UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. — Ashley Owusu scored a career-high 34 points and grabbed eight rebounds, Diamond Miller added 17 points and No. 14 Maryland beat Penn State, 96-82, in women’s basketball Thursday for its ninth straight win in the series.
Owusu, the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year, was 15 of 22 from the field to help Maryland shoot 50% (38 of 76). She had 18 points and seven boards in the first half, including five points in a closing 9-2 run to give the Terps a 48-39 lead at the break.
Owusu scored eight points in the third quarter and again in the fourth as Maryland’s second-half lead never dropped below seven points. She added two steals, a block and an assist and far exceeded her previous career high of 25 points, which she scored earlier this month against Towson.
“Ashley just picked up where she left off with [James Madison]. She was so aggressive and set the tone for us on both ends of the floor,” Terps coach Brenda Frese said. “We were able to feed off of her.”
Owusu tied WNBA standouts Kristi Toliver and Crystal Langhorne, as well as Tara Heiss, for 11th on the Maryland single-game scoring list. The Terps record is 42 points by Brionna Jones (Aberdeen) in 2017 and Marissa Coleman in 2009.
Owusu’s 34 points are the most scored by a Terps sophomore since Langhorne scored 34 against Baylor in 2006.
Maryland has also scored 90 points or more in five straight games, the longest stretch at any point in program history, according to the Big Ten Network. That includes three games of 100 or more points.
“Just really, really proud of our effort and enthusiasm that we played with today,” Frese said. “You saw we had to shake off some rust with the great break we had at Christmas, as well as not playing a game in 12 days. It was something I was kind of expecting. I loved our effort and energy. When they made runs on us, it never fazed us. We were able to keep making plays for each other.”
Chloe Bibby had 13 points and eight rebounds and Faith Masonius scored 11 for Maryland (6-1, 2-0 Big Ten).
Freshman Maddie Burke led Penn State (3-3, 0-2) with a season-high 24 points, and Kelly Jekot had her third double double of the season with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Burke hit seven of 14 3-pointers for the most single-game makes by a PSU player since 2017. Jekot made all 10 of her free-throw attempts.
Thursday’s matchup was the Terps’ first since Dec. 19. Next up is No. 20 Indiana on Monday. The Lady Lions are scheduled to face No. 18 Ohio State on Monday.
NO. 20 INDIANA@NO. 14 MARYLAND
Monday, 7 p.m.
TV: ESPN2