Having traveled to Newark, N.J., the Texas women’s basketball team had a marquee matchup against Maryland on Monday.
Ranked seventh and ninth in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, Texas (17-2) and Maryland (16-1) met as part of the inaugural Coretta Scott King Class. No. 1 UCLA recorded a 72-57 win over No. 24 Baylor during the first half of Monday’s Fox-televised doubleheader at the Prudential Center before the Longhorns blew out the Terrapins 89-51.
“Really honored to play in the Coretta Scott King Classic on Martin Luther King Day, Monday, on national TV,” Texas coach Vic Schaefer said last week. “It’s really an honor for us. We appreciate the opportunity. I would not play on that day for any other reason.”
Texas is led in scoring by sophomore forward Madison Booker, an All-American who is averaging 15.2 points per game, and senior point guard Rori Harmon. Maryland guard Kaylene Smikle is averaging a team-best 18.0 points per game while senior Shyanne Sellers was named the Big Ten Player of the Week on Monday.
These were our live updates throughout Monday night’s game:
Final: Texas 89, Maryland 51
Led by Madison Booker’s 28 points, Texas improved to 18-2 with a dominating victory over Maryland. The Longhorns have trailed on Monday as Kyla Oldacre (15 points), Taylor Jones (13 points) and Shay Holle (12 points) also got involved in the offensive action. Defensively, Texas forced 27 turnovers and held college basketball’s No. 10 scoring offense to its lowest point total of the season.
Texas will return to Austin on Thursday for a home game against No. 15 Tennessee (15-3).
Maryland (16-2) was led by guard Kaylene Smikle’s 15 points. Eleven of Smikle’s points were scored on free throws.
End 3: Texas 73, Maryland 39
Texas is steamrolling toward its 18th victory of the season. With 10 minutes left, the Longhorns own a 34-point lead in New Jersey. Three Texas players − Madison Booker (24 points), Taylor Jones (13 points) and Shay Holle (12 points) − have contributed double-digit points to UT’s stat sheet.
Kaylene Smikle leads Maryland with her 11 points.
3rd (4:18): Texas 63, Maryland 28
Maryland finally has a lead… over Texas forward Madison Booker. Two free throws with 5:55 left in the third quarter gave Maryland a 26-24 edge over Booker’s individual point total. Maryland last had more points than Booker in the first quarter.
Booker isn’t the only Longhorn who is playing well. With 13 points and nine rebounds, Texas senior Taylor Jones is closing in on the sixth double-double performance of her season. Combined, Booker and Jones have made 16 of their 20 field goal attempts.
Halftime: Texas 48, Maryland 18
Texas has put on a clinic during the first 20 minutes at the Prudential Center. Offensively, Texas has hit 19 of its 36 shots and enjoyed sophomore Madison Booker’s 20-point outburst. Defensively, UT has held Maryland to a 31.8 shooting percentage while forcing 15 turnovers.
Maryland entered this game with just one loss. The Terrapins lost a 79-74 game to then-No. 4 USC on Jan. 8.
During the first half, Texas also got eight points and six rebounds from senior forward Taylor Jones. Shay Holle and Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda respectively added seven and six points.
2nd (4:28): Texas 39, Maryland 14
Maryland entered this week averaging 84.0 points per game, and the Terrapins ranked 10th among 353 Division I basketball teams in scoring offense. Maryland, though, is currently being outscored by Texas sophomore Madison Booker. To make matters worse, reigning Big Ten Player of the Week Shyanne Sellers left the game during the second quarter with an injury.
Maryland boasted a top-20 shooting percentage at 47.1%, but the Terrapins have missed 12 of their 17 shots so far. Maryland has also committed 11 turnovers.
Booker leads all players with her 18 points.
End 1: Texas 28, Maryland 12
Through the first 10 minutes at the Prudential Center, Madison Booker is showing Maryland why she entered the season as a preseason All-American and the SEC’s preseason player of the year. Booker has scored 13 points while knocking down six of her seven shots, and the sophomore has also recorded two assists, two rebounds and two steals.
Over its first 19 games this season, Texas outscored its opponents by an average of 9.6 points in the first quarter. That average dipped to 2.4 points in UT’s first quarters against ranked teams, but the Longhorns did jump out to a 29-7 lead against then-No. 19 Maryland on Jan. 9.
1st (4:26): Texas 15, Maryland 5
Texas is off to a fast start at the Prudential Center. With star sophomore Madison Booker scoring nine points on 4-of-5 shooting, UT has jumped out to a 10-point lead. Texas entered the first media timeout on a 9-0 run.
Maryland has made just two of its first seven shots.
Texas vs Maryland starting lineups
Maryland
G: Shyanne Sellers
G: Sarah Te-Biasu
G: Kaylene Smikle
G: Saylor Poffenbarger
F: Christina Dalce
Texas
G: Rori Harmon
G: Shay Holle
G: Madison Booker
F: Aaliyah Moore
F: Taylor Jones
Maryland is UT’s fifth highly-ranked foe this season
Texas enters this week with the No. 3 NET ranking, a metric that has been boosted by the Longhorns playing four top-10 teams outside of the Austin city limits. Having gone 2-2, UT has had mixed results in those top-10 tussles:
The last time that Texas played at least five top-10 teams during the regular season? During its 2016-17 campaign, UT went 2-5 against top-10 competition.
Follow the American-Statesman on Facebook and X for more. Your subscription makes work like this possible. Get access to all of our best content with this tremendous offer.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas basketball vs Maryland: Replay updates, game score
