There are ways to pick up your first loss of the season that don’t break your heart. That won’t be the case for this year’s Notre Dame squad thanks to how its final ACC-Big Ten Challenge game ended. No. 20 Maryland’s Diamond Miller scored the final two of her game-high 31 points on a pull-up jumper near the left elbow off a screen just as time expired. The basket gave the Terrapins a 74-72 win and prompted Miller to shush the Purcell Pavilion crowd.
It was a game that went back and forth until the very end. [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] completed a three-point play with 48 seconds left to give the No. 7 Irish (6-1) a 70-69 lead. Miller immediately followed that with a basket in the paint, prompting [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] to call a timeout. After the huddle broke, Miles missed a layup that [autotag]Lauren Ebo[/autotag] couldn’t rebound cleanly, and the Terrapins (7-2) called a timeout to maintain possession.
Miller was fouled after the subsequent inbound pass, but she only was able to split two free throws. Ivey called her final timeout to draw up a play to tie the game or potentially give the Irish the lead. Miles inbounded the ball and found a wide-open [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] for a game-tying layup. The Terrapins took a timeout after that, setting the stage for Miller’s heroics.
Miller did a lot more than hit the game-winner at the buzzer. In addition to being the game’s leading scorer, she had a game-high 12 rebounds and a team-high five assists. Only Shyann Sellers joined Miller in double-digit scoring with 17 points.
Citron completed a double-double for the Irish with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Miles scored 14 and had a game-high seven assists. [autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag] scored 10 and blocked three shots.
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