Maryland women hold off Indiana behind Ashley Owusu, Diamond Miller
By Kareem Copeland,
The Maryland women’s basketball team needed only the first two minutes of Monday’s Big Ten home opener against Indiana to establish its offensive firepower. The Terrapins used the last two minutes to show their defensive fortitude, holding off Indiana for an 84-80 win at Xfinity Center.
Maryland’s top-ranked scoring offense showed itself from the opening tip, ripping off 10 straight points before anyone broke a sweat. The margin allowed the No. 12 Terps (7-1, 3-0 Big Ten) to lead from wire to wire, but there were some nervous moments near the end after the No. 19 Hoosiers trimmed their deficit to three.
“Really proud of the way we jumped out to start the game,” Maryland Coach Brenda Frese said. “You could tell we were fired up from the tip — really made a statement.”
Maryland’s offense eventually cooled, but the Terps spent much of the night up by double digits.
“Indiana’s a veteran-led team, so you knew they weren’t going to quit,” Frese said. “Thank goodness we had the buffer that we did. They made a lot of great plays. You could see the fight and the intensity of both teams wanting to win this game. I think the key was the resiliency of our team.”
Sophomores Ashley Owusu and Diamond Miller led Maryland with 20 points apiece. Owusu had five rebounds and five assists, while Miller added six rebounds. Miller scored 18 of her points after halftime. Chloe Bibby finished with 15 points and six rebounds.
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“We were just ready to play,” Bibby said. “We knew Indiana was going to be tough, and I think it all started in our warm-up when we were high up and we were locked in early. That really just helped us follow it into the first quarter.”
Grace Berger carried Indiana (5-3, 3-1) with a game-high 26 points and seven assists before fouling out. Mackenzie Holmes chipped in 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Maryland’s quick burst, helped by back-to-back three-pointers by Katie Benzan to open the game, forced Indiana Coach Teri Moren to call a timeout just 1:47 in. The timeout didn’t help much. Owusu scored eight points in the quarter, and Maryland led 23-9 after 10 minutes.
The lead hovered around 15 before Indiana finally found some life and went on a 12-4 run to cut the margin to 36-29. Owusu then hit a corner three, and a pair of free throws from Mimi Collins sent Maryland into halftime with a 41-29 cushion.
The Hoosiers opened the second half with a 12-2 run to cut the deficit to two. Indiana was determined to outwork Maryland in the paint in the second half, a directive that reaped dividends — Indiana had 16 offensive rebounds, regularly extending possessions. The Hoosiers finished with 18 more attempts but shot just 44.9 percent. The Terps shot 53.3 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from behind the arc.
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Maryland responded to the Hoosiers’ burst by closing the third quarter on an 18-7 run in which Owusu scored or assisted on the last four baskets of the quarter.
The highlight of the game came when she crossed over Indiana’s Jaelynn Penn, leaving the defender crumpled on the court as Owusu made a pull-up jumper to beat the buzzer. Penn had to be helped off the court by two trainers with an apparent ankle injury.
Berger’s jumper with 18 seconds remaining trimmed the margin to 79-75 as the game turned into a free throw contest. But Maryland hit 5 of 6 from the line to seal its 11th straight win over the Hoosiers.
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