COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Junior Kaila Charles scored 24 points, junior Stephanie Jones added 16 and No. 4 Maryland held off Ohio State 75-69 Saturday in a rematch of the 2018 Big Ten title game.
Coming off an upset loss to Rutgers, the Terrapins (13-1, 2-1) never really got into a groove against the retooled Buckeyes (4-8, 0-3). Maryland trailed 62-61 with 5:25 left, went ahead 70-66 on a 3-pointer by freshman Taylor Mikesell with 3:04 to go and held on.
Ohio State made only one basket over the final four minutes while being outscored 9-3.
"I thought we showed a lot about our character down the stretch with our poise, especially in the fourth quarter," head coach Brenda Frese said. "I mean we had to get stops on the defensive end. We were able to step up and we forced them into five turnovers in that stretch. Obviously, that was the difference in the game. But I feel like we are still, obviously with the blend of our team, kind of still trying to learn ourselves with our strengths and our weaknesses."
It was the 499th career victory for Frese, who's 442-120 with the Terrapins after going 35-22 at Ball State and 22-8 at Minnesota.
Though Maryland and Ohio State were the class of the conference last season, this Buckeyes squad bears no similarity to the one that captured the conference championship and finished 28-7. Freshman Dorka Juhasz, a 6-foot-4 forward from Hungary, led the Buckeyes with 18 points.
Ohio State went 4 for 5 to open the game and grabbed a 10-5 lead. Although Maryland shot just 40 percent in the first quarter, Myers drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 20-19 lead.
The Buckeyes scored the first eight points of the second quarter, but the Terrapins used runs of 7-0 and 9-3 to move in front 43-36 at halftime.
Ohio State had six baskets and six turnovers in the second period.
The Terps will travel to Nebraska on Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. as Brenda Frese gets her first chance at her 500th win. The Terps-Huskers game will be streamed online through BTN Plus and can be seen on the BTN2Go app and BTN2Go.com
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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