No. 8 Maryland women’s basketball steamrolls Northwestern, 79-54

Bri McDaniel let her right hand hover air high as she knocked down yet another triple, her fourth of the contest, in what had now become a career outing for the talented freshman. 

The Chicago native made herself right at home, as the bucket gave her a career-high 14 points in her homecoming game. 

“It was a lot of fun for Bri to come back home and have the night she had,” coach Brenda Frese said. “That’s what she’s capable of doing every single night. She’s a special player as you can see and it was a lot of fun to bring her back.”

It was the stellar play of McDaniel and senior guard Diamond Miller — alongside a dominant defensive second quarter — that allowed No. 8 Maryland women’s basketball to storm past Northwestern, 79-54. 

Maryland started the first quarter with a burst of energy as it would each quarter of the game. The Terps began on a 7-0 run, spearheaded by Maryland’s big three of Miller, sophomore guard Shyanne Sellers and senior guard Abby Meyers.

However, the Wildcats clawed their way to their first lead with a 13-2 run of their own, featuring some tough buckets against what has been a hot Maryland defense as of late.

From that point on in the first, the Northwestern defense seemed to pick up steam, forcing Maryland to 33% from the field in the quarter and holding a 20-16 lead by the end thanks to a difficult mid range shot at the buzzer by sophomore guard Jillian Brown.

“I think a lot of that start had to do with Northwestern being really aggressive from the tip from the beginning,” Frese said. “We were disappointed in our first quarter.” 

This disappointment was written on the faces of the players as they left the court shockingly losing to the team in last place of the Big Ten.

That feeling did not last.

In one of the most dominant quarters across the country this season, the Terps nearly shut out the Wildcats in the second quarter, holding them scoreless for the first 9:33 before Northwestern hit a pair of free throws with 27 seconds to go, their only points in the quarter. 

Their defensive energy allowed them to make an 18-0 run in this spurt, which saw Miller begin to assert herself in this game with nine points in the quarter. 

McDaniel was also an impact player on both ends of the floor in the second, knocking down her second triple of the game on the offensive end while playing suffocating defense on the other end of the floor.

The Terps rode this momentum into halftime, leading 34-22.

Maryland yet again started a quarter on a run to begin the second half, almost instantly getting off to another 7-0 run that made it seem like the third quarter might be more of the same dominance seen in the second.

However, Northwestern responded well to the run, making adjustments and sticking with the Terps throughout the rest of the quarter in which it scored 18 points, redeeming itselves somewhat from its abysmal end to the first half.

Although Maryland’s defensive dominance didn’t last in the third quarter, the offense certainly did. The Terps moved the ball all around the court with ease, continuing their dissection of the Northwestern defense with seven of their 20 assists on the game coming in the quarter. 

Heading into the fourth, the Terps made sure to put the Wildcats to bed, and did so by sticking to the trend they followed the whole game. 

Coming out the gates, Maryland yet again went on a run, this time 12-0 over the first three minutes in what was a complete team effort. The Terps now held a commanding 67-40 lead that they cruised with the rest of the game on their way to the win.

Miller was once again exceptional in this one, posting 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists and leading the team in every stat. However, she was in the negative in assist-to-turnover ratio with nine turnovers. 

McDaniel was all over the court, flashing the potential of what a problematic three-and-D player she could turn into in the future. The young guard was an animal, saving the ball from going out of bounds, generating steals and leading the transition all while knocking down her open looks from behind the arc.

“It felt good to come back home and it’s been kind of hard being away from my family because we’re so family-oriented,” McDaniel said. “So just being at home and being able to see every last family member that I had here…being able to like play for them, it was amazing.”