The Terps scored just six first-quarter points before mounting a comeback.
No. 7 Maryland women’s basketball fell behind early at Purdue, playing its worst half of basketball all season.
The Boilermakers — a much worse team on paper — led by 12 points after the first quarter and nine by halftime. But Saturday was a tale of two halves, as the Terps corrected their mistakes and scored 49 second-half points en route to 78-69 win in West Lafayette, Indiana.
“I’ll never take a road win for granted, especially with our start. I don’t think you could have had a worse start for us,” head coach Brenda Frese said.
Five Terps scored double-digit points in its Big Ten opener, improving to 10-0.
Both teams were extraordinary cold offensively to start the game. The first five minutes saw six combined turnovers.
Maryland could not buy a bucket and Purdue capitalized late in the period, finishing the first 10 minutes up by 12 points. The Terps were 2-of-17 from the field and 0-of-8 from three with five turnovers in the first quarter.
Things got worse in early the second quarter, as the Terps found themselves in a 16-point hole. A Kaylene Smikle turnover into an easy Rashunda Jones layup forced Frese to call timeout.
Following the timeout, the Terps finally found an answer, despite a Boilermaker 3-point barrage. The Terps closed the lead to six points, but entered halftime down by nine.
Jones paced Purdue with 13 first-half points, while Reagan Bass contributed 10.
“We were having a lot of trouble guarding one on one. That’s why we tried to switch it up to zone,” Frese said. “It definitely comes down to trying to be disruptive. We did change a few things with our ball screen defense, but we couldn’t do that until the second half.”
The Terps opened the second half with some life and cut the lead to four points. And Maryland gained its first lead of the game on an 8-0 run with less than three minutes remaining in the third quarter.
The game finally looked like the one many expected. Maryland made difficult layups, notably an and-1 masterclass from Smikle and another tough layup from McDaniel.
McDaniel scored 13 of her 16 points in the third quarter, carrying the Terps to the lead. In the frame, she went 5-of-6 from the field and 3-of-3 from the free throw line. The Terps outscored Purdue by 12 points in the quarter and led by three with 10 minutes remaining.
“Being able to count on [McDaniel] coming in with that energy like we needed it,” Poffenbarger said, “it’s a huge reason why we were able to come up with a win and go on a run.”
Maryland seized the lead and took full advantage, riding a 6-0 and 8-0 run in the fourth quarter to secure a 10-point lead.
The Boilermakers didn’t go away easily, though. A Te-Biasu turnover turned into a Destini Lombard layup, cutting Maryland’s lead to four and forcing a timeout.
But the Terps once again clapped back, pushing the score out of reach to put the game on ice.
Three things to know
1. Halftime changed everything. The Terps scored only 29 points in the first half and looked abysmal offensively. But Maryland scored 49 points over the final 20 minutes to claim victory.
“I told them in the locker room, a lot of teams when they were down 16 [points] could have folded and not had the response that they had in the remainder of the game,” Frese said.
2. A Big Ten road win. Last season, Maryland women’s basketball only won three road conference games. On Saturday, Maryland battled through a slow start and secured its first Big Ten victory on the road this season.
3. Double-doubles from forwards. For the first time all season, Dalce and Poffenbarger shared a spot in starting lineup, and both came away with double-doubles. Poffenbarger had an impressive showing in only her second start of the season, notching 17 points and 13 rebounds. Meanwhile, Dalce carried the Terps in the first half, ending with 10 points and 11 rebounds.