WBB: No. 7 Terps shoot down. No. 6 Iowa, 96-68

[TSR ScottGreene]

COLLEGE PARK, MD – No. 7 Maryland knocked down a season-high 14 three-pointers, including 10 in the first half as part of a 29-4 run, to blow out No. 6 Iowa, 96-68, on Tuesday night at XFINITY Center before 9,065 boisterous fans.

The win moves Maryland (23-5 overall) into a tie for second place in the Big Ten, with the Hawkeyes (22-6) as both teams at 14-3. The Terps have won 16 of their last 18 games, winning the last five in row. Maryland won its last nine home games of the season and finished the year 11-2 at XFINITY Center.

Briane Alexander was the story of the night as she led the Terps with a season-high 24 points as she made 6-of-9 from beyond the arc. Her six triples equaled the most by a Terp in any game this season – tying her own mark of six against Rutgers on Jan. 15.

Lavender Briggs also scored a season-high with 19 points, making a season-best 3-of-3 from three-point range.

Shyanne Sellers had a tremendous all-around game with 17 points, making 3-of-7 three-pointers, 10 rebounds and seven assists – as she had her second double-double of the season. Diamond Miller scored 16 for her 26th game in double-figures this season.

Maryland beat its sixth ranked opponent of the season and fourth Top-10 foe with wins over No. 6 UConn, No. 7 Notre Dame, No. 10 Ohio State along with victories over No. 13 Michigan and No. 17 Baylor.

The Terps are now tied with No. 2 Indiana for most wins over Top-10 teams this season as Maryland makes a push for a top seed in the NCAA Tournament. Maryland also has four Top-10 wins in the regular season for the first time since 1978-79.

Maryland took control of the game with that massive 29-4 run the spanned the last first quarter and early second quarter as they hit seven three-points in a span of nine minutes with Alexander canning four of them on the run.

The loss was Iowa's biggest of the season and the largest for the Hawkeyes since they lost by 32 in the 2019 NCAA Elite Eight to Baylor, 85-53. Maryland scored the most points against Iowa this season surpassing the previous high of 94 scored by NC State. It is the most Iowa has allowed since Maryland beat the Hawkeyes 104-84 on March 13, 2021.

Iowa's Caitlin Clark was limited to just 18 points as she made just 5-of-13 from the floor after she scored 42 against Maryland in their first meeting this season. Clark came into the game averaging 27.3 points per game.

Brenda's Take

" I can't say enough about this team and how they attacked the game tonight. That's what I love about this group, they took it to heart back when we went to Iowa and you just saw the focus and the intention tonight. I thought that second quarter was a thing of beauty. We saw the defensive game plan that we had practiced and offensively we were so unselfish and sharing the basketball."

Breaking Down The Action

• Iowa led 20-19 at the end of a face-paced first quarter as the teams were separated by no more than five points the entire quarter.
• Maryland opened the second quarter hot from three-point range as Alexander and Meyers each hit two triples and Briggs knocked down another in the first 4:30 to give the Terps a 36-22 lead thanks to a 14-0 run. The Terps hit 10 first-half three-pointers, making 10-of-20 to lead 46-28 at intermission. A run of 29-4 spanned nearly nine minutes bridging the two quarters as Alexander had 12 points in the spurt. Maryland led by 44-24, marking the largest deficit for Iowa this entire season, down 20 points. Clark was held to just eight first-half points as the Hawkeyes had their fewest points in the first half since they trailed Iowa State 28-23 on Dec. 7, 2022.
• In the third quarter, Maryland opened a lead as large as 24 points as Briggs scored five points in a row to put the Terps up 71-45 with two minutes left. The Terps led 73-49 after the third quarter.

Terps Beating Ranked, Top-10 Teams

• With the win over No. 6 Iowa on Sunday, the Terps are now 6-3 vs. ranked teams with wins over No. 6 UConn, No. 7 Notre Dame, No. 10 Ohio State, No. 13 Michigan, No. 17 Baylor.
• Maryland has four Top-10 wins in the regular-season for the first time since the 1978-79 campaign, when the Terps beat No. 3, NC State, No. 5 Tennessee, No. 3 UCLA and No. 6 LSU prior to the postseason.
• The last time the Terps had six Top-25 wins in the regular-season was in 2019-20 with wins over No. 17 Indiana, No. 18 Indiana, No. 19 Iowa, No. 22 Northwestern, No. 23 Michigan and No. 24 Michigan
• Since Brenda Frese took over in 2002-03, Maryland now has 91 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 29 wins over AP Top 10 teams, wth four this season.
• The Terrapins are now 91-73 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 stayed at 15th all-time in career scoring with 1,576 points. Next at No. 14 is Tianna Hawkins, who had 1,595 from 2010-13 before her WNBA career.
• Meyers now has 1,337 points in her career, with 947 in her three seasons of action at Princeton before joining the Terps this season.
• Three other Terps also have 1,000 career points: Lavender Briggs 1,154, Brinae Alexander 1,080 and Elisa Pinzan 1,015.

Double-Figures Update

• Alexander's season-high 24 points was her 10th game this season with double-figures and 52nd in 93 career college games.
• Briggs (season-high 19 points) had her seventh game with double-figures this season and 59th in her career.
• With 16 points, Miller reached double-figures for the 26th time in 27 games played this season. It was the 25th time she scored at least 20. She's recorded 10 points or more 81 times in her career of 110 games.
• Sellers scored 17 for her 23rd game this season with 10 or more and 36th time in her career. It was also her third career double-double and second this season with 10 rebounds.

B1G Time

• The Terps are now 197-53 (.788) all-time against their Big Ten opponents.
• Since joining the Big Ten in 2014-15, the Terrapins are 154-23 (.870) vs. their conference opponents, including their 19-3 record in the Big Ten Tournament.
• In the 21 years under Frese, the Terps are 167-27 (.861) against their Big Ten opponents.
• Frese is 180-32 (.853) all-time vs. Big Ten opponents, which includes her time at Minnesota and at Ball State.
• Since joining the league in 2014, Maryland is 73-6 (.924) against Big Ten teams at home.
• The Terrapins are also 136-9 (.938) 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 121-4 (.968) when holding their league opponents to 70 points or fewer.

Home Sweet Home

• The Terps are 593-139 (.810) all time in College Park, dating back to the inaugural 1971-72 season.
• Maryland is 299-44 (.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.

Series History

• Tuesday's matchup was the 16th all-time between Maryland and Iowa, with the Terps owning the series at 11-5.
• The Hawkeyes took their first meeting this year, 96-82, in Iowa City on Feb. 2.
• Maryland is 6-0 all-time vs. the Hawkeyes at XFINITY Center.
• Brenda Frese is now 12-4 vs. Iowa, her home state team.

Up Next

• Maryland closes its regular-season at No. 16 Ohio State on Friday, Feb . 24. That game tips at 6 p.m., and airs on Big Ten Network.