Austin's complete game leads Maryland's route of George Washington, 88-54

Shakira Austin drives through the baseline for a layup in Maryland’s 88-54 win over George Washington on Nov. 20, 2019. (I’Shea Boyd/The Black Explosion)

Shakira Austin made her presence known in the paint from the very start of the game. 

Within the first three minutes, she swatted a layup into the stands that sent the crowd on their feet. Two minutes later, she blocked another inside shot, forcing a shot-clock violation that led to another turnaround jumper for her first points of the night.

Her two-way play was key to No. 9 Maryland’s (4-1) 88-54 victory against George Washington (2-3) and the Terps’ defensive resurgence

"I thought it was nice to see us pick up where we left off Sunday with our aggressiveness on both ends of the floor," head coach Brenda Frese said. "I liked how we set the tone early, especially with our defense.”

Austin’s defense became instant offense as her defense created scoring opportunities for her and her teammates. The Terps turned 22 forced turnovers, including 13 steals and three forced shot-clock violations, to 31 points. Maryland had eight blocks on the game, four of which were by Austin.

The forward contributed to the team’s 23 assists with four of her own. Her awareness and passing from the post created easy layups and three-ball attempts for her team. The sophomore forward ended the game with 15 points, eight rebounds, and four steals to go along with four blocks and four assists.

“Adding Shakira as the enforcer inside and Blair [Watson], as a senior, I think those two areas have really helped us improve on the defensive end,” Frese said. “They have a mentality--both of them--that they want to get stops, and so I think it’s important. You see all five are really buying into it.”

Guard Taylor Mikesell scored a game high 19 points and hit five threes, tying her career-high that she had reached in six games before this -- most recently, on Sunday against Delaware.

The sophomore has been on a two-game tear since early shooting struggles against South Carolina and James Madison. Since then, she has shot 10-of-17 from beyond the arc over the last two games, including starting Wednesday’s game 4-for-4 from three. The recent hot shooting has bumped her 3-point percentage to 48 on the season.

Frese remarked on Mikesell’s readiness, saying, “[Taylor has] really locked-in in the last two-to-three weeks defensively. Her game has become really well-rounded and just makes us a better team.”

Maryland shot 54 percent on the night and hit half of their attempts from three. Freshmen Ashley Owusu and Diamond Miller were bright spots with Owusu tallying eight points, nine assists and seven rebounds, and Miller hitting on all four of her shot attempts, including two threes, for 10 points on the night. 

Seniors Stephanie Jones and Kaila Charles added 12 and 11 points, respectively, for the Terps.

Maryland will end the three-game homestead against Quinnipiac on Sunday before traveling to Florida for the Daytona Beach Invitational.