No. 12 Maryland@No. 23 Minnesota
Sunday, 3 p.m.
TV: ESPN2
A 20-point lead was in peril of dipping below double figures for the 12th-ranked Maryland women's basketball team Thursday night. The open pockets in Purdue's defense that yielded uncontested jumpers in the first half were a distant memory, and fast-break scoring became a chore with the Boilermakers more attentive in transition.
Turns out the fix was rather easy. The Terps simply got the ball to center Brionna Jones (Aberdeen), who at 6 feet 3 provided a mismatch inside to which Purdue had few counters.
The sophomore's career-high 17 rebounds underscored Maryland's advantage on the low block, and her 16 points featured four consecutive field goals late in the second half that sparked an 88-64 victory at Xfinity Center in College Park.
"They had no answer for her," Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. "She was really aggressive on the glass. It was huge for us inside."
The Terps (12-2, 3-0) remained one of three unbeaten teams in the Big Ten after winning their sixth in a row to match a season high. The triumph sets up a showdown Sunday against No. 23 Minnesota, which also is perfect in conference play and where Frese was selected national Coach of the Year in 2001-02, her only season with the Gophers.
Four Terps scored in double figures, led by Shatori Walker-Kimbrough's 18 points. The sophomore forward has scored at least 15 points in six straight games, the longest such streak of her career. Redshirt senior guard Laurin Mincy added 16 points and was second behind Jones among the starters with five rebounds.
Included in Jones' low-post supremacy were nine offensive rebounds, two more than all of Purdue's players combined. Maryland had a 23-7 advantage in offensive rebounding and 49-28 overall on the way to a third consecutive victory against the Boilermakers and fifth in six meetings in series history.
Among the announced 4,272 who witnessed Jones collect eight points and 10 rebounds in the second half was Tianna Hawkins, who set the school record for rebounds in a game (24) as a senior in 2012. The Washington Mystics forward finished third in career rebounds at Maryland and offered Jones encouragement in the locker room at halftime.
"I just tried to get on the glass and get second opportunities for my team," Jones said. "I think I was pretty dominant tonight, but I think mostly that just comes from my teammates finding me when I was open and getting position so they could give me the ball."
Jones made back-to-back layups to give Maryland a 70-53 lead with 6:13 left in regulation, but a little more than four minutes earlier, the margin had shrunk to 11 courtesy of a 16-7 burst from the Boilermakers (9-6, 2-2). Forward Whitney Bays, who transferred to Purdue from Maryland after the 2011-12 season, scored eight of her game-high 19 points in the run.
Maryland followed with Walker-Kimbrough's jumper and Mincy's layup while being fouled. Mincy made the bonus free throw, and when junior forward Tierney Pfirman secured Walker-Kimbrough's feed and scored on a short jumper, Maryland was ahead 64-48.
"I thought we were really unselfish when you talk about our assist-to-turnover ratio and able to really utilize our depth," Frese said. "I thought our depth was a big difference in this game in terms of nine players played in the first half and being able to send waves out on the floor."
Reserve guard Chloe Pavlech figured prominently as part of the first-half reinforcements that helped bring Maryland back from an early deficit. The junior made a 3-pointer on her first field-goal attempt with 12:49 left until intermission that gave the Terps the lead for good, and she added another jumper to grow the spread to 23-18.
Pavlech's nine points on 3-for-3 shooting were her most points since 10 in a 109-45 win against Mount St. Mary's in the season opener.
"Coach B and I, we actually had a meeting yesterday, and I sort of told her basically I'll do what the team needs me to do," Pavlech said. "So I felt like in that moment we were really struggling offensively, and we couldn't get stops on defense. I knew we just needed a spark and just have to remember to make the most of my opportunities."
Massachusetts-Lowell 75, UMBC 62: The visiting Retrievers had three players finish in double-digit points in their America East opener, including a season-high 12 points from freshman Laura Castaldo, but UMBC shot 29.4 percent for the game and lost to the River Hawks.
The Retrievers (5-9, 0-1) led 27-24 with 3:55 to go in the first half before UMass-Lowell (7-7, 1-1) went on a 14-point run going into the break.
UMBC's Capree Garner just missed her first doubledouble of the year, finishing with 19 points and nine rebounds.
doubles, led by 26 points and 12 rebounds from Shannon Samuels. Lindsey Doucette added 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Jasmine McRoy had 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Men
Mount St. Mary's 82, Central Connecticut State 51: Chris Martin finished with 22 points on 8-for-14 shooting off the bench to lead the host Mount past the Blue Devils.
The Mountaineers (5-9, 1-2 Northeast Conference) shot 50.8 percent from the field, committed just four turnovers and outscored Central Connecticut State 42-16 in the paint. Byron Ashe scored 11, Andrew Smeathers added 10, and Junior Robinson had 10 points with five assists.
The Blue Devils (2-14, 0-3) were held to 31.6 percent from the field.
Drexel 55, Towson 41: Damion Lee scored seven of his 16 points in the final minutes to help the Dragons preserve their first Northeast Conference win of the season.
Drexel (3-11, 1-3) dropped its first two conference games at home, falling to Elon and William & Mary.
John Davis hit the second of two free throws with just under three minutes left to pull Towson (8-8, 1-2) within five, 44-39, but Lee made a 3 with 2:20 left to play and followed that up with a dunk to push the Drexel lead to 10 points, while the defense shut the Tigers down the rest of the way.