No. 7 Maryland women’s basketball cruises past Mount St. Mary’s 92-44

Photo by Grayson Belanger/Maryland Terrapins. Photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics.

On this exact day a year ago, No. 7 Maryland women’s basketball beat Mount St. Mary’s 87-52, marking its 11th straight win against the Mountaineers.

Maryland made it 12-straight on Tuesday as they cruised to a 92-44 victory over Mount St. Mary’s at the Xfinity Center in College Park.

The Terps’ (10-0) bench shined once again as they outscored the Mountaineers’ (2-5) bench 47-15. Forward Breanna Williams highlighted the group, tallying double-digit points for the third time this season.

The redshirt freshman has become a strong post player off the bench for the Terps as the season has progressed. Williams has proven to be an efficient scorer at 64% along with a strong rebounder. Williams finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, and three assists in 15 minutes of basketball.

Maryland thrived in the paint, outscoring the Mountaineers 50-20. The Terps have scored a combined 92 points in the paint and 97 points off the bench in their last two games.

Junior guard Oluchi Okananwa led the Terps in scoring for the sixth time this season with 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Her speed is present in every aspect of her game and is highlighted in the Terps’ fastbreak attack. 

“The biggest thing we’re learning is how to fight through adversity,” said Okananwa. “Going through a game with highs and lows and being able to stay calm is what we need to do in order to win.”

Overall, the Maryland offense shot efficiently at 56.3%. The Terps did not have a quarter where they shot below 47%. Part of that success was due to Maryland’s transition game, forcing 31 turnovers and generating 18 fast break points.

The Terps also posted a season-best 25 assists as a team. Redshirt freshman guard Kyndal Walker led with eight assists, and four other Terps had three or more.

“I loved the fact that we shared the basketball,” said head coach Brenda Frese. “We were unselfish all the way around and had chemistry on the offensive end.”

Defensively, the Terps continued to thrive, holding their opponent to under 50 points for the fourth time this season. Maryland entered Tuesday’s game fourth in the nation and first in the Big Ten in rebounding margin at +16.7, while holding opponents to 37% shooting and 55.4 points per game.

“When we were on the same page we were able to force them into turnovers and difficult shots and a low field goal percentage,” Frese said.

The lone blemish was Maryland’s continued struggles with turnovers. The Terps entered the contest averaging 16.9 turnovers per game and stayed at that average, committing 17 against the Mountaineers.  

Despite the high volume of turnovers, Maryland’s strong defensive performances and balanced offensive attack bodes well as the Terps travel to Minnesota for their first Big Ten matchup of the season on Sunday.