No. 6 Maryland women cruise past Mount St. Mary's 106-42

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Maryland coach Brenda Frese wondered if her players were fully awake for their late morning tip-off against in-state foe Mount St. Mary's.

They had turnovers, breakdowns on defense and uncharacteristically missed open shots. However, it didn't take long for the No. 6 Terrapins to fix the problem. Brionna Jones finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds to help No. 6 Maryland rout the Mountaineers 106-42 on Friday.

Ieshia Small had 14 points off the bench for Maryland (3-0). Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, Kaila Charles and Jenna Staiti added 10 points apiece for the Terrapins, who shot 58 percent from the field.

"I thought we had a really slow, sluggish start," Frese said. "Our shots weren't falling and we weren't as crisp as we usually are. The second half was a much better indicator of how we want to play for 40 minutes."

The Mountaineers (1-2) trailed only 18-13 at the end of the first quarter. But the Terrapins used their size to take control. The 6-foot-3 Jones scored 12 points to boost the lead to 34-18 with 3:37 left in the second quarter.

"We have a lot of weapons on our team," Jones said. "Anybody can come off the bench and score. We're just going to keep playing our brand of basketball."

The Mountaineers tried to stay in the game by hoisting three-pointers, but they went 3 of 21 and trailed 37-20 at the break. They finished 7 of 32 from behind the arc.

A pair of free throws and layup by freshman Destiny Slocum boosted the margin to 57-25 midway through the third quarter, and the only uncertainty was whether Maryland would score 100 or more points for the third straight game.

A 3-pointer by Sarah Myers gave Maryland a 100-39 lead late in the fourth quarter.

Katrice Dickson led Mount St. Mary's with 12 points.

"I thought we played really well in the first quarter," Mountaineers coach Bryan Whitten. "We became very undisciplined on the offensive side in the second quarter. You give up 37 points in the first half, you think you're in a good spot."

BIG PICTURE

Mount St. Mary's: The Mountaineers started four guards to play uptempo and put their best shooters in the floor. The strategy worked early before the Terrapins did a better job protecting the ball and wearing them down.

Maryland: Frese is pleased with the quick start of her team, which has averaged 104 points in three games against much weaker programs. Her deep roster will help create matchup problems for most opponents this season.

FAB FRESHMAN

Maryland freshmen Destiny Slocum and Kaila Charles were in the starting lineup for the third consecutive game. Both played well enough to maintain those spots. Charles scored in double figures for the third time, and Slocum has seamlessly run the plays at point guard.

FINDING A HOME

The Mountaineers Mikal Johnson, a graduate transfer, is playing for her third college program. Johnson played two seasons at Rider, where she was a MAAC All-Rookie Team selection, and then one year at Liberty. After scoring in double figures in each of the first two games, Johnson had three points against Maryland.

UP NEXT

Mt. St. Mary's: The Mountaineers host Fairfield on Sunday.

Maryland: The Terrapins play at Niagara on Sunday in their first road trip.