No. 4 USC outlasts No. 8 Maryland in crucial top-ten matchup

Photo courtesy of University of Maryland Athletics

With 31 seconds left in the game, JuJu Watkins drove to her left before colliding with Shyanne Sellers, sending her careening to the floor and drawing a charge. The foul was Watkins’ fifth of the game, sending her to the bench to watch the rest of the matchup as a spectator. 

With Watkins out while down by three, Maryland had a chance to tie up the game with a Saylor Poffenbarger 3-point shot. The shot missed long, giving the Trojans back the ball and a chance to close out the game. 

“A lot of plays we tried to take difficult shots … they sped us up,” head coach Brenda Frese said. “It’s a hard-fought game, and we have to go back and learn from those moments.” 

No. 4 USC (15-1, 5-0 Big Ten) did just that in one of this season’s most anticipated matchups, as No. 8 Maryland (14-1, 4-1 Big Ten) fell 79-74 to the Trojans at the XFINITY Center in College Park. 

The first quarter served as a sign of what was to come between two of the nation’s top teams, with both teams taking turns dominating time frames. Despite this, the score stayed close. 

Despite struggling early in many games this season, the Terps controlled the game early in the first with a potent offense accompanied by a swarming defense. 

Poffenbarger opened the scoring for the Terps on their first two possessions, starting with a driving layup and following up with a 3-pointer in transition. 

After a layup from USC’s star guard Watkins, Maryland’s offensive explosion continued with a driving layup by Christina Dalce, followed by a close shot on a second-chance opportunity by Sarah Te-Biasu. 

Coming out of the media timeout, senior guard Sellers completed the 3-point play, with junior guard Bri McDaniel joining in with a step-back jumper to put the Terps up 16-7.

After struggling for the first six minutes, USC’s offense came alive, closing out the first on an 11-4 run to cut the deficit to 20-18. 

Both team’s offenses dominated portions of the first quarter, but in the second, each team’s defense started strong. 

Maryland retook the lead midway through the quarter after a brief tie before Watkins answered for USC with a 3-pointer to take its first lead of the night — 27-26. 

USC’s offense finally came alive with an 11-2 run to take a seven-point lead as the Terps defense had no answers for Watkins and company. 

However, the Terps answered with a 6-0 scoring run, cutting the deficit to one — 35-34 — going into halftime. Watkins was held to 4-of-13 shooting, along with four turnovers in the half, thanks to stalwart defense from McDaniel and Sellers.

“I think people forget I’m a two-way player,” Sellers said. “I wanted to make everything difficult for [JuJu Watkins], make her take tough shots.” 

The second half started with offense from both teams. 

As the Terps continued to prevent Watkins from taking over, the team’s leading scorer this season, Kaylene Smikle, started the game 0-of-8 from the field. Despite this, she answered by making three straight field goals, capped off by stripping Watkins for a steal and finishing the layup, energizing the home crowd. 

With the game staying close, both teams stayed aggressive, sending each other to the free-throw line several times in the third. The teams shot a combined 15-of-19 from the charity stripe in the quarter. 

Despite a nine-point quarter from Sellers, the Trojans tied it back up with an and-one finish by Kayleigh Heckel to tie the score at 58 heading into the fourth. 

However, the Terps did not let this affect them starting the quarter with a 6-0 run and forcing a USC timeout less than two minutes in. 

The next four minutes saw the teams trade baskets before the Trojans offense flipped the switch. Freshman Kennedy Smith got herself in double digits with a 5-0 scoring run to tie it back up at 68 with 3:39 to play. 

After the Maryland timeout, both teams continued to trade baskets. Dalce and Sellers continued to score for the Terps, and Watkins scored four in a row for the Trojans to keep the score tied at 72. 

After struggling to get the lead all night, Kiki Iriafen gave the Trojans a crucial and-one layup to put them back up 75-72 with 1:28 on the clock. 

Watkins’ fifth foul and Poffenbarger’s missed 3-point shot led to free throws for USC, which they made en route to the victory. 

“Obviously disappointed [we] did not close this one out, but just didn’t make enough plays down the stretch,” Frese said. “I definitely think we learned a lot about ourselves tonight.”

Maryland will look to bounce back on the road at Wisconsin on Saturday at 2:30 p.m., which it hasn’t lost to since 2015.