Balance leads No. 14 Terps to an easy triumph
Three UM players able to produce double-doubles
COLLEGE PARK — The Maryland women’s basketball team has perfected the art of making what should be a boring second half look more exciting than any other part of the game.
On Saturday morning, James Madison stayed close to its host, even leading Maryland by three after the first quarter.
But by the end of the third quarter, the Terps buried the Dukes so deep they could no longer see the sun, drubbing the visitors 101-59, their largest margin of victory this season. Itwas a game added this pastweek to supplement two cancellations onMaryland’s schedule.
Maryland (5-1) surpassed 100 points for the third time this season, remained unbeaten at home and won its fourth straight.
“The level goes a lot higher in Big Ten Conference play,” Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. “So, you know, for us it is just sustaining it — through our film work, through our work in the weight room, on the court with practices, understanding whatlies ahead— with somany conference games remaining.”
Pandemic-related cancellations disturbed Maryland’s chances to establish a rhythm in past weeks as the Terps had played just two games this month before Saturday. Now they’ll take takes a twoweek break before visiting Penn State on Dec. 23 because No. 23 Ohio State had to postpone Tuesday’s game.
In that new normal, Frese appreciates the games that are played and the practices that in some ways have become like games for her squad.
“Every team’s going through it,” Frese said. “For us, we’re just valuing the fact that we haven’t been shut down.
“Thatwould be a tougher elementwe’re hopingwe don’thave to deal with. But ifwe do, we’ll handle it just aswe have all season long.”
After a thrilling performance her last time at home when she shot 9-for-15 againstTowson for a career-high 25 points, sophomore Ashley Owusu’s spark flickered at Rutgers, when she made just four field goals. On Saturday, the 6-foot guard doubled her accuracy, hitting 60% from field-goal range for a team-high 19 points.
Sophomore Diamond Miller became Maryland’s second-leading scorer in just 23 minutes of play with 18 points and six rebounds.
Six players scored in double figures and three Terps netted double-doubles on Saturday: senior transfer Chloe Bibby collected 17 points and 10 rebounds, freshmanFaithMasonius had14 points and 12 boards, and forward MimiCollins had14 and11.
Masonius and Collins knew they had “big shoes to fill,” Masonius said, without star freshman Angel Reese (St. Frances) on the court.
“Me and Faith took it to heart,” Collins said. “We know Angel is such a great rebounder and scorer. Understanding that we have to take up most of the rebounding that we did, I think me and Faith did a successful job doing it.”
Maryland also improved in the little things, recording its fewest team fouls (four) this season and second-fewest turn
overs (11). The Terps also had 22 assists.
“I think you can make everyone’s job a lot easier when you’re just so unselfish,” Frese said. “That’s why … you get six players in double figures because nobody’s having to force a shot.”
The Dukes nipped at the heels of a Maryland squad struggling with its shooting for most of the first quarter (31.8% on field goals). Other than Owusu, whodrilled 3 of 6 shots, typically hot-fingered players mostly put up a basket or fewer in their attempts.
Defense kept the Terps afloat as Maryland guards limited James Madison to about half the attempts that the hosts had. However, when a Duke did make her way to the basket, she made it with twice the efficiency of a Terp (50%). With just over a minute left, freshman guard Jamia Hazell swished to the box and flipped the lead to Dukes’ hands with her jumper for a 19-16 first-quarter lead.
“We really just focused on winning the next three [quarters] because it’s within ourselves that we really just got to focus and come out strong,” Masonius said.
Senior guard Katie Benzan, who made six 3-pointers against Towson, began to thawinthe second quarter, as she retrieved the lead for Maryland off a layup in the thick of James Madison guards and then drained her first 3-pointer. Ice continued to melt around the Terps, who ran on an 11-point unchallenged stretch as shooters such as forwards Collins and Masonius added their input in the net.
By the time the Dukes popped in a point from the foul line, Maryland had carved out a double-digit advantage.
Masonius said theTerpswanted to focus on shaking their growing pattern of coming into the third quarter slow. That they did. After Frese hooked Miller out in the first half after the sophomore earned two fouls in the first six minutes, Miller didn’t return until the start of the third quarter. When she did, she returned as a fury, wrestling balls into the hoop off rebounds, curling rapid layups and bopping balls out of Duke hands to throweight points on the board.
Frese kept Miller on the floor as the other starters sat.
“We challenged her at halftime,” Frese said. “I thought she understood trying to be patient, because sometimes Diamond wants to get it all back at once. She’s super passionate and competitive and wants to be on the floor. We need her to be on the floor. But I thought she had a terrific response [to] the foul trouble to not let it impact her second half.”
Combined with a couple treys from Benzan (12 points) and support from the floor, Maryland cruised to a 12-point run. Fittingly, the ball hopped into Miller’s hands as the buzzer sounded, with the Terps leading the Dukes 73-41.
Zoe Young, a redshirt freshman out of Des Moines, Iowa, who was ESPN’s eighth-ranked guard in the country, made her first return to basketball after missing the 2019-20season with a tornACL. She hit her first college layup in the fourth quarter, bringing everyTerp to her feet— including Reese, whose joy for her teammate needed no crutches.
“Just seeing her and seeing a smile on her face— it’s just everything,” Collins said of Young. “And we’ve just been hyping her up in practice and everything else and pushing her and she got her opportunity.
“And I think she did a great job.”