CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The fifth-ranked Maryland women’s basketball opened Big Ten play with a 79-63 win at Illinois Thursday afternoon in the State Farm Arena.
Sophomore Kristen Confroy led the Terrapins (12-1, 1-0) with a career-high 17 points and junior Brionna Jones grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds. She went 7-10 from the field for 16 points. Brene Moseley added 14 points with eight assists and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough fought through foul trouble to score 13 points.
The Terrapins and the Illini were tied at 14 at the end of the first quarter. Moseley scored 10 points in the second quarter and the Terrapins got the ball inside to Jones to lead 39-32 at the break.
The Terps opened the second half on an 11-2 run to push the lead to 50-34 off a three-pointer by Confroy 3:31 into the period. Maryland committed no turnovers in the third quarter.
Chatrice White led Illinois (7-5, 0-1) with 14 points, while Sarah Hartwell and Kennedy Cattenhead added nine each.
The Terrapins outrebounded the Illini, 55-26 and scored 21 points in the paint to Illinois’ four.
Maryland has won 31 straight games against Big Ten teams, dating back to 2007. The last loss to a Big Ten opponent was when the third-ranked Terps fell at No. 4 Rutgers, 68-60, on Dec. 3, 2007.
The Terps will return home to host No. 9 Ohio State (9-3, 1-0) Saturday at noon. Maryland will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the 2006 NCAA Championship at the Jan. 2 matchup. The first 2006 fans will receive a commemorative T-shirt and the current Terrapins will be signing autographs after the game.
The Terps-Buckeyes game will be nationally televised on CBS. For tickets to the Terps’ Jan. 2 top 10 matchup, click here or call the Terrapin Ticket Office at 1-800-IM-A-TERP.
Maryland’s matchup vs. Ohio State will open their home slate of Big Ten games. The Terrapins went 18-0 to win the Big Ten regular season title last year, then topped Ohio State, 77-74, last March to win the Big Ten Tournament title as well.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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