No. 8 Maryland women’s basketball suffers first road loss of the season vs. No. 12 Ohio State

Photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics

Ahead 50-40 midway through the third quarter, No. 8 Maryland women’s basketball looked destined to get back in the win column. The Terps had found different ways to beat No. 12 Ohio State’s press defense, but in the third quarter, the Buckeyes’ defense finally got to the Terps.

Turnovers were a problem in Maryland’s prior loss to No. 7 Texas, and they continued to be problematic for the Terps on Thursday night as they committed 17. Five of those turnovers helped Ohio State go on a 15-0 run, giving the Buckeyes a five-point edge. 

“I think we let them speed us up, and our passes were lazy. We weren’t really making the right read,” guard Kaylene Smikle said. 

The lead was Ohio State’s (18-1, 7-1 Big Ten) first of the game, and with guards Bri McDaniel and Shyanne Sellers out entering the game, a shorthanded Maryland (16-3, 6-2 Big Ten) squad was unable to rally, falling 74-66 in Columbus, Ohio.

With McDaniel and Sellers out due to injury, head coach Brenda Frese inserted forward Allie Kubek into the starting lineup. The lineup move marked the first time the frontcourt trio of Kubek, forward Christina Dalce and guard Saylor Poffenbarger have been in the lineup together. And Kubek’s presence was felt right away, collecting her first of four offensive rebounds in the opening possession.

The 6-foot-2 forward could not be contained on the glass, tracking down extra opportunities for the Terps all night and limiting Ohio State to just one shot. But her offensive impact stretched out to the perimeter as she nailed the first three-pointer of the contest.

But, it was Smikle — the only healthy Maryland player averaging in double-figures — who led the scoring punch. She knocked down buckets from all three levels, finishing with a team-high 17 points.

The combo of Kubek and Smikle helped fuel the Terps’ quick start, scoring 11 of their 22 first-quarter points.

Maryland’s defense was just as good. The Buckeyes failed to score on their first five possessions, missing three highly-contested shots and turning the ball over twice. It took nearly three minutes before Ohio State got on the board.

The Terps sprinted to a 13-4 advantage out of the gates. But Ohio State’s offense emerged when back-to-back layups from Cotie McMahon and Elsa Lemmilä cut the deficit to five.

But Maryland kept its offensive onslaught going, recording five straight points to end the first quarter on a 9-4 run. 

The Terps’ size and length were evident as they outrebounded the Buckeyes 17-6, resulting in 10 second-chance opportunities and 10 points in the paint.

“We are trying to play to our strengths, getting on the glass was massive,” Frese said. “We did a tremendous job of really getting on the glass.”

But then the Buckeyes’ defensive pressure picked up, and Maryland had no answer. The Terps’ offense looked like it did against Texas: sloppy and out of sorts. Maryland had seven turnovers in the second quarter, leading to seven points the other way for Ohio State. Despite this, the Terps carried a 34-27 lead heading into the locker rooms. 

Maryland clung to its lead out of the break, but it wouldn’t last much longer. Turnovers continued to hurt the Terps, resulting in a 30-point third-quarter performance from the Buckeyes. 

“They decided to ramp up their physicality, and we didn’t handle it,” Frese said. “We had to try to find a way to play through that. There were a lot more turnovers, and I think fatigue played into that.”

The third quarter-wave was a balanced attack by the Buckeyes as they got scoring from five different players — none of which recorded more than ten points in the quarter.

All five Maryland starters finished in double figures and combined for 63 points. But the Terps’ bench failed to produce, with the four players combining for just three points.

“Having a short bench really showed in the third quarter, with a lot of fatigue and missed some uncharacteristic layups and free throws that we can clean up,” Frese said. 

Maryland will be back in action on Sunday when it hosts No. 1 UCLA.