Maryland women’s basketball routs George Washington, 69-30

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Maryland women’s basketball, having won its previous two games by a combined 68 points, had another day of domination, completely eviscerating the George Washington Colonials, 69-30.

Brianna Fraser had one her best games in a Maryland uniform, sitting atop the scoring leaderboard with 16 points on the night. The senior was incredibly efficient, making seven of her nine shots from the floor and sinking both free throws. Kaila Charles and Taylor Mikesell had solid days offensively once again, rounding out the double-digit scorers with 12 and 11 points, respectively, on 10-of-18 shooting combined.

George Washington couldn’t hit a shot to save its life, shooting a horrid 17.5 from the floor and 23.8 percent from deep; were it not for some garbage-time baskets late in the fourth quarter, those figures would’ve been much worse. The Colonials went long spans without hitting a single field goal, two of which lasted over 10 minutes.

Charles scored the first points of the game on a layup, but George Washington came out firing right after. Kelsi Maloney hit a pair of threes in 36 seconds to put the Colonials up 6-2. However, from that point on, the Terps controlled in every way imaginable. Over the next five minutes, they went on a 13-2 run led by Fraser. The senior scored eight points in the first quarter alone, and didn’t miss a single shot. By the end of the first 10 minutes, Maryland held a 18-8 lead.

The second quarter was even more dominating than the first. The Terrapins scored the first seven points of the quarter to jump out to a 17-point lead. At the 5:32 mark of the second quarter, George Washington hit its first field goal in over 10 minutes of game time. However, that wasn’t enough to spark the offense. Maryland continued its onslaught, closing the second quarter on a 15-2 run over the final five-plus minutes. Like the game as a whole, it was the Charles and Fraser show. The duo combined for 11 of the final 13 points in the half.

Coming out of the break, any hope that George Washington could make a run to make things close was squashed quickly. Maryland failed to score in the first two minutes of the third quarter, but once the lid was taken off the basket, the devastating beatdown was on. George Washington failed to score for the first eight-plus minutes of the period, and Maryland scored 10 points of its own to increase its lead to 35 points and outscored the Colonials 14-3 overall in the quarter.

Maryland took its foot off the pedal late, allowing the Colonials to make the final score a bit more respectable in the final minutes. Still, Maryland was able to win by 39 points in the end, and that was despite a 9-4 George Washington run to close it out.

The Terrapins will face their first true test on Sunday night, as they’ll travel to South Carolina for a battle against the No. 10-ranked Gamecocks. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET and can be watched on ESPN.

Three things to know

1. Maryland’s defense was smothering. It was one of the best performances in recent history for the Terrapins, who held the Colonials to an almost-impossibly low total of 30 points. Thanks to a combination of quick closeouts on the perimeter and a stifling defensive presence in the post, Maryland held George Washington to just 10-of-57 shooting from the floor and a 5-of-21 mark from long range.

2. The Terrapins had their shooting woes as well. As the relatively low point total would suggest, Maryland wasn’t remarkable on the offensive end. The Colonials live on their defense, but it was still a rough showing by the Terps nonetheless. Their .463 fieldgoal percentage was fine, but they shot a ghastly 2-of-16 from beyond the arc.

3. Brianna Fraser showed out. After just nine points combined in her first two games, Fraser took advantage of a George Washington team that desperately lacks size and coasted on the way to a 16-point outing. Fraser’s finishing inside was impressive, and the senior also showcased a midrange jumper that took the Colonials by surprise on multiple occasions.