No. 8 Maryland asserted itself in the second half and then held on for a 99-92 victory over the No. 24 Gophers women’s basketball team on Tuesday in College Park, Md.
Gophers women’s basketball team charges late, but comes up short against Maryland
A 16-0 run and Annika Stewart’s three-pointer cut the lead to three with 20 seconds remaining, but the No. 8 Terrapins held off the No. 24 Gophers at the free-throw line from there for a 99-92 victory.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
January 15, 2025 at 6:22AM
The Terrapins, who led 42-37 at halftime, opened a 20-point lead with three minutes remaining. But the Gophers, who were in their first game as a Top 25-ranked team since January of 2019, used a 16-0 run to pull within 93-89 with 36 seconds remaining.
Kaylene Smikle made two free throws with 29 seconds remaining to end the Gophers run, but a three-pointer by Annika Stewart got the Gophers within 95-92 with 20 seconds remaining.
Smikle made four more free throws in the final 20 seconds to seal the Terrapins' eighth consecutive victory over the Gophers. Maryland was perfect from the line for the game, going 21-for-21.
Shyanne Sellers scored a season-high 27 points to lead the Terrapins (16-1, 6-1 Big Ten), who won for the 22nd consecutive time when leading after three quarters. Smikle scored 19 points.
“Great win for us to be able to get at home here as we open this stretch of games against four ranked teams and finish a really grueling stretch of travel with six games in less than two weeks,” Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. “Minnesota is second in the country in points allowed, with only 51 points coming into [Tuesday], so we knew they were going to be really good, battle and be physical [so] credit them. I thought they never gave up and played until the very end.”
Amaya Battle scored 19 points and Grace Grocholski scored 16 to lead the Gophers (16-2, 4-2 Big Ten), who had a six-game winning streak end. Mallory Heyer contributed 15 points before fouling out in the final two minutes and Sophie Hart added 14 points for the Gophers.
The Gophers led 19-17 after one quarter before the Terrapins built a 42-37 lead at the intermission, after a first half which saw 11 lead changes and six ties.
Grocholski scored the Gophers' first five points of the second half to pull the Gophers within 44-42, but the Terrapins responded with a 16-4 run to open a 60-46 lead. The Gophers didn’t get closer than 10 the rest of the quarter as the Terrapins took a 71-60 lead into the fourth quarter.
Battle scored nine points and Heyer scored seven in the first quarter as the Gophers led 19-17 after 10 minutes.
A 16-0 run and Annika Stewart’s three-pointer cut the lead to three with 20 seconds remaining, but the No. 8 Terrapins held off the No. 24 Gophers at the free-throw line from there for a 99-92 victory.
