Alaysia Styles scored 15 points off the bench to lead a balanced attack as No. 8 Maryland routed Northwestern 85-52 on Friday in the semifinals of the Big Ten women’s basketball tournament.
The top-seeded Terrapins (23-2) will face the winner between sixth-seeded Iowa and seventh-seeded Michigan State in Saturday’s championship game.
The Maryland bench held a 36-14 edge over Northwestern. Also cracking double figures for Maryland were Chloe Miller with 13 points, Ashley Owusu 12, and Faith Masonius 11. Mimi Collins and Angel Reese each had 10 points for the Terrapins and Reese had a team-high 11 rebounds.
Maryland shot 59% from the field and held fifth-seeded Northwestern (15-8) to 30%.
Veronica Burton had 14 points and six assists for the Wildcats and Jordan Hamilton added 10 points.
Maryland used a 22-2 run, including 18 unanswered points, in the last 6:33 of the second quarter to take a 49-24 halftime advantage. The Terrapins made 9 of 11 shots in the second quarter while the Wildcats were 3 of 13 from the field.
The Terrapins’ game-changing spurt came with leading scorer Owusu on the bench for the entire period. Owusu returned to score seven points in the third quarter as Maryland expanded its lead to 70-38 after three quarters.
The Terrapins also beat Northwestern 62-50 on the road on Feb. 28.
BIG PICTURE
Northwestern: After getting a boost for a better NCAA Tournament slot by beating No. 13 Michigan in Thursday’s quarterfinals, the Wildcats likely squandered that with the blowout loss.
Maryland: The Terps strengthened their bid for a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. A No. 1 seed is a possibility if they can win the Big Ten championship.