Illini women fall short to Maryland in quarterfinals of Big Ten Tournament
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Diamond Miller had 14 points, nine rebounds and five assists to drive No. 5 Maryland past Illinois 73-58 in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday night.
Abby Meyers added 14 points and five rebounds, and Lavender Briggs scored 11 points for the Terrapins (25-5), who won their seventh straight game and will play No. 7 Iowa in the semifinals on Saturday afternoon.
No. 2 Indiana faces No. 14 Ohio State in the first semifinal at Target Center, the first-time host of this tournament. The championship game is on Sunday afternoon.
Maryland's 94-68 victory over Iowa on Feb. 21 was the worst loss of the season for the Hawkeyes. Iowa's fans helped set a Big Ten Tournament record for a quarterfinal game with an announced crowd of 8,577.
Makira Cook had 19 points, Genesis Bryant added 17 points, Adalia McKenzie scored 12 points and Kendall Bostic pitched in 10 points and 16 rebounds for the Illini (22-9), who fell to 0-14 all-time against the Terrapins.
Maryland, which is in its ninth season in the Big Ten, is 20-3 all-time in the conference tournament.
Bryant's layup late in the first quarter gave Illinois a 16-11 lead, but Maryland used a 22-4 surge over the next 7:42 to take command. Miller made a sneaky high-low pass to a wide-open Meyers underneath, where she flipped in a backward layup for a 30-20 lead.
Miller is the Big Ten's third-leading scorer behind Iowa's Caitlin Clark and Indiana's Mackenzie Holmes. Cook is fourth.
The most experienced member of coach Brenda Frese's program, Miller was joined by nine new players this season. Meyers and Briggs are both transfers, as is the fourth senior starter Brinae Alexander. The Terrapins have rounded into form deftly down the stretch, with one loss — 96-82 at Iowa on Feb. 2 — in their last 13 games.
The Illini, whose best win was over Iowa at home on Jan. 1, must wait nine days to find out their placement in their NCAA Tournament. As the sixth-place team in this particularly loaded league, they're a sure bet to make the tourney for the first time in two decades. Under first-year coach Shauna Green, the Illini posted their first winning record since 2012-13.
Bryant, who's the second-leading 3-point shooter in the conference at 42.3% coming into the game, went 2 for 6 from deep. Illinois didn't have a single point off the bench.