No. 18 Maryland women’s basketball defeats Coppin State 70-47 following big second quarter

Photo courtesy of Ashley Ray/Maryland Terrapins

No. 18 Maryland women’s basketball looked to be in trouble early in the second quarter. The Terps held a narrow, 17-15, lead with their struggles from Monday’s contest carrying over. 

Instead, redshirt junior Saylor Poffenbarger had other ideas. She knocked down the fourth three-pointer of the contest, kickstarting a 23-1 run. Maryland (2-0) entered the break up by 24 points, a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

After a 41-point victory in their season opener, the Terps returned to the Xfinity Center Pavilion, looking to continue their hot start. And they did exactly that, winning 70-47 over Coppin State in blowout fashion.

Junior guard Kaylene Smikle got going early with two three-pointers, pushing Maryland to a quick 8-4 lead. But the Eagles stormed back with two free throws from junior guard Angel Jones before redshirt senior guard Tyler Gray tied the score at eight with a mid-range jumper.

Last season’s leading scorer, senior guard Shyanne Sellers, broke the deadlock with a layup. The Eagles hung around in the first quarter, tying the game up at 12. Smikle closed out the first quarter with another three-pointer, her third of the night.

“[Smikle] is a big-time player and a scorer,” Frese said. “I love that she shot the ball with confidence. She was aggressive, making the right reads.”

The Terps dominated the glass with four offensive rebounds, giving them six more field goal attempts than the Eagles in the first. However, with the poor three-point shooting continuing, the Terps only led by three–15-12. 

Maryland’s sloppy play continued from Monday’s game, with seven turnovers through 13 minutes of gameplay. 

“I think we are learning to play with each other,” Poffenbarger said. “A lot of hard turnovers are because we see something and I think we’re just not right there. …The more we’re playing with each other, the more we know each other.”

Despite this, the Terps opened up a 23-15 early in the second quarter off three-pointers from Poffenbarger and graduate student guard Sarah Te-Biasu. Just minutes later, Maryland found itself up 13 off junior guard Bri McDaniel’s first points of the contest.

Stellar defense was on full display, helping lead to an offensive outburst and a 15-0 Terps’ run. A free throw from Coppin State’s redshirt junior Dani McTeer looked to stop the bleeding. But Maryland closed out the quarter on an 8-0 run.

The Terps had all sorts of momentum entering halftime, holding a 40-16 lead and limiting the Eagles to just four points in the second quarter. 

“I liked the response in the second quarter,” head coach Brenda Frese said. “I thought the defensive intensity picked up, the energy. Our turnovers, we cut those down. That’s always going to continue to get better with the more games we get under our belt.”

Coppin State looked to get its offense going after four points from senior forward Laila Lawrence. Maryland, however, had other ideas, matching its scoring with layups from Smikle and senior forward Christina Dalce.

Amid a 10-point outbreak, Smikle notched five more points, putting her at 20 points in the contest. Two more three-pointers from Te-Biasu pushed the Terps in front by 32, 57-25. Through 30 minutes of gameplay, Maryland held a 31-point lead. 

Back-to-back layups from Dalce and senior forward Amari DeBerry gave the Terps a firm grasp on the contest, moving the score to 63-30.

But a three-pointer from Jones and jumper from graduate forward Charia Roberts gave Coppin State the momentum, forcing a Maryland timeout. After the stoppage, the Terps’ 11th turnover of the contest led to a three-pointer from freshman guard Mickelle Lowry. 

Te-Biasu–who went 4-7 from the three-point line–added another, restoring Maryland’s 30-point lead. Six consecutive points from Lawrence only served as late-game consolation.

The Terps outrebounded Coppin State, 40-31, with Poffenbarger racking up a team-high 10 boards.

“Just finding the ball, crashing every time is a big emphasis to me,” Poffenbarger said. “Rebounding to me is a controllable. I think to get my game going, it’s something that I need to start off doing and start my game with rebounding.