No. 8 Maryland women’s basketball utterly dominates No. 10 Ohio State, 90-54

Diamond Miller laughed with a sly grin, before slightly flexing for the Maryland crowd. It was only fair that the star senior guard showed a little flair, as she finished with 29 points and 10 rebounds en route to a blowout victory.

It was in large part due to Miller that No. 8 Maryland women’s basketball defeated No. 10 Ohio State 90-54 in front of a packed XFINITY Center.

After allowing a season high 96 points to Iowa on Thursday, it was fair to wonder how the Terps would respond on defense in their matchup versus Ohio State on Sunday.

“I knew that we were going to respond when we came back late Thursday night and players were staying up watching film until 4 a.m.” coach Brenda Frese said.

The intensity from both teams early on was apparent, as there were a combined six turnovers at the five-minute mark of the first quarter. Ohio State started the game off extremely slow, shooting 3-11 from the field at the first timeout, but the game remained tied at seven. 

Senior guard Abby Meyers struggled in her last outing versus Iowa, but she bounced back early. The Princeton transfer hit two threes and drew an and-one basket to give herself 11 points in the first quarter alone.

Ohio State could not generate any consistent offense against the Terps in the first quarter, as the Buckeyes went on a four-minute scoring drought in the opening frame. Maryland led 19-7 at the end of the first quarter.

“They switched effectively between their junk defense and man-to-man, which just kept us out of our rhythm,” Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said.

The start of the second quarter was different as each offense started to find some rhythm. Both sides made over three field goals within the first three minutes of the quarter.

However, Maryland caught a break when freshman forward Cotie McMahon picked up her third foul with just under seven minutes remaining. The Buckeyes’ third leading scorer was forced to sit on the bench for the rest of the quarter.

Each team’s length on defense seemed to bother the other, as Ohio State forced numerous turnovers in its full court press. Meanwhile, Maryland created tough looks inside for the Buckeyes, causing them to shoot 37% in the first half.

Miller and Shayanne Sellers, Maryland’s leading scorers, started to get it going in the second. The two finished with eight and seven points, respectively.

Miller started off the second half off hot, as she converted a layup plus a foul. The beginning of the third was a telltale sign, as she scored 17 points in the third quarter. She also achieved another milestone, crossing the 500-rebound mark in her career.

“[Ohio State] was playing dirty, but people say I play dirty too, so I showed them what real aggression is,” Miller said.

Sellers also was dominant in the third, as a preposterous layup drew the awe of the XFINITY Center crowd. The sophomore guard has really started to come into her own over the course of the season, as she is scoring 18.6 points per game over her last five outings.

After Sellers converted another jumper, Ohio State was forced to call timeout down 54-37 with 5:34 to go in the third.

The Maryland defense was dominant in the third. It forced Ohio State to just five field goals, shooting only 35% in the quarter.

As a result, Maryland led 69-44 at the end of the third, putting its chokehold on the game.

In the fourth quarter, Maryland continued to dominate. It went on a 9-2 run to open up the final quarter, not letting the Buckeyes close the gap.

A Brinae Alexander three put the Terps up by thirty points, a shocking development against a top ten team. Meyers then hit another three, putting her at 22 points with three triples on the night.

The 36-point defeat was the largest margin of victory for the Terps against a Division ONe opponent this season. In a top ten matchup, a 30-plus point victory has not happened across the country this season, making it one of Maryland’s most impressive wins of the year.

“We can throw teams out of their rhythm when we are connected and play different types of defenses,” Frese said.

Maryland continued to dominate the month of February, as it moved to 26-2 in the month over the last five seasons.