MIAMI — A quick turnaround seems to favor No. 8 Maryland, which routed CS—Bakersfield 114-83 on Saturday with its largest margin of victory in nearly six years.
Laurin Mincy scored 23 points to lead the Terrapins, who beat Florida International on Friday night in the first two games in the last 24 hours.
“What we get out of these two games is we can play having a quick turnaround,” Mincy said.
The margin of victory was Maryland’s largest since a 118-59 rout of Appalachian State on Dec. 1, 2005.
The Terrapins (7-0) withstood a run by CS-Bakersfield midway through the first half and outscored the Roadrunners 11-2 in the final 3:54. Tianna Hawkins scored six points in a row during the spurt, and her layup with 5 seconds remaining gave Maryland a 53-41 halftime lead.
Hawkins finished with 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting and had 10 rebounds. Brene Mosley scored all 17 of her points in the second half for the Terrapins (7-0). Six Maryland players finished in double figures
“I was concerned coming in, but it didn’t impact us at all, given the type of depth that we have,” Maryland coach Brenda Frese said of her team’s two quick games. “It’s great for us to be in these types of environments, because we’re going to face this in ACC (tournament) play.”
Maryland was never threatened in the second half as the Terrapins increased their lead to 72-52 on Alyssa Thomas’ two free throws with 14:41 remaining.
Tyonnna Outland and Lauren Carter scored 15 points apiece for CS-Bakersfield (2-4).
“Our girls fought really hard,” CSU Bakersfield coach Greg McCall said. “We knew they were going to pound us inside, but we did a good job of attacking.”
Alicia DeVaughn’s short jumper with 5:17 remaining gave the Terrapins their first 30-point lead at 99-69.
“With our balanced scoring right now it’s going to be difficult who you’re going to defend,” Frese said.
Maryland had 25 offensive rebounds that resulted in a 35-5 advantage in second chance points.
“We saw that we had the advantage with the size, and we had to attack the glass,” Hawkins said. “It really worked for us.”
CS-Bakersfield overcame a 14-point first half deficit and got within one after a 20-8 spurt during a 4:32 stretch. Kristine Herman’s jumper with 7:25 remaining capped the run and reduced Maryland’s lead to 34-33.
“When we got to one, our adrenaline was really up,” Carter said. “We did a good job of coming back, but they were too strong and made it a point to keep going inside against us.”
Lynetta Kizer scored six points, and Mincy hit two 3-pointers that sparked the Terrapins to a 14-4 lead in the first 4:04. Mincy’s third 3-pointer of the half with 13:21 remaining increased Maryland’s lead to 23-9.
’’As a team we did a great job of warming up earlier,” Mincy said. “My teammates found me and had me in the right spots to be successful.”
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