Thomas, No. 9 Maryland Women Defeat Miami, 67-52
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Miami couldn't overcome Maryland's size advantage and dropped further in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings.
Alyssa Thomas scored 18 points and a 48-20 rebounding advantage, 25-7 on the offensive glass, propelled the No. 9 Terrapins to a 67-52 win over the Hurricanes on Thursday night.
"They gave us a rebounding clinic, it was unbelievable," Miami coach Katie Meier said. "When they missed a shot it was like an assist. Their missed shot was a layup. We have to get some bigger bodies to combat a team with that much length."
The Hurricanes (12-12, 4-7ACC) fell behind 10-0 in the first 5:15 of the game, but rallied and tied it at 21-21 on Maria Brown's 3-point play with 6:35 remaining in the first half.
Maryland (20-4, 8-3) responded and outscored Miami 15-6 in the final 4:55 of the first half. Malina Howard's layup with 3 seconds remaining gave the Terrapins a 36-27 lead at halftime.
The Terrapins increased their halftime lead to 48-31 after Thomas' short jumper 3:38 into the second half.
Brionna Jones' layup with 12:53 remaining gave Maryland its first 20-point lead, at 51-31. Jones finished with 11 points and Tierney Pfirman was Maryland's third double-figure scorer with 10 points.
The Terrapins held the Hurricanes scoreless for a stretch of 7:42 in the second half until Sureya McGuire's short jumper with 11:36 left.
Adrienne Motley scored 12 points for the Hurricanes, who have lost five of the last six.
"We tried to box them, but with their length they just tipped it over us," Motley said. "That was the key tonight — the rebounding. They were killing us."
The Terrapins won their first game at Miami since 2009. The Hurricanes had home victories against Maryland the past two seasons.
"Us seniors we've never gotten a win down here," said Thomas, who also had 12 rebounds for her 19th double-double of the season. "That was a big focal point for us today — to come in and just give it our best."
"I thought it was a pretty complete game for us," Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. "We just did a tremendous job communicating on the floor."
Alicia DeVaughn, Maryland's senior starting center from neighboring West Palm Beach, scored nine points and had 11 rebounds, all in the second half.
"I loved how we dominated the glass," Frese said. "I thought we were able to use our size inside to our advantage."
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