Maryland women’s basketball rolls past Northwestern, 71-58, in Big Ten opener for 5th straight win

Allie Kubek, Shyanne Sellers and Jakia Brown-Turner led the way as Maryland women’s basketball rolled past visiting Northwestern, 71-58, in Saturday’s Big Ten opener in College Park.

Kubek, a Towson transfer, finished with 17 points on 7-for-13 shooting while Sellers and Brown-Turner, an NC State transfer, each scored 13 points. Sellers added 10 assists, eight rebounds, five steals and two blocks in a terrific all-around performance, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the first half that gave the Terps (7-3, 1-0 Big Ten) a 36-33 lead.

“My mindset is just to play basketball,” Kubek said. “I don’t want to get too much in my head about my injury or just taking shots. I’ve been playing basketball my whole life, so it is nothing new to me. Just continuing to play my game and doing what I know I can do. That’s my mentality.”

Brown-Turner added seven rebounds, Faith Masonius added nine points and six rebounds and Bri McDaniel chipped in eight points and five rebounds. The Terps shot just 3-for-11 from 3-point range and 39.4% from the field but had success attacking the rim and drawing fouls, going 16-for-23 from the free-throw line. They also outrebounded the Wildcats, 44-35, and outscored them in the paint, 42-25.

Maryland broke the game open with a 12-2 run to start the third quarter to take a 48-35 lead with three minutes left in the period. The Terps allowed just six points on 3-of-16 shooting in the third, matching their best mark in a quarter this season.

“We are excited to get our first conference win, especially at home. It is super important to set the tone for conference play,” coach Brenda Frese said. “In the first quarter, we had seven different scorers. In the second, we were missing that energy from Bri and Brinae as they battled some foul trouble. I thought we got back to playing our pace in the third quarter by moving the ball and forcing turnovers. I liked the impact we were able to have coming out of the locker room.”

Melannie Daley scored 14 points off the bench to lead Northwestern (3-6, 0-1), which shot just 35.9% from the field and 5-for-18 from 3-point range.

The win marked the 600th at home in program history with 306 coming at Xfinity Center and 294 at Cole Field House. Maryland has won 16 straight at home dating to a victory over UConn on Dec. 11, 2022.

Towson at Maryland

Tuesday, 11 a.m.

Stream: BTN+