No. 11 Maryland women’s basketball gets revenge on Nebraska with 69-54 win

Jaz Shelley, who had killed the Terps in their previous meeting, received the ball as the seconds ticked down towards halftime, looking to get any shot that might inject some energy into her team as they trailed 35-14.

But Bri McDaniel did not allow this, as she stood up Shelley at halfcourt, ripping the ball away as she tossed Shelley to the ground like a feather and carried the ball back up the court herself, now five seconds before the buzzer sounded.

McDaniel was a force on her way up the court, knifing past Nebraska defenders before euro-stepping around 6-foot-5 Maggie Mendelson, spinning a tough reverse off the glass and into the net right as the buzzer sounded.

This was the energy that No. 11 Maryland women’s basketball played with on both ends of the floor Sunday at Nebraska, earning a dominant 69-54 road win while also taking revenge for the previous blowout.

“It left a sour taste in our mouths, that last loss,” senior guard Diamond Miller said. “So coming out today we just wanted to punch hard and I think we did that.” 

The defensive tone of this one was set early, as each team was forced to work for buckets as the defenses controlled the first five minutes. Each defense neutralized the others top options, with only two of the total ten points coming from a player that was a top two scorer for their team, Terps sophomore guard Shyanne Sellers.

Both sides began with uncharacteristic misses. Nebraska began 25% from the field and started 2-4 from the free throw line, while for Maryland, senior guard/forward Brinae Alexander missed her first two open looks from three and senior guard Abby Meyers missed a layup and a pair of free throws, shots they each normally knock down.

By the end of the first quarter, Maryland used the free throw line to its advantage, going 8-10 from the stripe in the quarter on its way to an 18-6 lead.

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Cornhuskers were shooting just 13% from the field, having connected on just two of 16 attempts. That included four missed layups, as the physical Maryland defense smothered them.

Finally, after 14 attempts between the two teams, the first three pointer was made by Shelley at about the eight-minute mark in the second quarter. 

Nebraska faced early foul trouble with its second and third leading scorers, sophomore center/forward Alexis Markowski and junior forward Isabelle Bourne, with two and three fouls, respectively, before the four-minute mark of the second quarter. 

Aided by Nebraska’s foul trouble, Maryland launched a 15-2 run over five minutes of play, ballooning its lead to 35-11 in a game.

“To hold them to a [first] half like we did, I thought it was really important that we’re going to have to have nights like that,” coach Brenda Frese said.

The discrepancy in turnovers was a vast difference maker at halftime, as the Terps had forced 14 while only committing two of their own. Maryland also scored 17 points off those turnovers, compared to the zero points Nebraska had scored off of the two it forced.

To add to it all, Nebraska had only made one of its 11 three-point attempts.

“When you look at their stats and when they’ve won games, it’s by shooting the three-ball really well,” Frese said. “To only have had one made three at that time was really important.”

Entering the second half, the Terps continued their energy starting strong offensively, as they maintained their 20-plus point lead. 

Nebraska finally found its offense at the beginning of the second half, but was still unable to stop the Terps from knocking down shots and finding the free throw line. By the end of the quarter, both sides went back-and-forth offensively.

Nebraska in the end won the quarter 20-18, but still trailed by 21 entering the fourth.

Despite the lead, Miller had to sit after picking up her fourth foul. Miller had been the catalyst for the Terps’ offense up to that point, having racked up 18 points as one of the Terps’ two double-digit scorers, the other being Sellers with 16 at the time. 

In Miller’s absence, the Terps regained control in the fourth on defense.

Past this point, Frese elected to allow some of Maryland’s freshmen some more playing time, with guards McDaniel, Gia Cooke and Ava Sciolla being allowed some more playing time along with guard/forward Mila Reynolds.

“[Bri McDaniel] is going to be a dog, she plays like a dog already,” Miller said. “We’re really excited to see what she could do.” 

Sellers finished with yet another impressive statline with 20 points and 11 rebounds, both team-highs.

Despite the win, Maryland lost the rebounding battle by nine, and shot just 30.3% from the field and 22.2% from three.

“We didn’t shoot the ball as well as we typically do,” Frese said. “[We’re] Continuing to build off of that and get stronger.”

Maryland looks to continue its momentum at home versus Michigan on Thursday.