The Maryland women’s basketball team once again showed why they are the team to beat in the Big Ten dismantling the Northwestern Wildcats 96-65 in front of an announced crowd of 5,214 in College Park on a snowy Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats came into the game with a solid 13-3 record and were coming off a game in which they challenged Ohio State – the only B1G to beat Maryland since they joined the conference – before falling by seven points earlier this week.
Maryland left little doubt about either their approach to this game or its eventual outcome when they created turnovers on Northwestern’s first three possession of the game and jumped out to a 6-0 lead. The Terps’ lead reached double digits less than seven minutes into the contest – if we can call it a contest – and just continued to grow from there. They led by 13 at the end of the first quarter and 23 at the half before coasting to the final 31 point margin.
Playing perhaps their best defensive half of the year, Maryland held Northwestern to just 26.7 percent from the field as the visitors mustered only 22 first half points. So effective was Maryland’s defense that the Wildcats turned managed to score on only 11 of their 40 first half possessions while turning the ball over on ten.
Shatori Walker-Kimbrough led the scoring with 18 points and was one of five Terrapins in double figures. Destiny Slocum (16), Brionna Jones (15), Ieshia Small (14) and Kristen Confroy (12) joined SWK. Jones added 13 rebounds for her sixth consecutive double double. It’s her tenth of the season and 43rd of her career making her one of only four active players with 40 or more career double doubles. Small’s 14 points equal her career high and Confroy seemed to have broken out of her shooting slump making four of seven from beyond the arc.
In addition to Small, Maryland’s bench contributed another 14 points and totaled 16 rebounds. The Terrapins out rebounded the Wildcats 47-30. The win improves the Terps record to 15-1 on the season and 3-0 in conference joining Ohio State as the only other squad with an unblemished conference record.
There’s a lot of basketball left between now and Maryland’s only showdown with the Buckeyes in Columbus in the regular season’s penultimate game. But that February 20th date is certainly one that women’s basketball fans have circled on their calendars. Meanwhile, the Terps will return to action Wednesday night when they host Penn State. The Lady Lions are 11-5 but enter the game having lost three of four to open conference play. Tipoff is slated for 6:30.
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