The Maryland women’s basketball team’s game against Arizona State on Saturday was supposed to be its first test of the season.
The Terps blew out its first four foes, but they hadn’t played a strong opponent. No. 23 Arizona State was the first major conference team and the first ranked team on No. 6 Maryland’s schedule.
Still, the Terps earned an 83-42 win, making Saturday’s game look like another early-season tune-up.
Maryland led by 20 after the first quarter and didn’t let the Sun Devils within 30 the entire second half.
Arizona State struggled mightily in the opening period, and the Terps took advantage. Arizona State turned the ball over nine times and allowed Maryland to score 16 points off of those turnovers.
When the Sun Devils did get a shot off, it didn’t fall. They started the game 0-for-6 from the field and finished the first quarter 1-for-9.
Maryland, meanwhile, shot 11 of 15 in the opening period.
Not much changed in the second quarter. The Terps widened their lead to 34 points, entering halftime up, 47-13. Guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough outscored Arizona State by herself with 16 first-half points.
Sun Devils guard Reili Richardson provided nearly all of her team’s offense before intermission, scoring nine points and making three of the team’s five field goals. Arizona State was 5-for-26 from the field in the first half.
Center Brionna Jones had 10 points and nine rebounds at halftime. She secured an offensive rebound near the end of the third quarter to earn a double-double.
Maryland had nine first-half turnovers and nine fouls, but Arizona State scored just five points off turnovers and went to the line four times.
Frustration boiled over for the Sun Devils halfway through the second quarter, when the referees assessed a technical foul on the Arizona State bench for arguing a foul call. Terps guard Kristen Confroy stepped to the line and made both free throws, putting her team up 30 points with five minutes left in the first half.
Maryland never looked back from there. Arizona State spent the second half chasing a deficit of more than 30 points. For much of the fourth quarter, it trailed by 40.
Walker-Kimbrough finished with 20 points, and Jones finished with 14. They were two of five Terps to reach double digits, along with starting guards Kaila Charles and Destiny Slocum and forward Brianna Fraser.
