ST. THOMAS, USVI – Juniors Brionna Jones and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough combined for 41 points to lead No. 6 Maryland (5-0) to a 62-55 victory over South Dakota State Friday evening in the Paradise Jam at the University of the Virgin Islands.
The Terrapins controlled the game early, then pushed past the Jackrabbits' (3-2) second half surge to come away with their fifth straight victory.
“They’re all not going to be pretty. We hung in there, we were resilient,” head coach Brenda Frese said, “It was nice for us to have that kind of test. You’re going against a team that isn’t going to go away. They had a tough game against Notre Dame and we knew they were going to be a really tough opponent. To come in here and be battle-tested against a great team made us better.”
Jones scored 21 points with 13 rebounds, while Walker-Kimbrough added 20 points, six boards, four assists and three steals.
The duo scored the Terps’ first 15 points of the game, which led to a 17-4 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Terrapins held the Jacks to 1-for-16 shooting through the first 10-minute period.
As South Dakota State’s offense picked up in the second quarter, the Terrapins’ bench answered, scoring 12 of the Terrapins’ 14 points in the period. Maryland led 31-21 at halftime.
South Dakota State opened the third quarter with five straight points to cut Maryland’s lead to five at 31-26. A three by the Jackrabbits’ Ellie Thompson made it a two-point game at 40-38 with 3:05 left in the quarter, but Jones answered with a layup to hold onto the lead.
The Jackrabbits’ Gabrielle Boever sunk a three-pointer that tied the game at 46 with 6:35 left, then a layup by Macy Miller gave South Dakota State its first lead at 48-46 with six minutes to go.
Jones responded with back-to-back buckets in the paint, then Walker-Kimbrough and Chloe Pavlech made six free throws between them to hold the Jackrabbits off.
Walker-Kimbrough reached the 900 career-point mark in the win and currently has 912.
The Terrapins will play Pittsburgh (3-1) Saturday at 8 p.m. ET. in their Paradise Jam finale. The game will be streamed live online for free through ParadiseJam.com and live stats will be available here.
Maryland went 2-1 in its first trip to the Paradise Jam, back in 2005. The Terps beat Gonzaga, 88-50, then topped No. 9 Michigan State, 75-61, before losing a close battle to No. 2 Tennessee, 80-75.
The Terrapins are ranked No. 6 in the Associated Press and the USA Today Division I Top 25 Coaches polls.
After the Paradise Jam, the Terps will return home to XFINITY Center to host No. 23 Syracuse (2-1) Wednesday in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The Terrapins-Orange game will be televised around the world on the Big Ten Network and the BTN2Go app.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit umterps.com. Parking will be free and open after 4 p.m.
– Terps –
