It was looking like 2006 again for the Maryland women’s basketball. A young team surprising pollsters late in the season. Maybe even a real title contender.
And then the Terrapins suffered two straight losses to fall to 20-5. They fell from No. 12 to 16 in the national rankings. Now Maryland will truly understand its postseason chances when it hosts No. 7 Duke on Thursday at Comcast Center.
“Not exactly the way you want to enter Duke, but overall this looks like a pretty good season,” Terps coach Brenda Frese said. “With this young team, we’re seeing the highs and lows of ACC play.”
The 2006 crew won the NCAA championship with two freshmen, two sophomores and one junior but never quite regained its rhythm after that. A couple Elite Eight appearances but never a dominant cast.
Maryland now is just one of seven teams nationally without a senior. The Terps have 10 freshmen and sophomores and a junior, Lynetta Kizer (13.4 points, 7.6 rebounds), who has become the low-post presence and emotional leader. Freshman Alyssa Thomas (13.6, 7.1) is the second coming of Marissa Coleman, who was one of the best players from Frese’s title team.
“Alyssa just competes; she’s fearless,” Frese said. “I love her competitiveness, her versatility. Marissa Coleman was the same number, same versatility, rebounding ability. Alyssa makes everyone around her better.”
It’s also the tallest team ever under Frese with 10 players 6-foot or taller. The Terps are second nationally in rebounding at plus-14.5 a game. They have outrebounded opponents in 23 of 25 games. Frese said it wasn’t an intentional restructuring of her system.
“It just came that way,” she said. “It was who we thought was the big fit for us. There’s tradeoff. We’re No.?2 in the country in rebounding, so we’re able to do certain things.”
The depth also has been critical. Nine players average at least 14 minutes a game. The bench has outscored opponents in 17 games, averaging 25.4 points.
Maryland lost to Duke 71-64 on Jan. 6 but now gets an edge at Comcast, where the Terps have led the ACC in attendance since 2007. Like the men’s program, the Terps’ biggest game annually is the Blue Devils. The Maryland-Duke series is tied 37-37. But the Terps also have road trips to Florida State and Boston College plus a game against Virginia Tech before the ACC tournament on March 3. There’s not much time left to mature before the NCAA tournament starts March 19.
“I absolutely think our schedule has us ready,” Frese said. “This team is extremely driven. When you get to February, it becomes more mental fatigue than anything else. We have to get stronger with a young team.”
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more at TheRickSniderReport.com and on Twitter @Snide_Remarks or e-mail [email protected].
