Maryland womens basketball struggles continue in loss to Indiana
Shyanne Sellers stood along the baseline Wednesday night, watching about an hour before Maryland hosted No. 10 Indiana at Xfinity Center. She wore all-black warmups with a pink headband as teammates stretched and took shots. The Terrapins’ top scorer, starting point guard and best defender was just a bystander against the Hoosiers after suffering a knee injury Sunday at Penn State.
From the moment it was decided she wouldn’t play, Maryland faced an uphill battle. The Terps never led on their home floor, falling to the Hoosiers, 87-73. The hosts were simply outgunned from the start.
“We have a small margin for error,” Coach Brenda Frese said. “It’s tough, and nobody’s going to feel sorry for [us].”
There was no update on Sellers’s status for Saturday’s game against Caitlin Clark and No. 3 Iowa, but she was walking without crutches after Wednesday’s loss.
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Indiana (18-2, 9-1 Big Ten) dominated Maryland (12-9, 4-6) for the first 20 minutes, opening with a 14-2 run and bombing away from behind the arc. The Hoosiers led by 10 at the end of the first quarter and 52-30 at intermission. To that point, Maryland had been outscored by 47 points since Sellers’s injury.
Indiana shot 59.4 percent in the first half and made 8 of 18 attempts from beyond the arc. Nearly every statistical category favored the Hoosiers, and Frese did not remove herself from blame, deploying a triangle-and-two defense early that she later called an “epic fail.”
“That first half was just on us,” Maryland forward Brinae Alexander said. “It was more about our energy and our effort, which is something that we try to pride ourselves with. And I think we’re still trying to figure out what specifically it is with our starts, but it’s something that we definitely want to lock in more.”
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Indiana’s intensity waned in the second half and the Terps began to attack the rim, with Bri McDaniel’s energy lifting the team. She, Jakia Brown-Turner, Lavender Briggs and Alexander fueled a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to 55-44. Maryland trimmed the margin to single digits entering the fourth quarter.
The Terps posted a 29-point third quarter after scoring 30 in the first half, taking advantage of turnovers and getting to the free throw line. Maryland also shot 51.9 percent over the final 20 minutes.
Maryland pulled within seven before a technical foul on Faith Masonius shifted the momentum. Indiana scored four points on that possession and went on a 10-0 run to push its lead to 82-65, effectively sealing its win.
Brown-Turner led Maryland with 22 points. McDaniel added 15 points, five rebounds and five assists, and Masonius scored 11 points off the bench.
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The Hoosiers’ Sara Scalia continued to prove she’s one of the best shooters in the Big Ten with 22 points to go with five rebounds. Mackenzie Holmes had 23 points and 10 rebounds.
“Experience helps us a lot,” Scalia said, “but we also have really good leaders on this team that keep us at ease when things get a little crazy.”
Here’s what else to know about Maryland’s loss:
Rough stretch
Maryland knew this would be its most challenging string of games from the moment the schedule came out. Road games at Michigan and Penn State preceded home games against No. 10 Indiana and No. 3 Iowa, teams that came into the season with high expectations.
The Hoosiers and Hawkeyes have combined for four losses, so the setbacks to Michigan and Penn State took on even more importance. A four-game skid would be the longest of the season for the Terps.
Short rotation
Frese shortened her rotation to seven players with Sellers out. Briggs moved back into the starting lineup and Masonius logged the second-most minutes of the season. Freshman Emily Fisher also played significant minutes off the bench.
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Frese said the Terps had one practice to get accustomed to life without Sellers and to get McDaniel and Masonius ready to be the lead ballhandlers.
A first
The win was Indiana’s first in program history at Maryland. The Terps now lead the series 12-4, but the Hoosiers have won three straight.
“This is extra special,” Hoosiers Coach Teri Moren said. “... We made history for our program in terms of being able to win at Maryland. That just tells you how good Maryland has been.”
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