No. 7 Maryland women’s basketball took down Mount St. Mary’s, 92-44, to improve to a perfect 10-0 on the season.
The Terps played a different style than they’ve been used to this season, but still cruised to a 48-point win. Maryland has won its previous two games by a combined 105 points.
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Here are three takeaways from Wednesday.
Passing was notably strong
Maryland’s ball movement on Wednesday felt more emphasized than in previous games.
The Terps relied on alternative sources of passing to facilitate their offense against Mount St. Mary’s, and it seemed to work. Maryland had a season-high 25 assists on Wednesday.
Kyndal Walker was a key facilitator, taking over ball-handling duties with eight assists — she had the most assists by a Terp in a game this season. Her previous season-high was four assists against Bethune-Cookman, and she doubled that despite playing eight fewer minutes on Wednesday.
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“She did a really good job being able to find different people for shots. That’s what we’ve got to be able to have. I thought her pace [got] better from the offensive end,” head coach Brenda Frese said.
The Terps relied on more touch passes and quickly moving the ball. Marya Boiko was most notable for changing her pass style — it worked to her advantage. She had four assists on Wednesday, doubling her season total.
The Terps emphasized being intentional with their passing. It was impactful — but they also committed 17 turnovers.
“I like the unselfishness we played with. I mean, we’re gonna have to play a lot better than what we did tonight,” Frese said.
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Balanced big usage
Contrary to previous games, Maryland balanced using its bigs.
Frese has not been consistent in her playing of Boiko, Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu and Breanna Williams. She has used them heavily at times, and not at all in other situations.
“With the three of us combined, we’re all different post players, so that kind of helps us get into what we work best,” Williams said.
Maryland’s three bigs played 54 minutes on Wednesday and scored a combined 30 points. That came after the Terps’ bigs played a comparable 52 minutes against Hofstra, but only three minutes against then-No. 16 Kentucky.
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It seemed like early on, Boiko had a lot of raw talent but couldn’t translate it to on-court performances. But alongside an improvement in passing, she had a versatile eight-point performance Wednesday.
“There’s a lot more to Marya’s game, we’ve got to get her there,” Frese said. “Even stretches the 3-point line, but she hasn’t shown that yet. But with every game that she can get in, she gets a lot more comfortable and confident.”
Williams continued to be impactful when she got playing time. She entered the night averaging 6.2 points and 3.5 rebounds per game with 11 minutes on the season, and scored 12 points in 15 minutes on Wednesday.
Ozzy-Momodu has seen the most playing time thus far and was consistent, scoring 10 points with five rebounds.
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“We’re able to use our physicality on different mismatches, and be able to dominate in the post,” Williams said.
Bench guards were impactful
Rainey Welson and Walker — Maryland’s two guards off the bench Wednesday — were strong in the 48-point win.
Welson had a season-high eight points, finding her groove while continuing to recover from an injury. That came in just 13 minutes, the team’s second-fewest.
“Rainey is really, really good,” Frese said. “She’s still a minute restriction and just the stronger we can get her healthy, she’s an important piece for us.”
Welson shot 2-of-2 from deep and was 3-of-3 overall. She thrived in catching and shooting and brought an element that she hadn’t had previously.
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“She plays the right way, shoots the ball extremely well, really high. IQ can defend,” Frese said of Welson. “Hopefully, as we move forward, we’d love to get her more minutes.”
Walker had one of her best games of the season despite only scoring four points. For the first time, she was the primary ball-handler, getting a chance to orchestrate the offense.
“We’ve got a lot of great weapons on the floor. So I thought she did a really good job being able to find them,” Walker said.
Addi Mack was a relative non-factor after being a persistent performer in almost every other game. She scored two points on free throws and didn’t record a shot attempt.
Mack’s quiet night allowed Welson and Walker to take advantage and prove they can be a reliable option when called upon, something the freshman has already displayed.
