Maryland women lose showdown with Michigan
The Maryland women’s basketball team woke up Sunday on an eight-game winning streak and in control of its destiny as it pursued the Big Ten regular season championship. All of that was gone by late afternoon, and now the No. 13 Terrapins will need some help.
No. 9 Michigan completed a season sweep as the Terps fell, 71-59, at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Mich. Maryland’s lowest scoring outputs of the season have come against Michigan; it lost, 69-49, to the Wolverines in January in College Park. South Carolina also held Maryland to 59 points in December.
“A little bit disappointed about that,” Maryland forward Chloe Bibby said. “But we still have one more game left and still got the Big Ten tournament and NCAA after that. So, as disappointing as it is, I think we can learn from this and everything that we’ve gone through this season ... and take those [lessons] into the Big Ten tournament.”
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Maryland (20-7, 12-4) never got going on offense. The Terps shot just 33.3 percent from the field, and they were 5 for 21 (23.8 percent) from behind the arc. Even the freebies were a struggle: Maryland shot 63.2 percent from the free throw line — all of this coming from the nation’s No. 5 offense.
“I thought we got tired,” Coach Brenda Frese said. “You saw that with our shots not falling, missing point-blank layups, free throws — things that we typically are very good at. That kind of shape that we have to be in with a limited bench, I thought [the Wolverines] were able to kind of send more waves at us and had more depth.”
Naz Hillmon was a wrecking crew for Michigan (21-4, 12-3) as she posted 29 points on 10-for-15 shooting while adding 11 rebounds. The reigning Big Ten player of the year essentially was an automatic bucket when she got a touch in the paint. Even when she missed, she attacked the glass and often got to the free throw line, where she was 9 for 11.
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The game was decided in the second half, when Michigan shot 56.5 percent. The Terps forced 22 turnovers for the game, but that doesn’t help much when the ball won’t go in the basket on the other end. Bibby led Maryland with 15 points, Shyanne Sellers added 11, and Diamond Miller had 10.
A Miller layup to open the fourth quarter cut Michigan’s lead to 45-43, but the Wolverines answered with a 10-0 run for their biggest lead. Maryland never got closer than five points the rest of the way — that was on a Bibby three-pointer with 51 seconds left that gave the Terps their final points.
“It was just one of those days. I felt like we were getting open looks and we were getting good shots — they just weren’t falling,” Sellers said. “So we started attacking in the second half and started attacking a little bit too much, and we didn’t kick the ball out.”
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The loss dropped Maryland into a tie for third in the Big Ten with No. 18 Ohio State (20-5, 12-4). Michigan is alone atop the conference, a half-game ahead of No. 5 Indiana (19-5, 11-3). No. 22 Iowa (17-7, 11-4) is fifth, a half-game behind the Terps and Buckeyes.
Here’s what to know about Sunday’s game:
Owusu returns
All-Big Ten guard Ashley Owusu returned from an ankle injury after missing the previous four games. The Terps went undefeated during the junior point guard’s absence, and she clearly was not herself Sunday: She finished with two points in 21 minutes off the bench and wasn’t as aggressive as usual.
Owusu had a chance to cut the Terps’ deficit to four with under a minute left when she had a breakaway layup attempt, but she overshot the basket.
“I thought she played hard,” Frese said. “Obviously, I could tell [the] foot is still really sore. She’s playing through some pain. Doesn’t quite have the lift. It was an uncharacteristic layup that she missed there late game that normally a healthy Ashley’s going to make. So it’s just getting her back with timing and rhythm and being able to have these games to get her ready here for postseason.”
Final stretch
Maryland’s regular season wraps up when Indiana visits College Park on Friday; the host Hoosiers posted a 70-63 overtime victory in the teams’ first matchup. But there’s still a lot to be decided among the Big Ten’s top four teams.
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Indiana visits Iowa on Monday. The Wolverines host Michigan State on Thursday and wrap up at Iowa next Sunday. Ohio State has the easiest final stretch: a home game against Penn State on Thursday and a trip to Michigan State next Sunday. The Hawkeyes still have the Hoosiers on Monday, a trip to Rutgers on Thursday and a visit from Michigan next Sunday.
Reese struggles
Physical play limited Maryland sophomore Angel Reese to a season-low 14 minutes; she was in foul trouble most of the game before fouling out. She had six points and five rebounds. Her scoring total matched a season low, equaling her efforts from a loss to then-No. 7 Stanford in November — in which she also fouled out.
“Tough night for her, obviously, which impacted us,” Frese said. “Obviously, she’s going against an all-American in Naz Hillmon. Naz is a senior and has that experience and was able to use her length and physicality on her all night long. Just a tough night that I know she’ll grow and learn from.”
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