Four days before Wednesday night’s game against Wisconsin, the Terrapins women’s basketball team put together a dominating first-quarter performance en route to an easy home win over Northwestern. The Terps, who opened the contest on a 7-0 run, scored 26 points and held a 13-point advantage after one.
That offensive explosiveness was absent early against Wisconsin, though. The Badgers, who entered the game scoring 65.8 points per game — the 13th out of 14 Big Ten teams in scoring — finished the opening period with 20 points.
Guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough scored 11 of the team’s 15 points to keep the Terps within striking distance, but coach Brenda Frese’s squad faced a five-point hole after 10 minutes to an opponent that won just six of its first 16 games.
But as Walker-Kimbrough continued to dominate on the offensive end — she made all six of her 3-pointers and entered the break with 22 points — her teammates helped contribute to a game-changing quarter that propelled the Terps to a 90-65 win at the Kohl Center. They outscored the Badgers, 34-10, in the second quarter to turn an early deficit into a comfortable halftime lead.
“Wisconsin came out ready to play,” Frese said. “In the first quarter they were red hot. Fortunately for us, Shatori [Walker-Kimbrough] came out really ready to carry the load for the team.”
Behind her hot shooting in the opening two periods, Walker-Kimbrough finished with 22 points on 8-for-12 shooting. Center Brionna Jones chipped in 22 points in addition to pulling down nine boards, while forward Tierney Pfirman (15) and guard Kiara Leslie (12) also scored double digits.
“Three games in six days, so to be able to have that depth is really important, “Frese said. “And especially looking out for the future and for March.”
While guard Kristen Confroy was held scoreless after she tied a program record with eight 3-pointers against the Wildcats, her teammates found the hot hand from behind the arc. The Terps (17-2, 6-1 Big Ten), who hit a season-high 13 threes Dec. 20 against Maryland-Eastern Shore, were 9-for-12 from downtown against the Badgers (6-11, 2-5) in the first half.
Walker-Kimbrough, who leads the Big Ten in three-point shooting percentage, drilled three long balls in the first quarter and added three more early in the second period.
And once Walker-Kimbrough went to the bench with 4:33 to go until intermission, Pfirman took over as the Terps’ three-point specialist. After scoring her first points of the game with a mid-range jumper, she cashed from deep on the next three possessions, the third of which put her team up, 47-30.
“It’s great to see our teammates go off just knowing that if I’m going to kick it to them, they’re going to knock down the shot,” Jones said. “And then once we move on and the plays keep going and somebody else is getting hot — like Tierney [Pfirman] got hot — I think we just find the open player. And I think Shatori starting off tonight just helped us start our fire.”
When the Badgers closed out on their shooters, the Terps drove to the rim or found Jones, who finished 11-for-14 from the field. They shot 55 percent as a team and scored 48 points in the paint. The Badgers, meanwhile, finished with 28 points from in close.
While the Badgers held a 14-13 advantage in the fourth quarter, the deficit was far too great to overcome. The Terps, who entered this game fourth in the country in scoring at 85.4 points per game, scored 90 points and won by 25.
And it was their effort in the second quarter that ignited that offensive onslaught and helped the Terps overcome their mediocre play over the opening 10 minutes.
“Once we settled down, and then we were able to establish Bri inside and Tierney Pfirman off the bench, we were able to…really extend the game,” Frese said.
