Entering the final week of conference play, it appeared the Terrapins women’s basketball team would fall short of last year’s accomplishment: a Big Ten regular-season title.
Fifth-ranked Ohio State held a one-game lead over the No. 6 Terps with two games remaining. The Buckeyes’ 15-1 record wasn’t as impressive as the Terps’ 18-0 mark against Big Ten opponents a year ago, but it was good for the best in the conference.
The Terps’ road to a conference championship seemed out of their hands.
That changed Wednesday night, though, as Minnesota guard Rachel Banham scored 35 points to help the Golden Gophers upset the Buckeyes and open the door for the team residing in College Park. A day later, the Terps used a dominant second half to defeat Wisconsin, 83-77, at Xfinity Center.
They’ll earn at least a share of the Big Ten regular-season title if they can hold off Banham’s squad at home Sunday.
“Like I told them, I love the fact that you get to control your own destiny,” Frese said. “You don’t have to wait for somebody else to control it, so that’s a great thing. I expect that we’ll come out a lot more inspired in terms of what we did tonight.”
Despite Wisconsin (7-20, 3-14 Big Ten) sitting second to last in the conference standings, Frese said the Badgers came out inspired and challenged the Terps (26-3, 15-2) for 40 minutes. It showed on the scoreboard, as Wisconsin, which once faced a 21-point fourth-quarter deficit, pulled within six by the final buzzer.
But the Terps had too much offensive firepower, as guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough led the Terps past the Badgers behind a lights-out shooting performance from behind the arc. The nation’s best 3-point shooter entering the game (56.7 percent) shot 5-for-6 from long range en route to a game-high 27 points.
It was center Brionna Jones’ play after the break, though, that ignited the Terps’ second half and helped them avoid a significant upset less than three weeks away from learning their NCAA Tournament seed.
“[Wisconsin] took the first punch and got back,” Walker-Kimbrough said, “but I thought we came out very hard in the second half, and I think Bri was the reason for that. Just got her going, and I mean, she’s unstoppable when she gets going.”
Jones struggled to get her shots up in the first half, as Wisconsin defenders forced the Havre de Grace native into several jump-ball situations. She attributed her performance to a lack of aggressiveness and said Frese challenged her to “pick it up” after scoring four points in the opening 20 minutes.
The Terps continued to feed Jones down low after intermission, and she capitalized early and often in the third period, scoring 12 of her 20 points in the frame. Her performance helped the Terps open up a double-digit lead in the eventual victory.
“Brionna Jones, she’s a woman. She’s not a child,” Badgers coach Bobbie Kelsey said. “She’s a grown-up, as I say, and [Malina] Howard is pretty grown up, too.”
The final score points to a Terps win, but it doesn’t shed light on the team’s early defensive struggles. It doesn’t show the 22 points the Terps allowed in the first quarter. It doesn’t explain the Terps’ seven-point deficit after 10 minutes.
But it didn’t matter, as the Terps turned it around in the second frame — they entered halftime with a four-point advantage — and dominated the third quarter before holding off the Badgers down the stretch.
Now, they have their sights set on Senior Day against Minnesota with a Big Ten regular-season title on the line.
“I think that’s like icing on the cake,” redshirt senior guard Brene Moseley said.
