COLLEGE PARK — As No. 8 Maryland women’s basketball’s competition has increased in January, Shyanne Sellers’ has raised her already high level of play.

The senior guard entered Tuesday having scored 20 or more points in four of her past five games, a stretch coinciding with the Terps’ toughest month of the season. January is the heart of Maryland’s Big Ten schedule — only made more difficult in the first season of the reshaped conference — but Sellers has posted stat lines to match.

Tuesday, she again eclipsed 20 points (and nearly reached 30) in Maryland’s 99-92 win over Minnesota as the Terps improved to 16-1. Sellers, carrying her team through this challenging slate, is proving why she’s one of the Big Ten’s best players and the reason Maryland’s hopes are as ambitious as they are.

“Shy continues to lead the way,” coach Brenda Frese said. “We need her to put the team on her back.”

The conference win wasn’t without concerns, however, as junior guard Bri McDaniel exited the game in the first quarter with a knee injury and did not return. McDaniel, days removed from her best game of the season against Wisconsin, corralled a loose ball on defense then darted for the hoop but landed awkwardly after a missed layup on the final play of the opening frame.

Frese said McDaniel will undergo testing in the coming days to determine the severity of her injury. The coach did not say when the guard could return and that replacing her production will be “by committee.”

Maryland played well in the immediate aftermath of McDaniel’s injury. A closely contested first quarter gave way to Maryland in the second. The Terps trailed by two after the first 10 minutes, then a Sellers 3-pointer sprang Maryland ahead and started an imposing stretch. Led by the senior, whose 12 first-half points paced the team, the Terps outscored Minnesota by seven and led 42-37 entering the break punctuated by a crafty Sarah Te-Biasu assist to Kaylene Smikle for a last-second layup.

That lead quickly grew to nine a few minutes into the third quarter, then widened to 11 by the start of the fourth. The run was marked by a succession of Sellers buckets, from 3-pointers to midrange jumpers and under-the-basket, finger-roll spins off the backboard. After some of them, Sellers shrugged in confusion, as if wondering why the No. 24 Gophers allowed her to so easily continue thrashing them.

“I’ve just been trying to be a little more aggressive,” Sellers said. “Taking what the defense is giving me, trusting our ball movement.”

A 19-2 Minnesota run in the last three minutes nearly caused an epic collapse and tarnished what was in line to be Maryland’s largest margin of victory in a conference game this season. The Gophers entered Tuesday 16-1 on the season and had only given up 60 or more points twice. Sellers and Maryland crossed that threshold in the third quarter.

Smikle added 19 points in the win. Allie Kubek scored 17. Sellers also logged nine rebounds and seven assists on 9-for-11 shooting from the floor, making all three of her triples and all six of her free throws to reach a season-high 27 points. Maryland was 21-for-21 on free throws.

“Shy’s efficiency is just incredible,” Frese said.

Several other Terps stepped up alongside Sellers in McDaniel’s absence.

“Mir [McLean] and Allie off the bench were massive X factors. They came in when their number was called,” Frese said. “It’s what you’ve gotta have with a great team. Even though our depth is being impacted at the moment, you gotta have others step up.”

Tuesday was McDaniel’s second consecutive start after coming off the bench for Maryland’s first 15 games. She posted 21 points, five rebounds and three steals, all season highs, in the Terps’ win over the Badgers on Saturday. Her departure meant extended minutes for McLean, a Baltimore native and Roland Park Country graduate who tallied nine points and six rebounds in 14 minutes.

“It’s a really long season. Game by game, they’re all different,” McLean said. “Just being ready at all times. We all need to be ready and prepared.”

McDaniel has often been Frese’s first call off the bench over the past two seasons as a dynamic scorer and pesky defender. An extended absence would hinder Maryland’s depth over its intimidating next couple weeks.

Tuesday was the Terps’ third of six games against an Associated Press Top 25 team this month. They’ve won two so far, victorious over then-No. 23 Iowa and now the Gophers to sandwich their only loss, a five-point defeat to No. 4 USC last Wednesday. A six-day stretch against No. 7 Texas, No. 9 Ohio State and No. 1 UCLA looms next week, the bout with the Bruins being the only one of those contests in College Park.

Who Maryland truly is will be revealed shortly. The Terps’ schedule softens from there, but thanks mostly to Sellers’ heroics they’re halfway through their most daunting test of the season and are so far dominating it.

“She’s playing with so much poise,” Frese said. “The game is really slowing down to her. She still makes me crazy sometimes defensively. But she has a heart of gold and wants to will the team. Just understanding how to play, she’s been working on her shot. You just love seeing where her game is continuing to improve.”

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