COLUMBUS, Ohio — Midway through the third quarter, Ohio State star Jacy Sheldon put up a three-pointer, chased down her own miss and put it in for a layup. Moments later, Maryland’s Bri McDaniel was called for traveling. Sheldon did almost the same thing in the fourth quarter, but this time her offensive rebound extended a possession that ended with a basket for teammate Rebeka Mikulasikova.
Moments like those kept the Terrapins from upsetting the No. 2 team in the country Sunday. The Terps were shorthanded and therefore needed to take advantage of every opportunity, but there were too many small wins that went the way of the home team. When the final buzzer sounded, Ohio State had clinched at least a share of the Big Ten regular season title with a 79-66 victory that ended Maryland’s four-game winning streak.
“You’ve got grad seniors on that roster, and the experience showed,” said Maryland Coach Brenda Frese, who called Ohio State a Final Four team. “Their poise, their composure. ... We have a small margin for error. Everybody’s got to show up. We can’t have no-shows anymore.”
Ohio State’s most experienced players starred on senior day for the Buckeyes (24-3, 15-1). Celeste Taylor, a graduate transfer, matched her season high with 20 points. Sheldon, who received the biggest ovation during the pregame festivities, had 17 points, six assists and five rebounds. Mikulasikova scored six of her 11 points in the fourth quarter to help put the game away. And Rikki Harris had a pair of big three-pointers off the bench.
“I was really proud of our kids for making sure we had the poise to continue to execute and do the things necessary to come away with a win,” Ohio State Coach Kevin McGuff said.
Ohio State weathered a third quarter in which Maryland (16-11, 8-8) had a 24-16 scoring edge and cut its 13-point halftime deficit to five, but the Buckeyes never got rattled. Sheldon calmly controlled the action, and sophomore Cotie McMahon (15 points) hit big shots despite dealing with foul trouble.
Turnovers and three-pointers were issues for Maryland as Ohio State took a 44-31 lead into halftime. Frese said the Terps were prepared to live with Ohio State shooting threes in an attempt to focus on rebounds — but then the Buckeyes went 7 for 14 from three-point range in the opening half. The Ohio State press also bothered Maryland; the Terps’ 10 first-half turnovers turned into 11 points.
“That’s the game right there — turnovers,” Maryland’s Brinae Alexander said. “Putting more emphasis on taking care of the ball has been another one of our key things that we’ve been trying to lock in on, so that’s on us.”
The Terps were at their best during the third quarter, when Jakia Brown-Turner scored all 10 of her points, but they never got closer than five. Ohio State opened the fourth with a 10-5 run, and Maryland could not get over the hump.
McDaniel was aggressive from the start and finished with a game-high 21 points. Alexander made five three-pointers and had 16 points.
“We have to punch first,” McDaniel said.
Here’s what else to know about Maryland’s loss:
Lineup adjustments
Sunday brought the Terps’ first game without guard Lavender Briggs, who was lost for the season with a knee injury suffered Wednesday in a win over against Rutgers. Frese’s rotation had been down to essentially eight players, with freshman guard Emily Fisher averaging just under 13 minutes.
That was cut to seven Sunday: Brown-Turner, McDaniel, Alexander, Shyanne Sellers and Faith Masonius started, and Allie Kubek and Fisher came off the bench. Sellers played just 27 minutes because of early foul trouble and never found a groove as she shot 2 for 10 for seven points.
Bubble watch
A road loss to the nation’s No. 2 team shouldn’t hurt Maryland’s postseason hopes. In their projections from a few days earlier, ESPN and the Athletic had the Terps as one of the last four teams to make the NCAA tournament. Maryland entered Sunday’s game with the nation’s No. 5 strength of schedule, according to WarrenNolan.com, and ranked No. 28 in RPI, according to RealTimeRPI.com. The NCAA’s NET rankings had the Terps at No. 32.
Maryland will have another chance to make an impression on the selection committee in its regular season finale at No. 14 Indiana next Sunday. But first, the Terps will host Wisconsin (13-13, 6-10) at 6 p.m. Thursday (Big Ten Network) in their home finale.
