumping.

“It’s all the unsung championship plays, that’s why you see she lead us in minutes,” Frese said. “The two threes she hit were huge for us, and she just battled.”

In what was one of Maryland’s most impressive halves all year, they led at the break 39-29.

Miller came out of the halftime break with one intention in mind, to score the basketball. The star senior put up the first three shots of the break for the Terps, extending their lead to 43-32. 

In the third quarter, both teams were sloppy with the basketball, each combining for six turnovers with just under five minutes to go in the third quarter. Maryland’s strong defense gave it some cushion when the offense struggled to open the half.

“When they scored they were able to press more than when we got stops, so that’s why your defense is so important, and they capitalized,” Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said.

It limited Michigan to 40% shooting from the field, 33% from three and 24 turnovers.

Then, Miller and Briggs took over the quarter. The two combined for 12 of Maryland’s 17 third quarter points. Briggs has strung together consistent performances, rebounding the ball extremely well and playing sound defense.

At the end of the third, Maryland led by 12, 56-44.

The fourth quarter got much more competitive, mainly because Miller picked up her fourth foul. The Wolverines cut the Terps’ lead down to seven with eight minutes to go, after Maryland failed to score for two minutes.

“We got to keep Diamond in the game because she is such a good scorer, so when she went out it was we gotta lock in on the defensive end,” Meyers said.

Out of a timeout, the game took a crucial swing. Michigan turned it over trying to force the ball into graduate student forward Emily Kiser, and then Briggs hit a pull up jumper from the left elbow to give Maryland some comfort.

Briggs then hit what ultimately was a nail-biter, knocking down a corner three to push Maryland’s lead back out to 10. The Florida transfer has seemed more and more confident in her jumper, getting back to the player she was prior to the injuries.

“I was just trying to play aggressive from the jump, felt really good out of halftime with my shot,” Briggs said.

The Wolverines managed to close the gap a bit after Miller fouled out, but the Terps prevailed to keep themselves in the Big Ten race, beating Michigan by eight.

Miller led the way with 23 points, followed by Sellers and Briggs with 13 and 12, respectively. Maryland has won 10 of their last 11 games, keeping it in the Big Ten title race down the stretch. 

Next for the Terps is Penn State, who they will take on Monday in College Park.