PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Laurin Mincy had a successful homecoming to help Maryland stay unbeaten in the Big Ten.
Mincy scored a season-high 24 points to go with seven rebounds and six assists as the No. 8 Terrapins beat 24th-ranked Rutgers, 71-59, on Thursday night. It was the eighth consecutive win for the Terrapins (14-2, 5-0 Big Ten).
Mincy grew up about 20 minutes from Rutgers and was playing her first collegiate game in her home state.
“It felt really good obviously coming in here and having my family and friends here,” Mincy said. “I knew my teammates would fight for me tonight, luckily we came out with the win.”
The fifth-year senior tore an ACL her junior season or else she wouldn’t even had a chance to play in New Jersey.
“I wasn’t expecting to play here when I committed to Maryland,” Mincy said.
It was the third consecutive Big Ten road victory for Maryland against a top-25 team. The Terrapins, who also beat No. 17 Nebraska and No. 23 Minnesota, looked like they were going to cruise to another easy win as they built an 18-point lead in the first half before Rutgers rallied to tie it.
With Maryland leading 50-48, the Terrapins scored 16 of the next 20 points to take control of the game. Mincy had six points during the spurt; her layup made it 60-50 with 8:38 left and Rutgers couldn’t get within nine the rest of the way.
“This game was a battle, extremely physical,” said Maryland coach Brenda Frese. “Two aggressive teams that had to battle back and forth. I love that we could keep our poise and composure and extend our lead to help us through a lot of adversity and foul trouble.”
Kahleah Copper scored 16 to lead the Scarlet Knights (12-5, 3-3 Big Ten).
Brionna Jones had 12 points and 14 rebounds for Maryland. The sophomore finished three rebounds short of her career high set earlier this month against Purdue when she fouled out with just over a minute left.
Maryland jumped out quickly on Rutgers, scoring the first 10 points. Rutgers got on the board and trailed 11-5 before the Terrapins went on a 14-2 run to open up a 25-7 advantage. Mincy and Lexie Brown hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cap the burst.
Rutgers trailed 37-24 with 5:40 left in the half before going on a 12-3 run to close to 40-36 at the break.
This is the first meeting between the two conference newcomers. The two women’s basketball powers rarely have played recently, with Maryland winning the last matchup on Feb. 15, 2009.
While these two teams have played 32 times in their history, this was only the third meeting since Brenda Frese took over as head coach of the Terrapins in 2002.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.