No. 5 Maryland women's basketball pounds Penn State, 89-53

Maryland women's basketball has been on a tear recently, winning their last three games by 18, 25 and 36 points, respectively.

The Terrapins (18-12, 7-1) led 21-12 after the first quarter, but Penn State used a 9-0 run over the first four minutes of the second quarter to tie the game. Maryland responded with a run of their own and that was all she wrote. The Terps went into the break with a 15-point lead. They pushed their advantage to 21 before the Nittany Lions got on the board in the second half. Penn State never got within 17 points the rest of the way and they trailed by 29 entering the fourth quarter. Only a late three-pointer kept Maryland from holding Penn State to their season-low in points.

Here are three things that we learned from the Maryland-Penn State game:

1) Brionna Jones was not only great, but efficient

Brionna Jones scored 17 points and had 12 rebounds. Just another day at the office for one of the best players in college basketball. Here's what made her performance special. She did all of that in just 19 minutes of action.

2) Maryland's depth was on full display tonight

Maryland scored 89 points as a team tonight, but only two players scored in double-digits. That is a pretty incredible statistic. The Terps played 12 players tonight and all but two of them scored. This is an incredibly talented and incredibly deep team. It is one of their greatest assets and will be invaluable come tournament time.

3) Shatori Walker-Kimbrough is on a tear

After torching Wisconsin for 22 points and tying a career-high with six three-pointers on 6-6 shooting, SWK nearly equaled that by going 5-7 from beyond the arc against Penn State. She was 8-11 from the field, finished with a game-high 25 points--just shy of her career-high of 26--and added five rebounds and five assists. Had she played in the last eight minutes of the game, she would have set a new career-high in points.

Walker-Kimbrough was named to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association Midseason Watch List earlier this week. If she keeps playing like this, she might be in the mix for the Women's National Player of the Year award at the end of the season.