Katie Benzan made a floater with 11.8 seconds to play to put Maryland up by three and the No. 13 Terrapins held on for a 67-64 victory over No. 10 Indiana on Friday night when Nicole Cardano-Hillary missed everything on a shot from the right wing.
Angel Reese scored 20 points with 16 rebounds for the Terps, who led almost the entire game and finally held off the slumping Hoosiers. Indiana (19-7, 11-5 Big Ten) lost for the fourth time in five games to close the regular season. Maryland (21-7, 13-4) had an eight-game winning streak snapped in a loss to Michigan last weekend, but the Terps rebounded despite the absence of guard Ashley Owusu, who was out with an illness.
Benzan handled much of the ball-handling in Owusu’s absence, and she finished with 10 points and six assists. Maryland led by four heading into the fourth quarter, and Indiana couldn’t get the lead lower than that until Cardano-Hillary’s 3-pointer with 34.4 seconds to play — her first basket of the game after eight misses.
With the score 65-64, Benzan slipped free in close and scored, meaning the Hoosiers needed a 3 to tie. Maryland did a good job making it tough on Indiana’s final possession, and the Hoosiers were running out of time when Cardano-Hillary tossed up an air ball.
Grace Berger led Indiana with 16 points. Diamond Miller scored 16 points for Maryland.
Indiana took a 2-0 lead, and that was the only time the Hoosiers were ahead. Shyanne Sellers made a 3-pointer to put Maryland up 19-8 late in the first quarter, and a 3 by Chloe Bibby made it 35-23 in the second.
Indiana closed the half on a 9-2 run and trailed 37-32, but Maryland returned the favor with an 8-2 run to start the third.
BIG PICTURE
Indiana: The Hoosiers are struggling at the wrong time. They certainly had their chances to overtake Maryland in the final quarter, but their offense wasn’t up to the task.
Maryland: This was a big win for the Terps, who had lost five consecutive games against top-10 opponents. Included in that stretch was an overtime defeat against Indiana on Jan. 2.
UP NEXT
Each team awaits its seeding in the Big Ten Tournament.
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Follow Noah Trister at https://www.twitter.com/noahtrister
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More AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
