When forward Brianna Fraser converted her second free throw to cut Michigan State’s advantage to just 37-34 at the half Thursday, the No. 9 Maryland women’s basketball team appeared to have all the momentum.
The Terps had turned a 16-point first-quarter deficit into a one-score game. While Maryland was struggling from the field, it maintained a 21-12 rebounding edge, and the team finally seemed to be hitting its stride.
But when coach Brenda Frese’s squad came out of the locker room, everything unraveled.
The Spartans dominated the Big Ten’s top rebounding team 25-9 on the glass after the break, and with the Terps’ shooting still inconsistent, they were doomed to a 77-60 defeat at the Breslin Center.
“Michigan State was tremendous,” coach Frese said. “They came out in the second half and punished us on the glass. I thought their aggressiveness in rebounding made it a different game.”
No. 17 Michigan State was coming off its season-low scoring output, a 65-55 loss to a struggling Ohio State squad. But from the opening tip, the Spartans showed why they have the highest-scoring offense in the Big Ten.
Michigan State converted its first five attempts from the field to start the game, including three from behind the arc. When forward Jenna Allen’s transition lay-in gave the Spartans a 13-4 lead, Frese burned a timeout to stop the bleeding.
But things would get worse for Maryland (15-2, 4-2 Big Ten) in the opening quarter.
“Coming off their last loss, they were hungry, they were motivated,” Frese said. “I thought the threes killed us, just having to climb back.”
After a turnover by guard Channise Lewis led to a wide-open lay-in to extend Michigan State’s advantage to 16 points, Frese had seen enough. She took a second timeout with 3:28 to go in the quarter, pulling guard Kaila Charles and forward Stephanie Jones in the process, and the message was received.
The Terps immediately upped their defensive intensity, and after putting up 20 points in the first seven minutes, Michigan State (12-5, 2-4) scored 17 points the rest of the half. After going 5-for-7 from behind the arc in the opening quarter, the Spartans made just one the rest of the half.
While Charles and Jones went to the bench, Fraser filled the void offensively. She had 12 points and 6 rebounds in the first half, and her steadying presence allowed the Terps to cut into the deficit.
Guard Taylor Mikesell scored all seven of her first-half points in the final three minutes before the break, and guard Blair Watson finally made her first basket in five attempts to help bring the Terps within a manageable 37-34 halftime deficit.
And what was once a massive deficit was suddenly just a one-possession game after a 14-6 Maryland run to end the half.
However, despite the momentum going into halftime, Michigan State were the aggressors to begin the final 20 minutes.
The Terps shot just 35.7 percent in the third quarter, and the Spartans tapped into their first-quarter form offensively to outscore Maryland 22-13 in the period to lead 59-47 going into the final frame.
Less than two minutes into the third quarter, Charles drew her third foul of the game and headed to the bench. A few minutes later, Jones was called for her third foul, and Frese pulled her, too.
“They got us in very quick, early foul trouble,” Frese said. “‘They did a tremendous job just being aggressive off the bounce.”
The 20th-year head coach was extremely cautious with Charles, not returning the star guard to the floor until the fourth quarter. Jones checked back in after a few minutes, but the Spartans had gone on a 10-4 run in her absence.
And after a few games of a relatively heavy workload, freshman forward Shakira Austin was limited to 17 minutes Thursday. Austin came into the game third in the Big Ten in rebounding but managed just five boards and was held scoreless.
Michigan State extended its lead even further in the fourth quarter, and after going on late-game runs to win several games to begin conference play, the Terps came up short and suffered their second Big Ten loss of the year.
“The parity is so great, that’s what we always wanted,” Frese said of the Big Ten. “It’s not fun going through, but fun in terms of the competition that’s going to get us ready for March.”
