Posted February 14, 2014

By LONELLE LEWIS

The No. 9 ranked Maryland Terrapins (20-4, 8-3 ACC) women’s basketball team was physically too much for the Miami Hurricanes (12-12, 4-7 ACC) and beat the hosts 67-52 at the BUC Thursday night. This win extends the Terrapins winning streak to four.

Maryland’s seniors have never won in Miami, so they came into the game wanting a win.

Forward Alyssa Thomas expressed her thoughts on winning on the road against the Hurricanes for the first time in her career.

“It was all about being poised. We punched them in the mouth early.”

Thomas came into the game leading the nation in double-doubles. She led the team with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

The Terrapins went on 12-0 run until 14:43 of the first half. Center Brionna Jones paced Maryland at that point with eight points. Not wanting to be shown up at home, the Canes started to score quickly.

Freshman guard Adrienne Motley who came into the game averaging 26.5 points in her last two games, tried to get her team involved early. Motley scored six points to make the score 19-13 with 9:30 left in the first half.

Surprisingly, the Canes played with a lot of energy early on as if the Terrapins were not the No. 9 ranked team in the nation. The game was tied at 21 with 6:37 remaining in the first half.

Miami’s defensive presence was felt as the Canes caused several charges. Capitalizing on these charges, the Hurricanes were able to penetrate to the basket on almost every drive.

Maryland ended the first half with a key layup from center Malina Howard before the buzzer, making the score 36-27. At that point, Motley had scored 10 points and looked like her streak of 20-plus games would stay alive.

The Terrapins came out hot in the second half as guard Lexie Brown knocked down a three-pointer on the first possession. At the beginning of the quarter it was like a war as both teams went shot for shot.

Fans were into the game as they caused the referees to overturn a few plays in the second half.

The problem for the Hurricanes was their inability to box out the taller Terrapins. Maryland came into the game leading the ACC with a plus 11.7 rebounding margin over their opponents.

Terrapins Coach Brenda Frese had this to say about her team’s rebounding efforts.

“Love the way we dominated the glass. Defense and rebounding was key for us.”

The problem was evident throughout the game as the smaller Hurricanes vowed to the coach that they they boxed out.

Hurricane Coach Katie Meier doubted that her team boxed out and said that she will go back and look at the game video. She also stated that she needed to recruit taller players to compete against teams with size like Maryland.

“They gave us a rebounding clinic. That length inside was a problem for us. Their missed shots were like assists. They converted shots off of their rebounds.”

The Terrapins also whipped the ball around on offense, which threw the Canes off defensively.

As the Terrapins led 48-31 with 15:58 left in the second half, Canes fans were out of the game. The only fan who was visibly into the game was the mascot, Sebastian. He was seen doing the famous dance, the “Twist.”

Miami has handled adversity all year, but could not overcome the Terrapins size and strength. Maryland carried a 17-4 run through the first eight minutes of the second half and would never look back.

The Canes were simply overpowered and a smaller team. Terrapins maintained at least a 15-point lead throughout the second half.

Whether it was fighting for rebounds or diving for loose balls, the Terrapins showed they were the better team on this day.

Up next for the Terrapins is Monday against No. 5 ranked Duke. The Canes look to bounce back in a Sunday away game at rival Florida State.