The Hoosiers, who lost to Nebraska, 72-55, on Monday, are 10-2. Maryland, Ohio State, and Michigan are 11-3. The Terrapins play the 18th-ranked Buckeyes at home Thursday and at No. 9 Michigan on Sunday before playing host to the Hoosiers on Feb. 25 in the regular season finale.
This final stretch for the Terrapins against contenders for the conference title — they came into this game tied with the Hawkeyes (16-7, 10-4) and Ohio State for third place — got off to a strong start.
“This was just a really, really special win,” said Maryland Coach Brenda Frese, who grew up in nearby Cedar Rapids and always has a large group of family and friends in attendance for games against the Hawkeyes. “What’s even more special is how the team played tonight.
“When you look at our schedule, it’s prepared us to be resilient. Obviously you can see we’re peaking at the right time.”
“I think every game is important for us now. ‘February frenzy,’ as Coach B calls it,” forward Chloe Bibby said. “So it’s exciting.”
Angel Reese led Maryland with 25 points. Diamond Miller had 20, and Bibby had 16.
Maryland extended its winning streak to seven games, taking control when it shut down Iowa’s offense, especially guard Caitlin Clark, in the first half. The Terrapins held Iowa to 34.4 percent shooting in the half while shooting 51.4 percent and getting 24 points in the paint.
Clark, the nation’s leading scorer at 27.6 points per game, scored 19 but couldn’t get into a shooting rhythm until late in the third quarter. She missed her first seven shots of the game, with her only points over the first 15½ minutes coming from two free throws with five seconds left in the first quarter. Clark made just 7 of 25 shots, including 3 of 13 three-pointers.
“I mean, obviously, they were pretty glued to me,” Clark said. “They’re long, they switch 1 through 5, but they were pretty physical with me. And that bothered me more than it should have.”
“Their defense is different because they front the post and they switch every screen, which nobody else in the Big Ten does and nobody we’ve played against has done this year,” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said. “I thought we were kind of prepared for it.”
The Hawkeyes came into the game ranked third nationally in scoring at 84.6 points per game, while Maryland was seventh at 80.4. But the Terrapins haven’t had much of a problem scoring against Iowa, averaging 102.7 points in the previous three games, and it showed in the first half.
Maryland had a 20-6 run in the first quarter after a slow start. The Terrapins fell behind 9-2 after they missed six of their first eight shots, including three misses on one possession. But they made eight of their last 13 shots to take a 24-19 lead at the end of the quarter.
Maryland took that momentum into the second quarter. The Terrapins used a 18-6 run over a 6½-minute stretch to lead 48-33 at halftime.
Clark finally got going in the third quarter, hitting three long three-pointers, including a banked one at the buzzer to cut Maryland’s lead to 66-55.
Maryland missed its first six shots and committed four turnovers to open the fourth quarter, allowing Iowa to get to within 66-61 with 6:47 left. But the Terrapins settled down, getting a layup from Reese and a three-pointer from Katie Benzan. Bibby then scored five points in the span of 18 seconds, and Maryland’s lead was 76-63.
“We didn’t flinch when they made runs,” Frese said. “Just keeping our poise and composure was huge.”
Here’s what else to know about Maryland’s win:
Maryland had a 47-31 rebounding edge, including 19 offensive rebounds.
Reese had 13 rebounds, while Bibby and Shyanne Sellers each had eight.
“Right now I’m feeling so confident,” Reese said. “My teammates are getting me the ball, and I know if they miss a shot, I’m cleaning it up, and they expect me to clean it up. And if I don’t, Coach is going to get on me.”
“We gave up way too many offensive rebounds, obviously,” Bluder said. “That’s giving up a whole lot of extra shots.”
Neither coach had too many options off the bench because of injuries. Maryland had just eight players in uniform, while Iowa had nine.
Those benches seemed shorter as both teams got into foul trouble. Benzan and Iowa’s Monika Czinano, who had 16 points, each fouled out, and the two teams combined for 34 fouls.
The Terrapins didn’t have guard Ashley Owusu, who missed her third consecutive game with an ankle injury. Owusu is averaging 14.6 points.
“These players have been through so much adversity,” Frese said. “That’s why we’ve been so resilient.”
The two teams each had 19 turnovers.
Clark was especially shaky, with 10 turnovers.
“Obviously forcing her into 10 turnovers was big,” Frese said.