Takeaways from Maryland women’s basketball’s overtime win over No. 12 Ohio State

Photo courtesy of University of Maryland Athletics

After losing its first matchup this season, Maryland came into Sunday’s matchup against No. 12 Ohio State with extra motivation. 

While almost suffering another late-game collapse after leading by nine in the fourth, Maryland defeated Ohio State 93-90 in overtime on a game-winning three by graduate guard Sarah Te-Biasu with one second to go. 

Here are the takeaways from the regular season finale. 

Sellers starts, Smikle finishes 

After making three three-pointers in the fourth quarter against Indiana on Thursday, Sellers’ hot hand translated into Sunday’s game, making four first-half threes to keep the Terps within one. 

In her first three college seasons, Sellers never shot above 34.7% from three, but that has changed this season. She is shooting a career-high 42.9% from three, an 11 percent increase from last season. 

The Terps’ leading scorer, Kaylene Smikle, scored just six points on 1-for-7 shooting in the first half but took over in the fourth quarter and overtime. She scored 16 of her 26 points and made crucial plays on both sides of the ball, including blocking Kennedy Caimbridge’s potential go-ahead shot in overtime.

“Coming out of that timeout, we said we needed to lock in defensively,” Smike said. “I think we did that as a collective.” 

Sellers and Smikle stepped up in the extra period, scoring seven of Maryland’s 15 points. After falling by five right away, Maryland punched right back, eventually tying the game on another Smikle three as the Terps wouldn’t trail the rest of the way.

Role players step up

As Maryland has looked deeper into their bench with injuries piling up, senior Amari Deberry has given the Terps crucial minutes

After a strong performance against Indiana, where she scored four points and recorded three blocks in only nine minutes, Deberry scored six first-quarter points off the bench for the Terps while finding Smikle on a cut to the basket.

After another flare-up in Sellers’ knee limited her mobility, key contributions from Christina Dalce and Te-Biasu helped the Terps regain the lead.

Allie Kubek was huge for the Terps, tying a season-high with 17 points and forcing multiple turnovers in the fourth quarter. Kubek broke loose on multiple fast breaks and took a huge charge against Buckeyes guard Jalo Cambridge, fouling her out of the game. 

She then stepped up with her lead-taking layup with 1:27 to play, again getting behind the defense. In overtime, she stepped up again, getting a steal and knocking down a crucial free throw. 

While Kubek’s contributions were massive, Te-Biasu guided the Terps in overtime. She scored seven of her 15 points, including the game-winning three with one second to go, to win it for the Terps. 

“I thought Amari gave us a great spark off the bench there, and [Christina Dalce] was huge in the third, you had Allie [Kubek] making a huge and one critical free throw in the fourth, taking charges,” head coach Brenda Frese said. “And you saw between [Sellers] and Sarah [Te-Biasu] the plays they made.” 

Looking ahead to postseason play

Before the game between Maryland and Ohio State, Illinois’s loss to Michigan clinched the fourth seed and a double bye in the Big Ten tournament for the Terps. 

The win against Ohio State won’t change the Terps’ seeding for the Big Ten tournament, but it might have some implications for the NCAA tournament seeding, beating their first-ranked opponent since Minnesota on January 14. 

With the Big Ten expanding to 18 teams this season, the conference is projected to send 13 teams to the NCAA tournament. The Terps look to use their experience against top competition to propel them forward in the postseason. 

“Five wins over ranked teams, 10-1 on the road, and 13-5 in the toughest conference in the country,” Frese said. “We’ll see what the future looks like, but if we just continue to separate ourselves with this kind of win going into the Big Ten tournament, it’s great momentum for us.”