Brinae Alexander scooped a long pass that nearly went out of bounds just in time to chuck the ball to Shyanne Sellers in the first quarter. Unguarded behind the arc, Sellers launched a shot into the basket for her third three-pointer of the quarter.
Sellers led the way as No. 11 Maryland women’s basketball overwhelmed Wisconsin 77-64 Thursday to remain undefeated all-time against the Badgers and begin a Midwestern road trip with a win.
The sophomore finished with 21 points, tying the career high she set earlier this season against Nebraska, and made three three-pointers while adding seven rebounds in the win.
“I’m always trying to come out and be aggressive,” Sellers said. “Just taking what I saw on film and applying it to the game and just letting the game come to me.”
The sophomore guard provided immediate offense for Maryland, making her first five shots. She finished the first quarter with 13 points and missed just two shots.
That early offense was paired by Sellers’ excellent defense — which started under 20 seconds into the game.
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When the Badgers won the jumpball to open the game, Sellers leaped into position and nabbed the ball when it fell to the floor for her first of three steals.
The Terps finished the game with 12 steals and forced 21 total turnovers. They used their full-court press to limit the Badgers’ opportunities throughout the game and raced out to a 13-point lead at the end of the first quarter.
Maryland took advantage of 10 first-half turnovers by scoring 10 points off those miscues. The Terps harassed the Badgers and held them under 40 percent shooting across the first two quarters.
Before that frame ended, Faith Masonius nabbed the ball off the backboard and made the second-chance layup to tally her first points of the game and the 500th of her career. She finished the game with 11 points, her sixth game of the season in double digits and just her second since late November.
“Definitely the start of the game kind of sets the tone for the rest of the game. We got to come out strong,” Masonius said.
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But after the 28-point opening quarter, Maryland’s offense slowed down. The Terps made 12 field goals combined in the second and third quarters compared to 11 in the first.
After a mere three-point first half the Terps’ leading scorer, Diamond Miller, came to life in the third quarter. She scored nine points in the frame to keep Maryland up 15 points.
In that quarter, she brushed off a Wisconsin defender while driving into the paint and swung her body towards the rim for a layup.
Her offensive productivity continued into the fourth quarter.
The Badgers made the error of leaving Miller open about two feet behind the three point arc. She launched and made a deep three, her second of the game. The senior continued her stellar season with 19 points, 16 of which came in the second half.
Wisconsin’s Avery LaBarbera led her team with 16 points, but her effort was not enough against a Terps team that never trailed due to their early barrage.
“That’s where you want to be in conference play, really having a mentality and being aggressive,” coach Brenda Frese said.
