The University of Maryland Terrapins defeated the AU women’s basketball team on Sunday 78-52 after the Eagles failed to shut down the Terps’ offense.
“We didn’t have much success slowing down Maryland’s transition offense early in the game,” Head Coach Matt Corkery told AU Athletics. “Combine that with our offensive struggles, and we got down early.”
The Eagles allowed Maryland to start out with an 8-0 lead in the first half before Alexis Dobbs hit a three-pointer. The next points for AU came from Lisa Strack, but not until after the Terps expanded their lead to 23-3 in the first four minutes.
With less than four minutes to play in the first half, Ashley Yencho took advantage of a free throw opportunity and Liz Leer and Dobbs also scored. Yencho further cut Maryland’s lead with a layup, narrowing the score to 32-16. The 7-0 streak by the Eagles was short lived, however, and the Terps scored 12 of the next 14 points.
The half ended with the Eagles down 44-20.
Things did not improve for the Eagles in the second half. The Terps further penetrated the AU defense by scoring an uninterrupted 11 points at the start of the second half. This streak was eventually stopped by a rebound and layup from Stephanie Anya with 13:10 remaining.
The Eagles did however produce an 8-2 run midway through the half. The game ended with a final score of 78-52.
Despite the loss, Dobbs and Strack both scored 13 points. Furthermore, Dobbs set a new career high in points as she went 4 for 10 shooting from the floor and 3 for 6 from deep. Strack also had five rebounds and went 4 for 8 shooting from the field.
Alyssa Thomas, who had 16 points, seven rebounds and four steals, carried the win for Maryland. The Terps shot 53.3 percent from the field while AU shot 29.3 percent. Maryland also had 40 rebounds to AU’s 29.
The Eagles hope to perform better next weekend in the three-day World Vision Classic in Lubbock, Texas. AU will play against Sam Houston State on Friday night followed by Texas Tech Saturday afternoon. They will wrap up the series against Charleston Southern on Sunday at 1 p.m.
sports@theeagleonline.com
