No. 5 Maryland bedevils Central Connecticut, clobbers them by 43

College Park, MD -- As Maryland first stepped onto their home court for the game, they meant business with strong offense and defense from the get go.

Maryland gained a 20 point lead in the first quarter with the Blue Devils struggling to match the Terps' physicality and speed.

Tierney Pfirman made her way into the starting lineup after a stellar performance in the game against Syracuse and within the first minutes of the game Pfirman had already put up four points.

Brionna Jones muscled her way to the paint scoring eight points in the first quarter. The Blue Devils do not have someone that has been able to defend Jones, but that seems to be an occurring issue for many teams.

Maryland's defense proved to be too much for Central Connecticut's offense, forcing the Blue Devils to put up risky shots with very little success.

The Terps continued an impressive level of play through the entire first half leading 41 to 14.

Shatori Walker-Kimbrough led Maryland with 12 points, followed by Pfirman and Jones each with eight points, repectively. The entire Terps bench recorded minutes furthering revealing the team's depth; something head coach Brenda Frese feels is a primary reason for their success thus far.

Blue Devils Kiana Patterson led her team with seven points in the first half.

Going into the second half, Central Connecticut started to gain some offense scoring 12 points in the first minutes of the third quarter.

Even with some offense stemming from the Blue Devils, the Terps continued to drive to the basket fearlessly and pick up foul shots giving Maryland a 27 point lead at the end of the third quarter.

Terps' guard Brene Moseley, tallied up nine points in the third quarter alone chucking up three pointers like they were anything but difficult.

The Blue Devils continued to struggle with the speed, physicality, and overall talent of Maryland's players as they ran up and down the court with precision and confidence.

Brenda Frese continued bringing players off the bench, giving every player a chance to put some minutes in on the court.

Pfirman, who ended up with 10 points, felt that starting in the game didn't change her mindset of helping the team.

"I think regardless whether you're on the floor first or the bench, you have to bring that focus just to be locked in for the jump because you never know when your number is going to be called."

Maryland proved to be too much for Central Connecticut to handle finishing with an 86-43 victory, giving the Terps their eighth straight win on the season.

The Terps are only three games away from facing defending NCAA champions, University of Connecticut, but Frese says they plan on taking each game one at a time. Frese says, "The game keeps you humble and hungry."