No. 14 Maryland women’s basketball falls 66-65 to Illinois

Photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics

Down by one with 1.8 seconds remaining, No. 14 Maryland women’s basketball had a chance to seal the game with the last shot. After inbounding the ball, Shyanne Sellers received a quick pass back and found herself open for a mid-range jump shot in the right corner. Sellers hoisted the shot as time expired, but the ball clanked off both sides of the rim before falling to the floor, resulting in Maryland’s first unranked loss of the season. 

In a back-and-forth game, Illinois (17-5, 7-4 Big Ten) held off Maryland (17-5, 7-4 Big Ten) late in the fourth quarter on Sunday at the Xfinity Center 66-65 to secure its first win against a ranked opponent this season. 

“Disappointed to not get this win at home on Senior Day,” head coach Brenda Frese said. “Great game, a game of runs that went back-and-forth. Just disappointed that we didn’t make enough plays down the stretch.”

In their prior two contests, the Terps struggled to contain opposing bigs, surrendering 57 combined points to starting centers. But in Sunday’s contest, it was Illinois’ guard play that gave Maryland fits to begin the match. 

The trio of Genesis Bryant, Adalia McKenzie and Jasmine Brown-Hagger combined for 18 of the Fighting Illini’s first 20 points. 

Despite Maryland’s defensive struggles against Illinois’ guards, the Terps kept pace offensively in the opening quarter. The Terps’ game plan was evident early on: feed senior forward Christina Dalce in the paint and let her impose her size and strength. 

The senior dominated in the paint in the opening quarter, collecting four of Maryland’s first eight points and dishing a pair of assists in the first five minutes.

From there, Maryland’s top scorers took over. In just her second game back from injury, Shyanne Sellers returned to her red-hot form. With the Terps down 9-8, Sellers scored five straight points with two highly-contested jumpers to extend their advantage. 

Within Sellers’ personal 5-0 run, the senior created a craft 3-point play in which she drew contact from behind while hoisting a shot off the backboard and through the net. The senior then converted on her free throw shot, securing her 1,500th career point. 

After Sellers’ 5-0 run, Kaylene Smikle carried the momentum for Maryland. Smikle entered the game as Maryland’s leading scorer and has been a steadying force for the team all season. She finished with 15 points, including 11 in the opening half, helping the Terps stay in the game.

Coming out of the half-time break, the Terps led by just one and sought to extend its lead. They did just that, opening the quarter with a 10-3 scoring run fueled by five points from Saylor Poffenbarger and forcing a timeout by Illinois. 

But out of the timeout, Illinois immediately responded with a 10-0 run of its own to stay in the game. Bryant knocked down back-to-back jumpers before forward Kendall Bostic capped off the run with an easy layup.

“We hang our hat on our defense and our rebounding,” Illinois head coach Shauna Green said. “They are so dangerous when they get out [in transition]. Everything that we do and why we won our games this year and the previous two years is with our defense.”

Bryant entered as the Fighting Illini’s second-leading scorer and continued her strong season against Maryland. Bryant handled the bulk of Illinois’ offense converting 6-18 from the floor into a team-high 20 points.

Heading into the fourth quarter, the game was knotted at 50. The Fighting Illini seized the opportunity, scoring the first four points and holding Maryland scoreless in the opening three minutes.

After falling behind, the Terps had multiple chances to secure the victory, but they could not secure a stop on defense. Maryland has now dropped four of its last five contests.

“This is how good every single team is in league play,” Frese said. “It’s a hard month for everyone within the conference and starts with us now [on] a six-day road trip to the West Coast. Just learning these valuable lessons that will prepare us and help us for March.” 

The Terps will now travel to Eugine, Ore., to play the Ducks on Thursday. Tip-off is set for 9 p.m.