No. 5 Maryland women’s basketball dominates Illinois in Big Ten quarterfinals, 73-58

Shyanne Sellers took in the court, searching for anyone to dish the ball to, only to see nobody open as the game neared halftime and Maryland led by double digits.

So she took it into her own hands.

Sellers tossed the ball off the back of an unsuspecting Makira Cook and earned herself a wide open layup, adding to the already growing Maryland lead.

“That was a play [Shy] did when we recruited her in high school,” coach Brenda Frese said. “It told me…she was in her bag, she was confident.”

No. 5 Maryland women’s basketball had fun against Illinois, cruising its way to a 73-58 win in the Big Ten quarterfinals.

Illinois, coming off an incredible shooting night versus Rutgers (60% from the field, 50% from three), was looking to build on that incredible shooting performance, but the Terps would not let that happen early having learned from their mistakes in the teams’ first matchup.

Maryland’s defense set the tone in the early game, forcing Illinois to miss its first five field goal attempts. But the Illini wouldn’t let them pull away just yet, responding to the quick Terp lead with a 9-0 run to spur themselves out in front 16-11.

Maryland stormed right back though, responding itself with a 7-0 run to regain the lead thanks to a couple tough buckets from freshman guard Bri McDaniel. 

Cook had herself a strong first quarter, with nine points and a hot start shooting. However, despite Cook’s hot start Maryland continued its run over from the end of the first quarter, taking a 26-18 lead before the eight minute mark of the second.

This run was in large part to the Maryland defense taking a strangle-hold over the game, and it would continue to do so as the run ballooned even more. 

“Defense wins games,” McDaniel said. “Once we get the defense rolling, everybody starts clicking.”

The Terps started to hit their shots as the quarter went along as well, which was a dangerous combination for the Illini with the quality of defense Maryland was playing. It was this impressive play that generated a 22-4 run that began at the end of the first, and saw Maryland go up 33-20. 

Everyone was getting in on the scoring for the Terps, with seven of the eight Maryland players that had seen the floor having at least one made field goal, no one having entered double digits yet.  

Everything was going right for the Terps, who had forced six turnovers in the quarter alone while having none of their own. 

Maryland took this momentum into halftime, leading 41-25 behind stellar team play on both ends of the floor. Maryland won the second quarter in dominant fashion, outscoring Illinois 21-7.

The Terps’ balanced offense was killing the Illini, with four different players having at least seven points at the half. 

Sellers was carving up the Illini at the point guard position, with four points, three rebounds and five assists to set up her teammates at the break. 

The standout guard should’ve had another assist to add to her totals for the filthy pass to herself she had at the end of the half, throwing it off the back of Cook and earning herself a wide open layup off the inbound.

To begin the second half, the Illini seemed to take a step in the right direction offensively, finally getting some consistent good possessions on that end of the floor. But they continued to struggle to stop the Terps.

Senior guard Abby Meyers continued to tear up the Illinois defense throughout the third quarter, already having been one of the Terps’ four leading scorers in the first half. Meyers was getting her game going, making slicing cuts through the defense and nifty moves in the post to get to her shot. 

“I just try and be as unpredictable as possible [on offense],” Meyers said. “I can always rely on the pull up jumpers, the post-ups, so yeah, I just try to keep my offensive game fresh.” 

By the halfway point of the third, the Terps had continued to hold its lead, up 50-35.

The Terps continued to hold that lead throughout the rest of the quarter with the teams going back-and-forth as the game turned into an ebb and flow. That allowed the Terps to head into the fourth with a 60-46 lead.

An 8-2 run to start the fourth quarter brought their lead up to 20. 

As the scoring in the quarter stalled Maryland went into cruise control, getting experience for some of its younger players. 

Not a single Terp scored more than 14 points as they spread the wealth on offense. Their bench was dominant, outscoring the Illini’s 28-0.

Maryland now sets its sights to take on No. 7 Iowa in the semifinals.

“It’s gonna be a heck of a battle for us…it’s gonna feel like a road game,” Frese said. “They’re going to have great pride coming into this game…both teams will be ready from the tip.”