Shyanne Sellers’ buzzer-beater three lifts No. 20 Maryland women’s basketball over Purdue, 77-74

With six seconds to go, the score was tied at 74. 

Coming out of the Maryland timeout, Abby Meyers pounded the ball not once, not twice, but three times onto the court. The Purdue defense converged on her, knowing Meyers had 19 points on the night. However, the Boilermakers left a Terp open behind the three-point line.

Shyanne Sellers found herself wide open on the right wing, giving Meyers an easy outlet.

It didn’t matter that she was shooting 25% from three on the season. It didn’t matter that she had not made a three up to that point in the night. 

The sophomore guard gathered and drilled the buzzer-beater three to give Maryland the win.

“I saw that there was like one second, and I was like I do not have time to dribble and pull up,” Sellers said laughing. “I just thought it’s going in, it’s going in.”

Her teammates rushed out to her from the bench, as she held her arms out wide to the Purdue crowd.

Sellers’ shot capped off a wild Big Ten game, giving No. 20 Maryland women’s basketball its first conference win of the season over Purdue, 77-74.

Maryland began the game with a change in the starting lineup, as senior guard/forward Brinae Alexander got her first start of the season, replacing Meyers.

The senior guard had struggled as of late, as the Princeton transfer only scored a combined eight points in the last two games. 

“My shot has not been really falling the last couple games, and we really need to start the first couple minutes strong and we have not been doing that,” Meyers said.

In a competitive first quarter, Purdue pulled ahead 19-12 with 1:45 left in the first. The Terps fought back, and a Meyers three gave Maryland a 20-19 lead with 33 seconds left in the quarter.

However, the Boilermakers kept scoring, and ended the first quarter up 23-20.

Both sides traded baskets to start the second quarter, and the back-and-forth affair continued all throughout the frame. Consistently throughout the second, Maryland got good looks from the perimeter but could not finish, shooting 0-5 from three in the second quarter.

On the other side of the ball, Purdue continued to expose the Maryland defense. Despite only shooting 18% from three, the Boilermakers shot over 50% from the floor in the first half.

Communication seemed to play a big role in the defensive mishaps, as multiple Purdue drives went by with no help defense from the Terps.

Senior guard Diamond Miller was instrumental in keeping the game close, scoring seven second quarter points. Maryland went into the half down 38-35.

Coming out of halftime, more of the same continued. The two sides traded baskets throughout the third quarter, and Alexander and Miller connected on back-to-back threes to get Maryland’s scoring started in the quarter.

Fifth year guard Cassidy Hardin hit a big three late in the third quarter, showing her versatility as a scorer. Hardin’s three-point jumper grew Purdue’s lead to six.

Entering into the fourth quarter Purdue led 61-57.

Miller hit a three, followed by a tough layup from senior guard Lavender Briggs to give the Terps their first lead of the game with just over seven minutes left in the fourth.

Meyers and Abbey Ellis traded three pointers with just under five minutes left, putting Maryland’s lead at two, 67-65.

“[Abby] knows this is not permanent and it was more to jumpstart her,” coach Brenda Frese said. “It really is about who is on the floor at the end of the game versus who starts it anyways.”

Then, Ellis started to take over. The senior guard hit two huge threes to give Purdue a four-point lead with 3:26 left.

“I thought [Ellis] was sensational, that 8-0 run by herself was pretty impressive,” Frese said.

However, Maryland did not go away.

Alexander hit a huge wide open three, followed by a Meyers mid-range shot to put Maryland up one with just over a minute to go.

Fifth year guard Lasha Peetre hit one of her two free throws to tie it at 74. Nearly a minute later, Maryland had a chance to win it with six seconds left.

That’s when Sellers found herself wide open on the wing, and when Meyers gave her the ball she did not fail to rise to the moment. Sellers drilled the clutch three-pointer to give Maryland its first conference win of the season.

“I will obviously remember this win for a long time,” Frese said. “I tell them that they are like the cardiac kids with all these buzzer-beaters.”

The win gave Frese her 600th career win, third-most among active Big Ten coaches.