FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Jewell Loyd had 27 points, eight rebounds and six assists and No. 2 Notre Dame quickly jumped to a 24-point lead and cruised to a 92-72 victory over No. 15 Maryland on Wednesday night in a rematch of an NCAA tournament semifinal from last season.
Just like in the semifinal game, which the Fighting Irish won by 26 points, Notre Dame (8-0) took control early and the Terrapins (6-2) never seriously threatened as they lost in their first appearance as a Big Ten member in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
The Irish dominated even though freshman Brianna Turner, their second-leading scorer at 15.3 points, left less than four minutes into the game with an apparent shoulder injury and never returned.
Lexie Brown and Laurin Mincy had 20 points each for Maryland and Kristen Confroy added 14.
Loyd scored eight points, two of the baskets coming on fast breaks during a 10-0 run as the Terrapins missed 12 straight shots and the Irish opened a 21-6 lead.
Maryland made just 29 percent of its shots in the first half while the Irish shot 59 percent and extended the lead to 37-13 on a pair of free throws by Markisha Wright with 4:02 left in the half.
PHOTOS: Loyd leads No. 2 Irish to 92-72 win over Maryland
Maryland cut the halftime lead to 47-27.
Taya Reimer added 21 points for the Irish. Michaela Mabrey had 11 and Lindsay Allen, who is from Mitchellville, Maryland, about 10 miles from the Maryland campus, had 10 points and six rebounds.
Loyd added seven points during a 14-0 run in the second half that extended the lead to 70-37. She started the run with a pair of free throws, and then Mabrey hit back-to-back 3-pointers.
Kathryn Westbeld then converted three free throws and Loyd capped the spurt with an acrobatic layup while being fouled by Confroy and made the free throw to complete a three-point play.
Notre Dame played its first off-site home game in the 38-year history of having a women’s team because the men’s team was hosting No. 19 Michigan State.
Maryland, the preseason pick to win the Big Ten, lost its second straight. It dropped out of the top 10 after a 70-64 loss to Washington State at the San Juan Shootout.
TIP-INS:
With the win, Notre Dame now leads the all-time series with five victories in nine games. … Maryland was 7-0 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge as an ACC member. … Notre Dame extended its home winning streak to 34 games because even though the game against Maryland was 90 miles from campus it counted as a home game.
UP NEXT:
Notre Dame: Plays No. 3 Connecticut at home on Saturday in a rematch of last year’s championship game, which the Huskies won 79-58.
Maryland: Plays Towson at home on Sunday.
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