Box Score COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Shatori Walker-Kimbrough scored 30 points, Brionna Jones had 17 points and 17 rebounds, and the No. 5 Maryland women's basketball team defeated No. 17 Michigan State 85-76 in the XFINITY Center Friday night for its ninth straight victory.
“It was just a really good win,” head coach Brenda Frese said. “I love the fact that we're being tested against great teams. Michigan State is a great team and there's a reason they're third in the conference. They really had to make us work tonight but I thought we came out ready to play. We talked about how they were going to come out after halftime and be aggressive and I liked how we were able to respond after that run.”
Coming off a 41-point performance at Purdue, Walker-Kimbrough came up with a satisfying encore. The 5-foot-11 junior guard went 9-for-16 from the floor, 3-for-3 from beyond the arc and made all nine of her foul shots. She also finished with six rebounds, five assists and one block.
Though Walker-Kimbrough's effort at Purdue was one point short of the school record, her 71 points is the most ever by a Maryland women's player over two successive games.
The Terrapins (21-2, 10-1 Big Ten) never trailed in moving into a tie atop the conference standings with Ohio State. Maryland took a 9-2 lead and forced a Michigan State (17-5, 8-2) timeout midway through the first quarter. Jones picked up her 700th career rebound in the first quarter.
The Terps used an 8-0 run in the second quarter to pull away, 30-17, before finishing the half ahead 42-28.
Jones completed her double-double halfway through the third quarter as Maryland led 49-38.
Michigan State made the game closer in the final quarter, pulling within nine at 2:32, 74-65. After a few trips to the charity stripe, the Terps finished the 85-76 victory.
The Terrapins out-rebounded the Spartans, 43-33 while holding a 24-11 advantage in bench points.
Maryland was projected as one of the top 10 NCAA Tournament seeds by the NCAA Women's Basketball committee earlier this week.
Next, the Terrapins will travel to No. 7 Ohio State (18-4, 10-1) for a 9 p.m. ET nationally-televised matchup Monday on ESPN2, as part of the Big Monday series.
Maryland will return home to host Purdue (16-6, 7-4) Thursday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. at the XFINITY Center. For tickets to the Purdue game, click here or call 1-800-IM-A-TERP.
The Terps-Boilermakers game will be streamed live online through BTN2Go.com or the BTN2Go app.
– Terps –
