No.11 Maryland Women’s Basketball survives on the road against Syracuse

The newly ranked No. 11 Lady Terps, coming off a victory against former ACC rival and then No.11 Duke on Sunday, were on the road Wednesday, facing the Syracuse Orange.

The last time these two teams faced each other was when Maryland defeated Syracuse at Xfinity Arena the previous season. This past Wednesday evening, Maryland defeated Syracuse 84-73.

The Key Points

Syracuse came out swinging, but Maryland responded.

When you watched the game, the first thing that popped into your mind was that Maryland might have been fatigued. Their schedule has been front-loaded for the start of the season. But that wasn’t the problem. The Orange came out swinging by matching Maryland with size, rebounding, defending, and shooting. Now, matchups dictate how you play, and the Terps looked out of sorts in the first quarter, trailing by six points.

The Second Quarter saw Syracuse have a ten-point lead, which is when the Terps came to life. That 15-0 run was the tone-setter of the game. Within the first twenty minutes with the score, it was a twenty-one-point swing to the Terps.

A Tale of Two Halves

Coming out of the Locker Room, the Terps could not create separation—the stats in the second half show room for improvement. But in fairness, the third quarter was terrible overall for both teams. The Terps missed opportunities, and it did not happen. It started with the half-court offense. Credit Syracuse’s defense; it forced the offense out of its rhythm. Here’s an example: in the third quarter, the Terps turned the ball over five possessions straight. The ability not to slow the offense down sometimes played a role in travel, offensive foul calls, and twelve turnovers alone in the half. Again, those things will be cleaned up.  

Contributions offensively  

Bri McDaniel is starting to come as of late, and she has been a sparkplug. McDaniel played a massive role in the Terp’s victory with 13 points and six assists. Kaylene Smikle had another 20-point game, and Allie Kubek finished with 16 points. In this game, we saw four terps in double figures [Christina Dalce with 10 Points], but the most significant difference maker was the assists. The Terps finished with 17 assists, which is a season-high.

Maryland is back home this weekend. The Terrapins welcome the Towson Tigers this Sunday at 11:00 a.m.