Terps snap Iowa's 25-game home win streak

IOWA CITY — Other than the deep chill, Brenda Frese's homecoming couldn't have gone more smoothly.

Eighth-ranked Maryland led from tip to final horn and dominated No. 23 Iowa, 76-56, in a Big Ten women's basketball game in front of a season-high crowd of 7,776 Sunday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

'I can't say enough about coming home,' said Frese, a 1988 graduate of Cedar Rapids Washington. 'Having a lot of family and friends at the game, that's what it's all about. Obviously, road wins are very difficult.'

The Terrapins (14-2 overall, 3-1) made this one look easy. They shot to an eight-point lead shortly after the first media timeout and gradually pulled away.

'We played for Coach,' said Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, who led all scorers with 19 points. 'We wanted to put on a show for her.'

Iowa (12-4, 2-2) was never really in it, and the Hawkeyes' 25-game home winning streak ended quietly.

'We've got to take care of the ball better, we have to shoot the ball better than we did today,' Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said. 'Eight assists and 16 turnovers, that's not Iowa basketball.'

Three days earlier, the Hawkeyes seemed on their way to their first 3-0 Big Ten start under Bluder before squandering a 17-point lead at Michigan.

Now, Bluder said, 'We've got to right the ship.'

There was no turning point, no determining moment in this one. Maryland was just the better team.

Down 11-3 midway through the first period, Iowa worked its way within 22-18 on Ally Disterhoft's 18-footer with 7:40 left in the second quarter. But Maryland responded with six straight points, on a three-point play by Brianna Fraser and a 3-point shot by Brene Moseley, to up the advantage to 10.

And that's about where it stayed for the rest of the half. Maryland led, 40-30, at intermission.

The final, killer blow came in the third quarter, a seven-point run that made it 56-39.

Brionna Jones added 15 points and 11 rebounds for the winners. Kristen Confoy tacked on 11, and the Terrapins registered 27 bench points.

Disterhoft and Megan Gustafson scored 14 points apiece to pace the Hawkeyes. Gustafson grabbed nine rebounds.

'I thought Megan played her heart out against (Jones),' Bluder said.

Whitney Jennings added 10 points.

Frese was making her second appearance at Carver as an opposing head coach. She brought her 2001-02 Minnesota team here, and won. The Terrapins landed in Cedar Rapids on Saturday, then drove to Frese's girlhood home.

'It was an amazing experience to see all her old pictures and videos,' Jones said. 'She played with the same energy in which she coaches.'

The Hawkeyes face two road games this week — at Wisconsin on Wednesday and at Michigan State on Saturday.

'These two losses, they need to add fuel to our fire,' Gustafson said. 'We've got to get back to Iowa basketball — high assists and low turnovers.'

Disterhoft said, 'We need to focus on making smarter passes. It's something we can fix.'

MARYLAND 76, IOWA 56

At Iowa City

MARYLAND (76): Brionna Jones 6-11 3-5 15, Malina Howard 0-1 1-2 1, Kristen Confroy 4-8 0-0 11, Chloe Pavlech 1-4 0-0 3, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough 7-15 3-5 19, Aja Ellison 0-0 0-0 0, Kiah Gillespie 0-1 0-0 0, Kiara Leslie 0-0 0-0 0, Brene Moseley 3-7 2-4 9, Tierney Pfirman 4-9 0-0 9, A'Lexus Harrison 0-0 0-0 0, Brianna Fraser 4-6 1-1 9. Totals 29-62 10-17 76.

IOWA (56): Kali Peschel 1-4 2-2 4, Chase Coley 0-4 1-2 1, Alexa Kastanek 1-7 2-2 5, Ally Disterhoft 5-10 3-6 14, Whitney Jennings 5-9 0-0 10, Claire Till 0-1 0-0 0, Megan Gustafson 5-11 4-6 14, Tania Davis 2-5 0-14, Hannah Stewart 0-0 0-2 0, Christina Buttenham 1-3 0-0 2, Tagyn Larson 0-0 0-0 0, Hailey Schneden 0-0 0-0 0, Nicole Smith 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 21-55 12-21 56.

Halftime: Maryland 40, Iowa 30. 3-point goals: Maryland 8-15 (Confroy 3-4, Pavlech 1-3, Walker-Kimbrough 2-4, Gillespie 0-1, Moseley 1-2, Pfirman 1-1), Iowa 2-11 (Peschel 0-1, Kastanek 1-6, Disterhoft 1-2, Jennings 0-1, Buttenham 0-1). Team fouls: Maryland 23, Iowa 17. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Maryland 37 (Jones 11), Iowa 38 (Gustafson 9). Assists: Maryland 16 (Pavlech 5), Iowa 8 (Kastanek 3). Steals: Maryland 9 (Jones 4), Iowa 5 (Coley, Jennings 2). Turnovers: Maryland 11, Iowa 16.

Attendance: 7,776.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com