Entering its penultimate regular season game with two of its top four scorers out with injury, Maryland women’s basketball’s offense slugged through the first three quarters Thursday night.
Then came Shyanne Sellers.
The senior guard poured in 21 of Maryland’s 28 fourth-quarter points, matching Indiana’s total. She finished with 25 points on 3-for-7 shooting from beyond the arc, with her most important makes coming down the stretch.
Fueled by Sellers’ late masterclass, the No. 19 Terps built a late lead and beat the Hoosiers, 74-60. The win was their first at Assembly Hall in more than five years while extending their true road record to 10-1.
“Once we saw [Sellers] had that spark back, we were able to play call for her,” coach Brenda Frese said. “She wanted the responsibility, so it was a thing of beauty.”
Maryland’s fourth consecutive win keeps it in fourth place in the Big Ten standings. A win against No. 12 Ohio State on Sunday would secure a double-bye in next week’s Big Ten Tournament.
Saylor Poffenbarger was marked unavailable hours before tipoff. Maryland’s fourth-highest scorer was sidelined with an ankle injury picked up last week against Northwestern. Playing without the junior guard for the first time in Big Ten play resulted in a myriad of early offensive struggles Thursday night.
Indiana (17-11, 9-8 Big Ten) held the Terps scoreless for the game’s opening three and a half minutes. They missed their first eight shot attempts, making way for six unanswered Hoosier points on the opposing end.
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Maryland (22-6, 12-5) picked up three turnovers during the same scoreless sequence, two of which came after offensive rebounds from Cristina Dalce.
Dalce redeemed herself minutes later. In a baseline sequence, the senior forward swerved around a Hoosier double team before rising up for an and-one hook layup that marked Maryland’s first three points.
The score sparked a 7-0 Terps scoring run, five of which came from Dalce. She finished with seven first-quarter points to lead all scorers, pouring in six of Maryland’s 10 paint points during the frame.
The Hoosiers’ pressure man-to-man defense continued to rattle the Terps’ perimeter attack midway through the period. They contested nearly every road 3-pointer, holding Maryland to 1-for-7 on first-half threes.
But Maryland’s lone first-half triple, a Sarah Te-Biasu pullup jumper, came with just seconds left on the first quarter clock. It evened the score — after five lead changes in the previous five minutes — while extending late road momentum that continued into the following frame.
Still dealing with a shorthanded rotation due to injuries, coach Brenda Frese went to her bench midway through the second period hoping to find a spark.
The decision paid dividends, leading a 12-0 Maryland run in the next three and a half minutes.
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Half of those points came from its bench. Emily Fisher scored a fast break layup while Amari DeBerry knocked down a pair of straightaway jumpers, the latter of which extended the Terps’ lead to a game-high 12 before halftime.
“What I loved is every single player contributed,” Frese said. “They were really aggressive and really confident. … so I thought that was huge.”
Indiana methodically clawed its way back out of the break, building gradual momentum behind a packed senior day crowd.
A triple from Yarden Garzon, whose 2.6 3-pointers per game is tied for the most in the Big Ten, was part of a 7-0 Hoosier scoring barrage. It cut the score back to single digits minutes into the third quarter. Indiana trimmed the deficit to as small as two during the period, on the backs of Garzon’s 10 third-quarter points and four timely assists by Chloe Moore-McNeil.
A clutch and-one layup from Kaylene Smikle, the first Terp in double figures, extended the road advantage to seven entering a crucial fourth quarter. She finished with 16, joining Sellers and Dalce as the only Maryland players in double figures.
Sellers’ late heroics ballooned Maryland’s lead to a game-high 14 at the final buzzer. It marked the guard’s sixth game this season with 20-plus points, and fifth straight in double figures.
“The shots I was taking, they felt good so I knew they would start falling. Thankfully, they started falling in the fourth,” Sellers said. “I knew I hadn’t won here and that was really important to me. But also, Illinois spoiled our Senior Night and it was time to spoil somebody else’s.”
