Maryland women’s basketball cruises to 83-62 win against stingy Northwestern squad in Big Ten semifinal

INDIANAPOLIS — One team had nothing to lose, the other everything to gain entering the first of two Big Ten Tournament semifinals Saturday.

The Terrapins women’s basketball team, the top seed in the conference, was fighting to earn the highest possible two seed for the NCAA tournament starting in a couple weeks. The only way No. 12-seed Northwestern would hear its name on Selection Monday was if it won the conference title, something it would have to do by winning five games in as many days.

By Saturday, the Wildcats were more than halfway there.

But when the final buzzer sounded at Banker’s Life Fieldhouse, Northwestern players walked slowly off the court, their NCAA tournament chances dashed, while the Terps clinched their second straight conference tournament championship appearance with an 83-62 win. They’ll face either No. 2-seed Ohio State or No. 3-seed Michigan State in the Big Ten title game Sunday at 7 p.m.

The game never got closer after the Terps got out to a 15-8 lead with 4:58 left in the first quarter. Center Brionna Jones and forward Tierney Pfirman led the Terps with 17 points apiece, but five players scored in double figures. Guard Brene Moseley, who added 15 points, became the 32nd player in program history to score 1,000 career points.

“[Pfirman] kind of really kept us in the game in different spurts with her energy off the bench and her shots,” Frese said. “Brene, as well, her ability to get to the basket. Proud of the fact of her scoring her 1,000th point [Saturday].”

After a sluggish start against No. 9-seed Iowa the day before, the Terps exploded for 25 points in the first quarter, starting with Jones’ layup 16 seconds into the game. Forward Kiah Gillespie stood up off the bench to celebrate, something the freshman would do a lot of during the opening 10 minutes.

When the Terps connected a three, which they did twice in the frame, Gillespie put both hands up beside her head and, with three fingers up on each hand, moved them in a circular motion to signal the triple. She put one finger in the air and dropped it, just like a referee would do, whenever her teammates made a shot with the foul.

She used that signal when guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough converted the and-1, and also used the phrases, “count it” and “all day” as the Terps held a nine-point lead.

“I just try to change it up and be energetic and be fun all the time, especially when we face a little bit of adversity,” Gillespie said. “Through those things, that’s going to make us look good and possibly spark up something on the court.”

Gillespie wasn’t able to applaud as much in the second quarter — the Terps scored 12 points and endured a nearly five-minute scoring drought — but Frese’s team kept up the defensive intensity, which helped it enter halftime with seven-point advantage.

Frese said Northwestern was more aggressive attacking the rim and going for rebounds. She also said Terps’ lack of offense came from taking too many jump shots.

“The first quarter, the reason why we did so well was because we were getting the ball inside to Bri,” guard Chloe Pavlech said. “She was kicking it out and likewise in the second half. Once we started doing that, the game sort of opened up for us.”

The Terps entered intermission 2-for-12 from long range, but guard Kristen Confroy, who finished with 14, nailed a long ball on the team’s first possession out of the break to increase the lead back to double digits. It would stay that way the rest of the game.

Confroy buried another triple with 6:26 remaining to put the Terps up 20, prompting Gillespie to put on the “3 goggles” on the sidelines. Less than two minutes later, Gillespie’s celebration resembled Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell’ Westbrook’s “6-shooter” move after Walker-Kimbrough drilled one from beyond the arc as the shot clock expired.

Gillespie was on the court when the game ended, but there was no jubilation. Along with her teammates, she walked toward the bench, the Terps one win away from celebrating back-to-back Big Ten Tournament titles.

“It’s just fun, especially just being a part of this journey,” Gillespie said. “My big sisters…they’re out there playing their hearts out, so that’s just great, and I try to protect them any way that I can, either on the court or off the bench.”