Blog from Todd Carton
Brionna Jones was mobbed by her teammates at the end of Maryland’s 89-83 win over Penn State Wednesday night at Xfinity Center. The public address announcer told the crowd of 4,680 that Jones’s 42 points had equaled the Maryland single game program record set by Marissa Coleman in a Sweet Sixteen game in March of 2009. The truth is, her teammates should have mobbed her regardless because her effort was the principal reason the Terps held off the Lady Lions.
Jones was an astonishing 15-19 from the field and sank 12 of 14 free throws to reach the point total that matched her uniform number. Even had she not reached that scoring mark, Jones reached another milestone that would have made the night memorable. With the seventh of her 14 rebounds, she became only the fifth player in Maryland women’s basketball history to reach 1,000 for her career.
Penn State started the game as the aggressor. Defensively, they employed a full court press that exploited some shaky ball handling and questionable decision making. On offense they repeated found open lanes to the basket and open shooters on the perimeter – mainly in the person of Teniya Page who shot 4-6 from deep and finished with 17 first half points.
The Terps trailed for much of the half before a 10-2 run over the final three minutes – a stretch that included their only made three point shot of the half – pushed them into a 44-39 lead at the break. That momentum carried over into the start of the second half as the Terrapins tacked on a 13-2 run that put them up 57-41.
After finishing the first half with 24 points, Jones continued her dominance in the post and scored five of those 13 points to surpass her previous career high of 28 with 8:09 to play in the third quarter. However, the next time she got the ball in scoring position on an offensive rebound only 1:47 remained in the period and Penn State had cut the lead to eight.
That basket sparked another 10-2 run led by Shatori Walker-Kimbrough who finished the night with 16 points. Maryland led by 16 entering the final 10 minutes.
But Penn State wasn’t through and the Lady Lions chipped away until the cut the margin to four with 16 seconds to play but a pair of free throws by Walker Kimbrough and a late offensive rebound by Kristen Confroy after Ieshia Small missed a pair of free throws sealed the Terrapins’ win and secure their spot as the last remaining unbeaten team in conference play.
The Terps will be back in action Saturday against the Iowa Hawkeyes in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes improved to 2-2 in conference with a 78-58 win over Illinois Wednesday.
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