No. 7 Maryland women’s basketball rallies to beat Purdue

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Saylor Poffenbarger had 17 points and 13 rebounds and Bri McDaniel scored 16 points off the bench to lead No. 7 Maryland women’s basketball to a 78-69 victory over Purdue on Saturday.

Kaylene Smikle scored 13 points and Shyanne Sellers added 12 for Maryland (10-0, 1-0 Big Ten). Christina Dalce had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Rashunda Jones scored 17 points, Reagan Bass had 16 and Destini Lombard added 15 for the Boilermakers (5-4, 0-1).

The Terps rallied after a slow start, hitting just 2 of 17 shots in the first quarter to fall behind 18-6. The Boilermakers led by as many as 16 points in the second quarter. Purdue shot 52% while holding Maryland to 29% to take a 38-29 lead at halftime.

“Conference play in the best league in the country,” coach Brenda Frese said. “Anyone can beat anyone on any given night. … I’ll never take a road win for granted, especially with our start.”

McDaniel hit a pull-up jumper with 2:24 left in the third quarter to give the Terps their first lead at 48-46. That capped an 8-0 run for Maryland, which led 55-52 after three quarters.

“I thought that Bri set the tone for us in that third quarter,” Frese said.

Purdue tied it at 55 before the Terps went on a 6-0 run to take the lead for good.

“It didn’t really surprise me because that’s Bri,” Poffenbarger said regarding McDaniel’s big second half. “Every day that she comes in, she shows up, she brings the energy, she’s going to give you everything she has.”