Maryland women’s basketball vs. Arizona State final score, with 3 things to know from the Terps’ 83-42 win

Maryland women’s basketball started its season with four wins against mid-major opponents, but things were supposed to get tougher this weekend at the South Point Shootout.

Instead, the No. 6 Terps throttled No. 23 Arizona State 83-42 in Las Vegas on Friday.

This game was never close. Maryland opened on a 10-0 run, then scored eight more unanswered points after finally allowing a bucket. The Terps led 24-4 after the first quarter. Arizona State went 1-for-9 in the opening frame with nine turnovers.

Maryland kept its foot on the gas in the second quarter, outscoring the Sun Devils 23-9 and taking a 47-13 lead into the half. The 13 points are the fewest Maryland has allowed in a half this regular season. Shatori Walker-Kimbrough outscored Arizona State by herself in the first 20 minutes, 16-13. Brionna Jones added 10 points and nine rebounds at the break.

Understandably, the second half wasn’t as lopsided. The Terps rolled out their second unit for chunks of it, and the backups hung with Arizona State. Maryland still won the half by seven, and although the 83-point total is the Terps’ lowest of the year, the 41-point margin isn’t, which is quite surprising considering Arizona State entered this game ranked.

Walker-Kimbrough finished with 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting; Jones chipped in 14 with 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the year. Destiny Slocum and Kaila Charles reached 10 points early in the second half, while Brianna Fraser finished with 11.

Freshman Reili Richardson led Arizona State with 12 points but shot just 4-of-12 from the field. No Sun Devil finished with more than five rebounds, and the entire team recorded just six assists.

Maryland won’t have to sit on 5-0 for long, as the Terps play Washington State at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

Three things to know

1. The Terps played a ranked team and still dominated. Arizona State reached the Pac-12 title game and earned a 2-seed in the tournament a season ago, and returned three starters. It didn’t matter at all.

2. Maryland patrolled the paint. The Terps grabbed 47 rebounds to Arizona State’s 28, and scored 56 points in the paint while allowing just 20. Maryland had more offensive rebounds (17) than Arizona State had defensive boards (16).

3. Turnovers are still a bit of an issue. Maryland had 14 giveaways, and even though it more than made up for that by forcing 20 turnovers, there’s still room for improvement. Slocum coughed it up five times, four of which came in the first half. It didn’t matter much on Friday, but giveaways could haunt the Terps eventually.