COLLEGE PARK, MD -- Behind another monster performance from Diamond Miller, which resulted in her fourth double-double of the season, the No. 8 Terps cruised past the No. 10 Buckeyes, 90-54, in a Pinkout game in front of a crowd of 11,167 that they led for all but 57 seconds.
This was the Terps' fifth win over a ranked team and third over a Top-10 team this season (No. 6 UConn, No. 7 Notre Dame). The last time Maryland (19-5, 10-3 Big Ten) had three wins over Top 10 teams in a regular-season was in 2007-08.
In winning by 36 points it was Maryland's largest margin of victory against a Top-10 team in program history, surpassing the previous mark of a 27-point win over No. 7 Penn State, 85-58, on Dec. 5, 1991.
The 90 points were the most Maryland has scored against a Top-10 team in a regulation game since beating No. 5 North Carolina, 92-77 on Jan. 5, 2005.
Miller was dominant all afternoon, finishing with 29 points on 11-of-16 shooting. She was also a force on the glass, picking up 10 rebounds, including her 500th career board.
Shyanne Sellers put together another terrific all-around performance, scoring 19 and dishing out a game-high nine assists.
Abby Meyers was hot out of the gate, scoring 11 of her 22 points in the first quarter to give the Terps the momentum early. She finished with a trio of made threes.
The Terps pounced on the Buckeyes out of the gates and never let Ohio State recover from a 12-point first-quarter deficit that saw the Buckeyes muster just seven points in the stanza. It was Ohio State's lowest first quarter scoring output of the season.
Ohio State's 54 points were its lowest of the season, with the previous low being 65.
With the win, Maryland is now 19-5 overall and 10-3 in the Big Ten. The Terps moved to 33-1 at home in February games since 2014.
The Buckeyes dropped to 20-4 on the season and 9-4 in conference play. After starting the season 19-0, Ohio State has now lost four of their last five.
With the win, Maryland is alone in third place in the Big Ten, behind Indiana (12-1) and Iowa (11-1).
Brenda's Takes
"This game is always about playing for something bigger and today was no different. Can't say enough about the crowd, it was huge, with the energy they brought. Second largest crowd since our UCONN game today. I could really tell that the loss the other night left a bad taste in our mouth and I was really impressed with the response. A lot of them walked through the door at 4 am and re-watched the game. That tells you all you need to know about our team. Loved our start, loved our intensity, we knew both teams were going to come out strong. I thought we were the better team when we held them scoreless for about three minutes. It was their lowest point total in a quarter this season. Held them to a season-low with 54 points. I thought we were able to make a statement win, our largest win over a top-ten team in program history."
"With our All-American Diamond, I'm so glad that so many people were able to witness how special of a player she is. We just had a 40 minute game as a team, we've been waiting for that, and just to see it on display was awesome to watch."
From The Girls
"Our crowd is amazing," Sellers said. "When we have a lot of fans, you can feel the energy vibrating through the whole gym. We always say they're our best sixth man, so it was really important to have them today."
"I was extremely frustrated after the Iowa game because I felt like we did not perform like we needed to perform," Miller said. "We know we are capable of beating teams like Iowa, so coming out today, it was extremely crucial for us to show that we can play 40 minutes. We are one of the top teams in the Big Ten and we needed to play like it."
"I absolutely think that we made a statement tonight," Sellers said. "If people don't believe it, they're gonna have to find out when they play us."
Breaking Down The Action
- With the game knotted at 7-7 midway through the first quarter, the Terps rattled off an 8-0 run, capped off by a right-wing triple from Meyers, that forced the Buckeyes into a timeout.
- Maryland scored the final four points off the quarter, turning it into a 12-0 run, to take a 19-7 lead after one. Meyers scored 11 of the Terps' 19 points on 4-of-5 shooting in the stanza.
- Miller (9) and Sellers (8) combined for 17 points in the second quarter as Maryland grabbed a 42-30 halftime lead.
- Miller continued to assert her dominance throughout the third, pouring in 16 points in nine minutes played. Miller made five of seven field goal attempts in the stanza and made all five attempts from the line. The Terps came out of the third quarter with a dominant 69-44 lead.
Frese's 90th Win Over A Ranked Foe
- With the win over No. 10 Ohio State on Sunday, the Terps are now 5-3 vs. ranked teams with wins over No. 6 UConn, No. 7 Notre Dame, No. 13 Michigan, No. 17 Baylor.
- Maryland has three Top-10 wins in a season for the first time since the 2013-14 campaign, when the Terps beat No. 3 Tennessee, No. 4 Louisville (both in the NCAA Tournament) and No. 10 North Carolina.
- The last time the Terps had three Top-10 wins in the regular-season was in 2007-08, when Maryland beat No. 4 LSU, No. 6 Oklahoma and No. 10 Duke.
- Since Brenda Frese took over in 2002-03, Maryland now has 90 wins over Associated Press top 25 teams, including 11 in the 2014-15 season, which set a new school record.
- Under Frese, Maryland also has 28 wins over AP Top 10 teams, most recently an 85-78 win over No. 6 UConn on Dec. 11, 2022.
- The Terrapins are 90-73 against ranked teams over the last 20 years, all under Frese. Twenty-six of those wins were on the road and 21 were at neutral sites.
1,000 Point Update
- Miller continues to stand 17th all-time in career scoring with 1,482. Next up on the list at No. 16 is Deedee Warley, who had 1,512 in the same years from 1999-02.
- Meyers now has 1,287 points in her career with 947 in her three seasons of action at Princeton before joining the Terps this season.
- Lavender Briggs, who surpassed the 1,000-point mark in Maryland's game against Notre Dame, now has 1,116. She netted 961 at Florida.
- Brinae Alexander, who crossed the 1,000-point threshold against Rutgers, now has 1,045 career points, with 841 coming at Vanderbilt
- Elisa Pinzan, who scored her 1,000th career point at Iowa, now has 1,002. She had 916 points at South Florida.
Double-Figures Update
- With 29 points, Miller reached double-figures for the 22nd time in 23 games played this season. She's recorded 10 points or more 77 times in her career of 106 games.
- Meyers hit double-digit scoring for the 19th time this season and 71st in her career, notching 22 points.
- Sellers' 19-point-performance was the 21st time in 24 games that she has reached double-digit scoring this season. She has done that 33 times overall in her career.
20-Plus Terps
- For the second consecutive game, the Terps had a pair of 20-point scorers.
- Miller has scored 20 or more points for the ninth time this season and 21st time in her career.
- Meyers had her sixth 20-point game this season.
Home Sweet Home
- Maryland is now 33-1 at home in February games since 2014 with the lone loss coming to Purdue in 2018.
- The Terps are now 9-2 at home this season, winning their last seven games in a row at XFINITY Center.
- Maryland has been a dominant home team, especially over the last decade. The Terps are 590-139 (.810) all-time in College Park, dating back to the inaugural 1971-72 season.
- Maryland is 297-44 (.872) at home under Brenda Frese, whose first season in College Park was the inaugural season of XFINITY Center. That is among the top 10 toughest places to play in the country.
B1G Time
- The Terps are now 193-53 (.785) all-time against their Big Ten opponents.
- Since joining the Big Ten in 2014-15, the Terrapins are 151-23 (.868) vs. their conference opponents, including their 19-3 record in the Big Ten Tournament.
- In the 21 years under Frese, the Terps are 163-27 (.858) against their Big Ten opponents.
- Frese is 176-32 (.846) all-time vs. Big Ten opponents, which includes her time at Minnesota and at Ball State.
- Since joining the league in 2014, Maryland is 70-6 (.921) against Big Ten teams at home.
- The Terrapins are also 133-9 (.937) when they score 70 points or more in Big Ten games since 2014-15.
- Since their first year in the Big Ten, the Terps are 117-4 (.967) when holding their league opponents to 70 points or less.
Big Crowds At Home
- With a crowd of 11, 176 in attendance for Sunday's game, Maryland now has four crowds of more than 8,000 this season and two of more than 10,000.
- Maryland drew a season-high of 12,566 for the UConn game on Dec. 11. The Terps also welcomed 9,244 for South Carolina on Nov. 11 and 8,454 for Davidson on Nov. 16.
- The last time Maryland had multiple home crowds of 10,000 or more in the same season was in 2016-17 and the last time XFINITY hosted more than 8,000 in four games in a season was in 2011-12.
Series History
- Sunday's matchup is the 21st all-time between Maryland and Ohio State. The Terps now lead the series, 13-8.
- They split last year's meetings. Ohio State won 95-89 in Columbus on Jan. 20, then Maryland won 77-72 in College Park on Feb. 17.
Notes and Nuggets
- Sunday's game was the annual Play4Kay game, honoring the memory of Hall of Fame Basketball Coach Kay Yow, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987 and passed away in 2009. Maryland wore pink uniforms and Ohio State wore gray uniforms trimmed in pink.
- During the break between the first and second quarters, seven breast cancer survivors were honored at halfcourt for their battles.
Up Next
- The Terps will head to Evanston, IL for a matchup against the Northwestern Wildcats. Tip off is slated for 8:30 pm EST. The game will air on Big Ten Network.
