INDIANAPOLIS — When Maryland women’s basketball guard Kaila Charles checked out with 2:38 left in the fourth quarter against Michigan State, the Terps’ leading scorer was given a well-earned standing ovation.
In the teams’ only regular-season meeting this year, Charles battled foul trouble and scored just three points on 1-for-5 shooting in the Terps’ 17-point loss to the Spartans in East Lansing.
But this time around, in the Big Ten tournament, the junior found her revenge.
Behind Charles’ 16 second-half points — part of 21 overall — Maryland utilized a 15-2 third-quarter surge to break the game open. Her teammates followed suite, and the top-seeded Terps dominated after halftime to pull away for a 71-55 win over No. 9 seed Michigan State and advance to the conference tournament semifinals.
“It was a tough, hard-fought win for us,” coach Brenda Frese said. “Kaila wasn’t able to work through some things in the first half, but she … made big play after big play to help us separate.”
Last time around, the Spartans (20-11, 9-9 Big Ten) raced to a 16-point first-half advantage, and although Maryland (27-3, 15-3) countered to come within 37-34 at the intermission, the team faltered after the break.
From the tip on Friday, it was apparent the Terps were on a mission to get off to a better start.
“What I love about this team is yesterday this is who they wanted to play,” Frese said. “They’re just extremely competitive when they learn lessons.”
Guard Taylor Mikesell drilled a pair of long triples in the opening quarter — part of her eight first-half points — and forward Stephanie Jones notched a team-high 10 points in the half to pace the Terps early on. The junior finished with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting and corralled 11 rebounds for her first double double since November.
Maryland opened the second frame on a 15-4 run to race to a 34-19 edge, but Michigan State waged a response.
After committing just four turnovers through the first quarter and a half, the Terps gave away five possessions in the final five minutes before the break, and the Spartans capitalized on their extra scoring chances.
Maryland had no answer for center Jenna Allen. During a two-minute stretch at the tail end of the first half, the senior — who notched 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting in the first 20 minutes — buried a trey and had a pair of finishes under the rim to go on a personal 7-1 run to bring the Spartans closer.
Moments after falling behind by 15, Michigan State made 5-of-7 shots to end the frame. With a 12-1 run to end the half, Maryland’s lead stood at just 35-31 entering the break.
“We kind of went away from what we were doing in the first quarter,” said Charles, who added 10 rebounds to complete her fifth double-double of the season. “Coach challenged us in the locker room to just lock in and focus on our defense, and it will eventually lead to our offense.”
After guard Nia Clouden made a slicing layup on the first possession of the second half to bring the deficit to a single possession, the Terps followed their coach’s orders, embarking on a 15-2 run that opened up the game.
With the exception of Charles, the most significant catalyst of the shift in balance was Maryland’s smothering defense. The squad held the lower-seeded side to a paltry 13 percent shooting in the third frame, and Allen, who led the Spartans opening-half blitz, was limited to just 2-for-5 from the field after coming out of the locker room.
“We knew that her being a senior leader, that she was a big part of their team,” forward Stephanie Jones said of Allen, who still finished with a team-high 19 points and seven boards. “We knew that if we just kept her out of the game, kept her rhythm off, that they would be off, too.”
Charles, meanwhile, repeatedly attacked the paint, drawing a bevy of fouls and converting six of her eight looks from the stripe in the second half alone. She was 9-for-12 from from the line throughout the game.
The Charles-led Maryland offense shot a blistering 9-for-11 in the third quarter to outscore the Spartans, 25-10, as the squad converted a 60.9 percent of its attempts after halftime.
Although it wasn’t a perfect outing for the Terps, who had eight more turnovers than Michigan State, a suffocating defense and red-hot shooting after halftime allowed the top-seeded squad to sub in its bench with under three minutes to play, as Maryland secured a comfortable victory in its first Big Ten tournament matchup.
“For us, it’s just survive and advance,” Frese said, “and we’re excited about the 40-minute effort we put together.”
