Charles, Owusu lead No. 9 Maryland women’s rout of Belmont
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) Kaila Charles scored a season-high 20 points and Ashley Owusu posted career highs of 18 points and 10 rebounds as ninth-ranked Maryland routed Belmont 90-26 Saturday in the Daytona Beach Invitational.
Diamond Miller added 12 points and Stephanie Miller scored 11 as the Terrapins outscored the Bruins 42-0 during a 14-minute stretch of the second half. Maryland (7-1) has won six straight.
Charles, last season's Big Ten Player of the Year, was 9 of 14 from the field in 20 minutes of action.
Owusu, a freshman, thrived in transition to post her first career double-double one day after scoring a season-low six points in Maryland's 63-44 victory over Clemson.
Cam Browning led the Bruins (3-4) with six points.
Maryland's defense set the tone early, as Belmont missed its first seven field-goal attempts and was just 1 of 15 from the field as the Terps took a 12-3 lead after the first quarter. It was 37-17 at halftime.
Faith Masonius led the Maryland rebounding effort with 11.
Maryland was 11 of 17 from the field in the third quarter and outscored Belmont 28-3. The Bruins' scoreless drought continued until Browning made a layup with 4:40 remaining.
Ellie Harmeyer, the Bruins' leading scorer, left the game after taking an elbow to the face midway in the second quarter.
BIG PICTURE
Belmont: The Bruins have lost three straight games to power-conference opponents Arkansas, Virginia Tech and now Maryland. The team floundered after Harmeyer exited the game and was struggling even before that. The Terps limited her to three shots in 13 minutes.
Maryland: The Terrapins take pride in their defense, but their offense was clicking, too. Maryland scored 39 points off turnovers to shake off a sloppy start. Maryland also had a strong rebounding effort, posting a 49-28 advantage.
UP NEXT
Belmont plays at Toledo on Tuesday.
Maryland plays at North Carolina State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Thursday.
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