Maryland Women’s Basketball Confident Challenging Year Will Pay Postseason Dividends

The butterfly bandage on the bridge of Angel Reese’s nose might be the most apt metaphor for what Maryland’s women’s basketball team has been through this season.

The sophomore forward accessorized the band-aid after a cut received in a collision in the regular-season finale, a must-have 67-64 win against No. 10 Indiana Feb. 25. While No. 13 Maryland (21-7, 13-4) didn’t repeat as Big Ten regular-season champs for just the second time in eight years, all the Terrapins’ goals are still on the table, though perhaps precariously perched on the edge.

Injuries have changed the face of Brenda Frese’s powerful program this year, maybe now also changing how far Frese’s team can march in March.

The Terrapins were down to just seven players in the finale in a league where everyone else is improved and also very anxious to break the Terrapins’ stranglehold on conference women’s hoops. Since joining the Big Ten in 2014, Maryland had won six of seven regular-season titles heading into 2021-22, and five of the last six tournaments.

This year, though, with so many key players missing games and the emotional jolt of Frese losing her father in January, has been an ongoing struggle.

When Katie Benzan, the smallest player on the floor, hit a runner with 11.8 seconds left to seal the Indiana win, the Terps clinched a top-four finish in the standings, ultimately earning Maryland the fourth seed behind Ohio State, Iowa and Michigan, a position that means the Terps don’t take the floor the first two days of tournament action in Indianapolis this week.

The Terps will likely get fifth seed Indiana again at approximately 2 p.m. on Friday, March 4. The winner of Wednesday’s Rutgers-Penn State opening round game will have a say in that, too. All four Big Ten top seeds finished with four conference losses but Maryland’s Dec. 30 cancellation at Illinois because of COVID within the Illini program cost the Terrapins fully tying for another league crown.

“We’ve been through a lot this season,” said Reese, who had 20 points and 16 rebounds against Indiana despite missing minutes after being nosed out. “We’ve had a lot of adversity. I don’t think we’ve folded yet. … It was just a fight and I felt confident. I think all of us are confident heading into the Big [Ten] tournament, getting that double bye.”

Short Bench Will Get Longer

It didn’t help that All-Big Ten guard Ashley Owusu missed the Indiana game with an illness after missing four of the last five games with a bad ankle sprain. Extra rest will help her, and also allow sophomore sharpshooter Taisiya Kozlova, just starting to work into more minutes, time to return from her native Russia after a quick visit to be with family.

Mostly, though, the bye saves minutes played for a short Maryland rotation. Three games to a title instead of four means a lot when, for instance, Benzan played all 40 minutes against the Hoosiers; fellow grad student Chloe Bibby, 36; blossoming freshman Shyanne Sellers, 35; Diamond Miller, 34, and Reese, 31.

With Owusu out, everyone has had to play more the last two weeks and really, other than the loss at Michigan, the Terrapins have kept rolling with a 9-1 record in the last 10 games, including a 77-72 win against top seed Ohio State Feb. 17.

“To lock up a double bye is huge given the fact we don’t have the depth we’ve had in the past so to have that extra day for your legs is going to make a big difference,” said Frese, who has had more than her share of postseason success in a remarkable career.

Last year looked like one of the best for the program since the last Final Four appearance in 2015. There’s still a bitter taste among the team following the amazing 26-3, Big Ten championship season that ended prematurely in the Sweet 16 as a No. 2 seed against sixth-seed Texas.

Frese set an ambitious schedule this year to prepare for another run at a national title, but a knee injury kept All-Big Ten Miller out of 10 of the first 12 games and limited her to just 15 minutes total in the other two.

Maryland beat No. 6 Baylor but fell to No. 5 NC State and seventh-ranked Stanford during that span to fall in the national polls. Benzan and versatile glue-gal Faith Masonius also missed three games with illness.

In early January when it looked like Frese had the band back together for the Big Ten tour, Masonius was lost for the season with an ACL tear. The 6-foot-1 swing guard/forward was always one of the first Terps off the bench and could relieve and contribute at multiple positions, providing energy and intangibles with a solid all-around game.

Masonius joined a growing number of players in street clothes on the bench — redshirt senior point guard Channise Lewis (knee) and redshirt sophomore guard Zoe Young (now a student assistant). Benzan’s and Owusu’s minutes went up and Maryland, which led the nation in scoring a year ago, found opponents going to great lengths to slow them down.

Full-court pressure didn’t necessarily cause turnovers for the Terps but did make it tougher getting into offensive sets. Meanwhile, pressure on the ball — hedges off all screens out high and double-teams on the ball — have been particularly problematic.

The 5-foot-5 Benzan sometimes has trouble seeing over and around the doubles. The extra ball pressure has also slowed Owusu’s drives into the paint where she does her best work. Maryland’s second-in the-nation 40-percent shooting from 3-point range last year has dipped to 36.5 percent as the offense just hasn’t flowed as smoothly. The offense is nearly 12 points off last year’s 90.8 points-per-game average.

Less Scoring But Better Defense

It isn’t all bad news, though. Hitting more shots out of those double teams will remedy a lot quickly. Owusu’s return eases the pressure on Benzan. When Miller returned to full health, the Terrapins had her length and quickness at the front of their defense, too. And Sellers, because of the flux in the backcourt, has gotten key minutes and looks like she has “star” written all over her game.

At 6-foot-2, she’s long and quick with great instincts at both ends. Her defense has been eye-opening and she now regularly draws the toughest perimeter assignment like Iowa’s Caitlin Clark or Ohio State’s former Terp, Taylor Mikesell. The energy she brings is palpable.

“I try to have the mentality of bringing a spark whether it’s starting or I’m off the bench,” Sellers said. “Just trying to work hard and cover up for my mistakes, give energy and give it my all.”

What would Maryland winning the tournament(s) look like? Well, the Terrapins are 17-1 this season when outrebounding opponents and 18-5 when they have fewer turnovers. Getting the ball off the boards, led by Reese’s 10.7 rebounds per game, then hanging onto it are keys. Maryland is also 17-0 when shooting better from the field than foes.

Here’s a number Frese really likes: Maryland is 4-0 in games decided by five points or fewer this season.

“This is what it’s supposed to be about,” Frese said of a grueling schedule of six February games with more than three days off just once, all in the backdrop of a tight race in women’s basketball’s top conference. “There are no surprises. It’s such a tough stretch to prepare for March and we’ve grown. We’re battle-tested.”

Another number the coach liked is the four days the Terps had before playing Indiana in the regular-season finale. And despite being so shorthanded, Maryland had one of its best starts in a game, leading 19-10 after the first quarter.

Days off mean fresher legs and maybe even some time to practice and fine-tune.

“Moving forward plus rest equals success,” Frese said. “We’re really diligent about the amount of time we spend on the court.”

There’s a little rest before the Big Ten tournament tips for the Terps and then the NCAA Tournament doesn’t begin until March 18. Time, once again, could be on Maryland’s side.

“We’ve just got to play as hard as we can,” Bibby said. “We’ve done that all season. We’ve had some bumps along the way, but you just have to give it your all. If this season has taught me anything it’s that you never know when it could be taken away. We’ve had girls on the sideline that want to be out there, and we just play for them, our sisters.”

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Maryland Athletics

Mike Ashley

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