Skip to main content

Oluchi Okananwa scores 25 points and No. 14 Maryland women topple Northwestern 79-57

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Oluchi Okananwa scored 25 points, surpassing 1,200 career points in the process, and No. 14 Maryland defeated Northwestern 79-57 on Wednesday night.

Okananwa, one of four 1,000-point scorers on Maryland’s roster, now has 1,213 career points. The 17.4 points per game scorer has 51 points in the past two games.

Northwestern was within eight points in the middle of the third quarter before Okananwa and Kyndal Walker each scored six points in a 12-2 run that gave the Terrapins a 63-45 lead heading to the final period.

The lead reached 24 points four times in the fourth quarter.

Maryland (23-6, 11-6 Big Ten) turned Northwestern’s 21 turnovers into 24 points. The Terps committed only six turnovers, leading to two points for Northwestern.

Among Maryland’s starters, Yarden Garzon scored 11 points, Addi Mack added 10 points and Saylor Poffenbarger grabbed 13 rebounds to reach 1,000 for her career. Walker scored 10 points off the bench.

Grace Sullivan scored 23 points for Northwestern (8-20, 2-15).

Okananwa scored eight points in the first quarter and Maryland led 20-14 after one. A 12-3 run in the second quarter helped push the lead to 15 points and the Terrapins went on to lead 44-31 at halftime.

Maryland leads the series with Northwestern 16-1 and has won the last eight games.

Up next

Maryland: Visits No. 8 Michigan on Saturday in a regular-season finale.

Northwestern: The regular season ends at home against Purdue on Sunday.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball.

Hawkeyes are set to play Vanderbilt in a November women’s basketball game in Sioux City, Iowa

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Vanderbilt and Iowa, both ranked in the top 10 late last season, will meet in a women's basketball game early next season in northwest Iowa, the schools announced Tuesday. The neutral-site game is set for Nov. 15 at the Tyson Events Center, which is 290 miles from Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. Vanderbilt is 4-0 all-time against the Hawkeyes. This will be the teams' first meeting since 1997. The Commodores are expected to return national scoring leader Mikayla Blakes. She averaged 27 points per game and was Southeastern Conference player of the year. Vanderbilt was ranked as high as No. 5 and finished No. 10 with a 29-5 record after reaching the NCAA Sweet 16.
Read Next Story