Maryland women’s basketball guard Shyanne Sellers hit Kaylene Smikle with a pass in the final minute of the first half. The junior guard rose and drilled a 3-pointer, capping off an excellent second quarter for the Terps.
They outscored the Orange by 17 in that period after ending it on a 28-7 scoring run, flipping a once 10-point deficit into an 11-point halftime lead. Maryland defeated Syracuse, 84-73, Wednesday at the JMA Wireless Dome.
It (4-0) earned its second win over an ACC foe in as many games. Smikle led the Terps with 22 points, her third straight game as the leading scorer, and forward Allie Kubek trailed not far behind with 16 points.
“She drew six fouls, 100 percent from the free throw line,” coach Brenda Frese said. “[Smikle’s] percentages are great … now we’ve got to work on her assist-to-turnover ratio and her defense.”
Maryland’s offense sputtered in the first quarter. The Terps shot 31 percent from the field and only put up 14 points, their second-lowest scoring quarter so far this year.
Guard Bri McDaniel scored a key 13 points off the bench along with five assists.
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Syracuse (1-2) was spurred by guard Georgia Woolley. The senior hit a 3-pointer on the first possession of the game and another one two minutes later. She added a layup to score the first eight points of the game for the Orange.
Syracuse hit four of its six 3-point attempts in the first quarter to grow its lead after 10 minutes, 20-14.
The Orange grew their lead through second-chance points. They scored half of their points in the first quarter on those opportunities, and continued to do so in the second quarter. Guard Kyra Wood scored a putback layup to begin the new frame.
But a lengthy scoring run, led by McDaniel, spanned over five minutes and gave Maryland the lead midway through the second quarter.
The junior scored six points through another jumper and a drive to the hope that ended in a layup. She even nabbed a steal and took it all the way for an easy two points.
McDaniel ventured into the paint earlier in the run, but kicked it out to the corner for guard Shyanne Sellers to drain a 3-pointer. Saylor Poffenbarger nailed a 3-pointer and Allie Kubek provided seven points during the scoring outburst.
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The Terps’ run closed out the first half. Smikle’s corner 3-pointer extended a lead that Maryland would not relinquish. It shot over 70 percent in the second quarter, its best shooting performance in a period this season.
“Just go to the basket, get feet in the paint and get some kick outs and drive, re-attack,” McDaniel said. “Just moving, that’s all we needed to do.”
Syracuse came within six points in the third quarter courtesy of a 6-0 scoring streak, but that was the closest it got to tying the game in that frame.
Guard Sarah Te-Biasu hit a key 3-pointer and Kubek scored two more points in the paint to put the Terps’ lead back to nine entering the final period.
Kubek was vital again down low early in the fourth quarter. She caught a lobbed entry pass from McDaniel and bounced in a layup off the glass to add to her season-high point tally. Smikle then added a second-chance layup later in the frame.
Maryland’s advantage was cut to four with less than three minutes left, but five points from Smikle — including a deep 3-pointer — helped keep the Terps’ undefeated start alive.
“They came out hot shooting the ball … put us on our heels in the first quarter,” Frese said. “But proud of our response.”
