Maryland women outlast Penn State to get back on track

COLLEGE PARK — Big Ten Conference action has proven to be a challenge for the No. 9 Maryland Terrapins this year. They dropped two games early in the league schedule, and some of their wins turned out to be nail-biters.

Sunday afternoon’s game was headed for the latter category until a late eruption of offense allowed Maryland fans could breathe easy.

The Lady Terrapins bounced back from their second loss of the season by pushing through for a 79-67 win over Penn State at the Xfinity Center.

Penn State used a huge second-quarter swing to ensure the game was competitive until the very end. But Maryland (16-2, 5-2 Big East) finished the day shooting 49.2 percent and outscored the Lady Lions (9-9, 2-5 Big East) in the paint, 40-28.

It’s still possible Maryland will fall out of the top 10 in the Associated Press poll for the first time this year, because the Terrapins lost last Thursday at No. 17 Michigan State, 77-60. Maryland started the year 12-0 and looked like far and away the best team in the Big Ten, but conference play has brought them some new ups and downs.

“I think the Big Ten has grown a lot,” senior Brianna Fraser said. “We’ve seen a lot of teams winning games, a lot of teams losing games that we don’t really see (lose).”

“It’s really competitive, which is great that every night we’re challenged and that we can’t take any night off,” Kaila Charles said. “So I like the fact that it’s starting to level out and everybody’s giving their best every night.”

Maryland freshman Taylor Mikesell led all scorers with a career-high 23 points, including 5-for-9 3-point shooting. Freshman Shakira Austin posted a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds, along with three blocks and two steals.

Charles scored 19 points and Fraser added an important 13 off the bench.

Teniya Page scored 20 to lead the Nittany Lions. Usually a starting guard for Penn State, Page started the game on the bench for the first time all year due to violating a team rule.

Maryland led 21-8 after one quarter as Mikesell and Charles each posted eight points. But the Nittany Lions found their stroke from the field in the second. By outscoring the Terrapins 19-6 in the first six minutes, Penn State tied the game at 27; Page had nine points in the period to lead the way.

Maryland kept it tied going into halftime, 35-35, only because Charles drove the lane for a buzzer-beating layup.

But coach Brenda Frese said she loved her team’s response coming out of halftime. Strategically, the Terrapins chose to focus on getting the ball down low to Austin and Fraser in the second half, she said.

Penn State led by as many as five early in the third, but Fraser in particular found ways to get open under the basket. Eleven of her 13 points came in the second half.

“It felt like that was where our advantage was,” Frese said. “They were playing four guards with one post, and even when they went to two post (players) they couldn’t match the talent of the post that we have. I loved seeing that kind of chemistry with Shakira and Bri.”

Maryland led 57-51 with 10 minutes left to play, and it took an 8-0 run with less than five minutes to play for Maryland to put the game out of reach. Mikesell made at least one 3-pointer in every quarter and her fellow freshman Austin grabbed her final two rebounds off the defensive glass to wrap up the game.

Charles said that following the loss at Michigan State, Frese challenged the Terrapins to find more energy and for the leaders to be more vocal. Both the coach and her players were confident that some improvement showed in Sunday’s outing.

“It was just a good lesson to learn — that once we focus and lock in, we can do really good things. It’s just something we have to be consistent with,” Charles said.

Maryland swept the season series with Penn State. When they met in Happy Valley, the Nittany Lions led for three quarters before Maryland routed them in the fourth to grab the road win.

The Terrapins have two road games coming up this week, at Ohio State and No. 25 Indiana.