COLLEGE PARK — With her No. 5 Maryland women's basketball team frantically trying to protect a slim lead in the final minutes Sunday afternoon, coach Brenda Frese had one simple directive: Get the ball to Lexie Brown.
The sophomore point guard embraced the demanding circumstances by scoring seven of the Terps' final eight points to cap her best scoring performance of the season in a 93-88 victory over No. 20 Iowa at Xfinity Center. Brown shot 7-for-11 from the field and 8-for-9 from the foul line, finishing with 26 points.
Six of those free throws came in the final 1:28, helping to push the Terps' winning streak to 13 games. Maryland (19-2, 10-0) remains the only unbeaten team in the Big Ten Conference and has the inside track for the top seed in the conference tournament.
The Terps have a two-game lead over second-place Iowa (17-4, 8-2), but the margin is essentially three, since the teams don't play again in the regular season. Maryland already has defeated the other two ranked teams in the conference — No. 15 Nebraska and No. 22 Rutgers — on the road this season and will play them at home over the final eight regular-season games.
Asked afterward about remaining composed with the game on the line, Brown said: "Really making sure no one knows I'm freaking out on the inside. I mean, I wouldn't say I was freaking out on the inside, but if I ever am, I don't want anybody to ever know. The main goal is to get the best shot possible. In this game, it happened to be my layup."
Trailing for most of the game, Maryland took the lead for good, 74-72, when sophomore guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough hit a turnaround jumper in the lane with 7:12 left in regulation. Brown followed with her fourth 3-pointer, and redshirt senior guard Laurin Mincy added one of two foul shots before Hawkeyes coach Lisa Bluder called timeout.
Iowa got within 86-84 on a pair of free throws by Ally Disterhoft (team-high 22 points) with 1:03 to play. Twenty-five seconds later, with the shot clock in single digits, Brown weaved through the lane to convert a scoop shot amid several defenders. Brown then stepped into a passing lane for a steal as the Hawkeyes were trying to cross half court.
Iowa fouled Brown, who made both free throws with 30 seconds to play, and the margin never got closer than two possessions over the rest of the game.
"'Big Shot Brown' down the stretch, in terms of the confidence she had, the big steal at the end," Frese said, referring to Brown's teammate-provided nickname. "Just that kind of energy from the team is what it was going to take."
Maryland faced its largest deficit in any conference game this season when it fell behind 19-9 early in the first half. The Hawkeyes made their first four 3-pointers, two by Melissa Dixon, while using a 2-3 zone to limit inside touches.
The Terps climbed back, though, thanks to a 14-7 burst that featured consecutive 3-pointers by freshman guard Kristen Confroy and Brown, who picked up two early fouls that limited her first-half minutes. Sophomore center Brionna Jones (Aberdeen) also had two fouls in the first half, playing just nine minutes, but finished with 19 points and 15 rebounds for her third straight doubledouble.
Walker-Kimbrough gave the Terps their first lead, 39-38, by collecting a bounce pass from Confroy on a fast break and making the layup with about two minutes left in the first half. Maryland trailed at halftime for just the second time this season, 45-44, but got a lift out of the locker room from Jones, who scored 12 straight points.
"Give credit to Maryland," Bluder said. "I thought they played a great game, obviously. Brenda's done a wonderful job with this basketball team."