No. 9 Maryland women’s basketball has benefited from its extensive depth early in the season.
Before the year began, the Terps made it clear their entire lineup had the ability to score and play hard-nosed defense. In its previous game against Princeton, though, Maryland significantly shortened its bench. It was unclear how much trust head coach Brenda Frese had in her depth headed into Thursday.
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But the Terps’ bench played a key role in the contest, and Maryland steamrolled Bethune-Cookman, 95-49.
“Clearly they work so hard in practice. I think that’s the hardest thing sometimes in these kind of games, is managing minutes,” Frese said.
Maryland’s depth had no choice but to step up Thursday, especially considering reigning Big Ten and National Freshman of the Week Addi Mack was out with ankle soreness.
Without Mack and Lea Bartelme — who suffered a season-ending ACL injury — the Terps were thin at guard.
Kyndal Walker stepped into the starting lineup for the first time in her career and took advantage of her opportunity. Entering Thursday, Walker was Maryland’s worst shooter by all metrics. On Thursday, she was one of the Terps’ best, scoring 13 points on 5-of-7 from the field — tied for the team-high in scoring.
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“I worked hard this summer to make sure my conditioning was high-level for whatever my team needed,” Walker said. “I just went out there and just did what I had to do, just playing free.”
The Terps started a small lineup, keeping it intact for the majority of the first quarter — that group scored the game’s first 20 points. It took Bethune-Cookman over six minutes of game time to score their first points, a 3-pointer from Jordan Brooks.
“It started with our defense. We held them scoreless for quite a while in that first quarter, so that was really encouraging,” Frese said. “We’ve got to be able to do that and especially if our shots aren’t falling.”
Maryland’s lineup combinations were unusual against the Wildcats; the Terps fluctuated between small-ball and big-centric combinations. Maryland’s small lineup consisted of three guards, with Yarden Garzon and Saylor Poffenbarger as its frontcourt. The bigger lineup included Maryland’s primary bigs — Marya Boiko and Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu — alongside Poffenbarger and two guards.
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It didn’t matter what lineup the Terps had on the court, though, as they dominated regardless.
Mir McLean was one of Frese’s potential bench options Thursday. As a team captain and player that was on the court in double-overtime in the NCAA Tournament last season against Alabama, her lack of usage to this point is noteworthy. She suffered an elbow injury earlier in the season, but only missed one game. After playing only one minute on Sunday, McLean was once again a non-primary option off the bench.
Maryland had 11 available players against Bethune-Cookman, and 10 saw the floor in the first half — Nicole Fritea was the lone available Terp to not play in the opening 20 minutes. Fritea checked in for the first time in the fourth quarter.
Breanna Williams was also solid for the Terps, scoring 12 points on 3-of-4 shooting. She also went 6-of-7 from the charity stripe.
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“I think it’s just a big part of just being ready when your number’s called,” Williams said.
Thursday was an opportunity for multiple Terps to get more playing time, but also to give its struggling players a chance to find a rhythm. Maryland’s defense was utterly smothering; it forced 26 turnovers on 15 steals.
Bethune-Cookman did well to prevent the Terps from widening the gap in the third quarter, scoring a game-high 17 points in the frame. Brooks led the Wildcats with 13 points, and shot 3-of-3 from deep.
All 11 available Terps scored on Thursday — the team collectively shot 37-of-63 (58.7%) from the field.
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“It’s a coach’s dream to see every player score in your box score,” Frese said.
Three things to know
1. The opponent from within. The Terps’ biggest opponent on Thursday wasn’t Bethune-Cookman, but themselves. Maryland got out to a 20-point lead before the Wildcats even scored. Maryland’s issues, though they didn’t prove to hurt it, stemmed from its own mistakes. The team had too many unforced turnovers, and they were overall sloppy in a game they could’ve easily won by more.
2. Garzon found a form. Garzon had struggled to find a rhythm in the first few games of the season. As a highly-touted transfer from Indiana, she hadn’t lived up to expectations. On Thursday, she looked more like the player she was expected to be, albeit against a lesser opponent. The Israeli forward had 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
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“She’s been really resilient, playing the right way,” Frese said. “She just thinks two passes ahead for her teammates. So she’s really just trying to kind of complete the team and put them all together.”
3. Free throw struggles. The Terps shot poorly from the charity stripe on Thursday, its worst percentage of the season at 68.2%. Oluchi Okananwa — who had a good game in other facets — particularly struggled. She missed three free throws after having missed only one heading into the match.
