The Terps pulled away in the second half to beat UMBC by 42 points.
Maryland women’s basketball’s season began unconventionally with a road game 45 minutes north against UMBC.
The Terps led the game from the jump and blew it open in the second half, starting their season with a dominant 74-32 victory.
Here are three takeaways from the game.
The rotation became more clear
The start of the regular season brings some clarity about where things stand as far as the rotation goes. To start the game, head coach Brenda Frese chose to start Sarah Te-Biasu, Shyanne Sellers, Kaylene Smikle, Allie Kubek and Christina Dalce.
The first three players off the bench were Saylor Poffenbarger, Bri McDaniel and Mir McLean. Amari DeBerry was the ninth player and also saw double-digit minutes.
It wouldn’t be surprising if the starting five changes at points, but that appears to be the Terps’ nine core players.
Standing at 6-foot-6, DeBerry’s usage could vary depending on the matchup and whether Frese feels her size is needed. In the second half, she saw a reduced role, as Dalce and Kubek outsized UMBC’s forwards.
The only player missing Monday night that could find her way into the rotation was freshman guard Kyndal Walker, who was wearing a brace on her right hand in warmups.
Defense led the way
Maryland’s defense was the driving force behind its victory. The Terps held UMBC to 32 total points and just 10 in the second half.
The Terps looked like an impressive, cohesive unit, throwing multiple different looks at the Retrievers in both man and zone defense.
“We struggled when they put us in a zone,” UMBC’s leading scorer Jordon Lewis said. “I think that’s why we started to go on our drought.”
The Terps forced the Retrievers into 25 turnovers and found success pushing the ball in transition off those turnovers.
Much of the defensive success came from the players Maryland added in the transfer portal. Poffenbarger had multiple blocks down low, Te-Biasu and Smikle recorded two steals a piece and Dalce, the former Big East Defensive Player of the Year, affected shots all over the floor.
At times, Frese elected to use a full-court press, which was successful in throwing off UMBC’s rhythm, forcing them into multiple 10-second violations and backcourt turnovers.
The Retrievers also shot under 25% from the field.
Offense has room for improvement
Maryland found its way offensively in the second half, but it wasn’t always pretty for the Terps on that end of the floor.
They struggled protecting the basketball, turning it over 22 times. Many turnovers were unforced errors, such as illegal screens, travels and errant passes with no recipient.
“I think when you look at games right now that you’re going to see here in November, you’re going to see a lot of this (high turnover counts),” Frese said. “I do not like it, but I have to be patient.”
If fans tuned in to the women’s game hoping for a break from the 3-point shooting woes of the men’s team, they weren’t getting that either. Maryland shot just 2-of-13 from deep, with only Poffenbarger and Kubek making one. Frese said they made a conscious effort to move away from shooting threes in the second half and press their advantage down low.
“We had good looks, we were quick with the trigger and we were excited, and it’s the first game and normally we’re going to knock those down,” Frese said.
Smikle, Poffenbarger and Kubek should be some of the team’s best shooters from deep.