On #21 Maryland's first possession of the game, Senior guard Lori Bjork nailed a three-pointer from the top of the arc that set the tone for the night. Bjork, who sat out last season after transferring from Illinois, finished with 10 points and 6 rebounds. The Lady Terps took a 41-20 point lead into halftime before cruising to an 88-39 win over the North Carolina Central Eagles.
“It was nice to get the first game underneath our belt. I thought we were able to show a lot of versatility and a lot of different matchups,” said Brenda Freese, the head coach of Maryland. “I'm excited to be able to build on this.”
The defending ACC Champions were helped by 26 North Carolina Central turnovers, which translated into 37 points off turnovers for the Lady Terps. Maryland also dominated inside, outrebounding the Lady Eagles by a margin of 56-27.
“It was great to be able to see where we are at defensively, in terms of holding them to 39 points,” Freese said. “I thought we did some good things down there on the defensive end, as well as just making some plays, being able to use our dominance inside and our post play. I thought our post players did a nice job in stepping up and being ready to play tonight.”
Maryland had four players in double figures. Lynetta Kizer led the Lady Terps with 23 points and 8 rebounds. Tianna Hawkins finished with 15 points and 8 rebounds, while Diandra Tchatchouang scored 11 points. Essence Townsend also had 9 rebounds to go along with 4 points.
Joanna Miller led the Lady Eagles with 15 points. The Lady Eagles were held to 29.4% shooting, while the Lady Terps shot 49.3%. North Carolina Central fell to 4-11 all-time against ACC teams, and is currently in just its third year in Division I basketball.
The win by Maryland increased their home winning streak to 37 games, and improved the Lady Terps' all-time time record in season openers to 32-7. Their next game is Monday, November 16th against New Hampshire. The game will be played at the Comcast Center in College Park.