COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Penn State women’s basketball falls to No. 20 Maryland by way of an 81-62 final score on the road in College Park, Maryland, on Thursday night.

The Nittany Lions drop to 8-17, 1-13 Big Ten while the Terrapins improve to 20-6, 8-6 Big Ten. Despite another 30-point performance from McMiller and a first quarter lead, Penn State was unable to outlast Maryland on the road.

Sophomore guard Kiyomi McMiller led the offensive charge for Penn State with 30 points including nine from beyond the arc. This marked her third consecutive 30-plus-point performance.

Redshirt junior center Gracie Merkle produced another effective night from the floor, shooting at a 6 of 8 clip to total 13 points. She also led the team on the glass, grabbing seven rebounds.

Maryland added the first six points of the final quarter to create a 14-point gap. Santana drained her second three of the day to chip at the deficit. The Terps used a second-chance opportunity to add to their point total before a loud shot from beyond the arc for the home team widened the margin to 16 points at the 6:08 mark. A trip to the free throw line added another two points to the UMD edge before McMiller notched a driving layup on the other end.

A technical foul issued to Maryland on an inbound play gave McMiller an opportunity at the line where she drained both. The Nittany Lions made use of their possession following the free throws, converting a layup out of the hands of McMiller. Maryland responded with eight-straight points to build an 81-59 lead at the 1:41 mark.

McMiller converted a three-point play to add to Penn State’s total. Maryland held the ball to end the contest with an 81-62 final score.

McMiller carried her momentum into the second half, putting up the first pair of points. Penn State grabbed the lead back using a three-pointer from Vitoria Santana that Maryland replicated on its end in back-to-back fashion to create a five-point edge. The Terps compiled 16-straight points to build a 54-39 lead at the 4:39 mark. McMiller broke the Penn State dry spell with a mid-range jumper and Viktoria Ranisavljevic made both of her free throws to cut the margin to nine.

Maryland added a jumper before Merkle took two trips to the charity stripe where she was unable to convert any points. McMiller hit a shot from 3-point range that was quieted by a three-pointer for the Terps. Merkle found a layup under the rim to cut the margin to eight at the end of the third stanza with Maryland ahead 58-50.