Story By: Erin Zollars
Photos By: Erin Zollars
College Park, MD–
In what turned out to be the biggest test of the season for the Maryland women’s basketball team, ended going down to the wire and ending on the wrong side of a 79-74 loss to USC.
Coming into this game a lot of talk was that Maryland had not really matched up against a top ranked team like USC prior to tonight, but they had forgotten that Brenda Frese has been in plenty of these scenarios over the past 20 plus years at College Park.
Maryland set the tone in the game early when they shot out to a 11-5 lead in the first quarter and would still lead 20-18 at the end of the first.
Before the half, the Terps, would continue to battle with Shayenne Sellers leading the way and perhaps getting the best of Watkins all the way into the third quarter. Sellers would finish with 26 points and perhaps showing her best two-way talents tonight late into the game.
USC improved to 15-0 on the season behind Juju Watkins’ 21 points and 9 rebounds, but she would foul out the game with 31 seconds remaining and would need her teammate Kiki Iriafen to bail USC out with a and 1 that put the Trojans up for good at 75-72.
Maryland ultimately lost this game when they didn’t have that second rebounding threat late in the game and were outrebounded 47-40 for the game.
The Terps will have one other huge chance for an upset later this month when they #1 ranked UCLA on January 25th.
