Story By: Erin Zollars
Photos By: Sol Tucker
College Park, MD–
There is a lot to be said about the resilience of Brenda Frese’s teams over the years, today was one of those. It took the combination of Bri McDaniel and Jakia Brown-Turner’s efforts to hold on late.
Brown-Turner’s strong fourth quarter lifted Maryland women’s basketball over Illinois, 90-82. She scored 12 straight points during the period, none bigger than a three pointer that pushed the Terps’ lead to nine.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a stat line [where] you look at the two teams and [see] just how well both teams shot it,” said Maryland head coach Brenda Frese. “I don’t know how much defense was really being played, but [there] was just a lot of great offensive power by both teams.”
With time winding down on the opening period McDaniel drove into the paint, stepped through two defenders, and put up a floater that dropped right before the first quarter buzzer sounded. Even though the basket went McDaniel seemed to land awkwardly after the shot. She was able to return to the game with a little over 7 minutes remaining in the second quarter.
“I have to be better with learning how to fall … or just not falling at all,” laughed McDaniel, when talking about how she can keep her aggressive play style while also staying on the floor.
Despite Saturday’s win, this again wasn’t the best Maryland team we have seen on the court this season. Maryland still has plenty of ground to make up in the Big Ten standings, as their 4-3 conference record currently has them sitting in the middle of the pack.
“I think we’re just figuring a groove how to seal games at the end,” guard Shyanne Sellers said, “I feel like we’re just becoming Maryland.”
