Mikesell leads No. 8 Terps past Delaware
The No. 8 Maryland women’s basketball team needed to erase a 19-point deficit in the fourth quarter to escape Wednesday’s game at James Madison with a victory.
Taylor Mikesell and the Terps made sure Sunday’s matchup in College Park with Delaware wasn’t nearly so stressful.
Mikesell matched her career high with 23 points and Maryland never trailed in a 99-55 rout of the Blue Hens.
“I thought the quick start, especially defensively, was a big improvement for us,” coach Brenda Frese said of the Terps’ first outing since a 70-68 defeat of JMU.
Ashley Owusu and Blair Watson both had 12 points for Maryland (3-1).
Maryland quickly achieved separation in the first quarter. Mikesell hit a 3-pointer and Watson added two more — all in a span of 53 seconds — to give the Terps a 20-4 lead and cap an 18-2 run. Delaware never cut the deficit to less than 11 the rest of the way and trailed 57-24 at halftime.
Mikesell had 10 points in the first quarter to spur the strong start. She finished with four rebounds and three steals and tied her career high with five 3-pointers.
“I love where Taylor’s at right now,” Frese said. “She’s taken great pride at both ends of the floor. She understands — and she’s gotten it quicker than most — how we want to play.”
Sunday also provided Mikesell the chance to get back on track after shooting 4 of 15 over the Terps’ last two games. She was 8-for-12 from the field against the Blue Hens.
“Just not think about,” Mikesell said of shrugging off the mini-slump. “Just play the game the right way and play through my teammates and know it’s going to come back to me.”
The Blue Hens (0-3) struggled with their ball-handling throughout the game, committing 25 turnovers, leading to 41 Maryland points. Former Florida guard Tee Johnson led Delaware with 15 points.
“You have to play a near-perfect game when you’re playing against them, and at home that’s just an added bonus for them,” Blue Hens coach Natasha Adair said. “We will live to fight another day. It’s the third game of the year, so we’ll learn from this.”
Maryland improved to 13-0 against Delaware.
Nebraska-Omaha 70, Morgan State 64: Claire Killian scored 21 points to lift the host Mavericks (2-3) over the Bears (2-3).
Chelsea Mitchell scored 20 points, Dahnye Redd had 13, Dezyree Morales added 12 and Jihayah Chavis chipped in 11 for Morgan State, which plays at Marshall on Thursday.
UNC-Greensboro 86, UMES 48: Alexus Wiley scored 18 points to help the host Spartans (2-2) beat the Hawks (1-3).
Bairesha Gill-Miles scored 13 points for UMES, which plays at Virginia Tech on Tuesday.
Men
Northern Kentucky, Coppin State 70: Dantez Walton tossed a career-high 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds, Tyler Sharpe scored 23 and Northern Kentucky defeated Coppin State.
Karl Harris added 14 points and three blocks for the Norse (3-1).
Kamar McKnight had 18 points for the Eagles (1-4), who play at Pacific on Tuesday. Dejuan Clayton scored 15, while Koby Thomas contributed 14 points and nine rebounds.
The Norse shot 48% from the floor and 40% (14 of 35) from 3-point range. Coppin State shot 39% overall but just 19% (5for-26) from distance.
Loyola Maryland 84, Fairfield 75, OT: Andrew Kostecka scored 31 points, Kenneth Jones added 19 and the host Greyhounds (2-2) beat the Stags (1-3) in overtime.
Jesus Cruz and Landon Taliaferro each had 17 points for Fairfield.