183 replies to this topic

[DuffMan]

The early exit from the Big Ten tourney seemed to do them good as they were able to rest up and get healthy.  

[BSLZackKiesel]

Stanford wins, 72-66.

The Terps were down by as many as 26 points, but their late rally fell short. Their tournament run ends in the Sweet 16.

[BSLMiltonKent]

The Maryland women’s basketball team entered their NCAA regional semifinal meeting with Stanford Friday believing that a healthy Terps team would be dangerous and certainly a better squad than the one that got drubbed by the Cardinal in November.

However, a combination of poor shooting, foul trouble and a coolly efficient Stanford offense dashed that belief, as Maryland was bounced 72-66 in Spokane, Wash.

The Terps lost to the defending national champion Cardinal by 18 in the Bahamas in November in a game played without junior Diamond Miller and graduate student Katie Benzan, two of their top three perimeter performers, because of injury.

With the two of them healthy, the Maryland players and coaching staff were convinced that Friday’s game would be different, that they would not only be able to hang with Stanford, the top seed in the region, but win.

Instead, save for a desperate fourth quarter 16-4 run that shaved a 26-point second-half deficit, the Terps (23-9) picked the most inopportune moment – a nationally televised postseason contest – to play arguably their worst game of the season.

Maryland looked lost for most of the night, shooting 34 percent from the field. The fourth-seeded Terps, who shot 36 percent from three-point range during the season, hit just three of 19 shots from beyond the arc on the evening.

Miller fouled out with five minutes to go – her first disqualification since her freshman year -- scoring just 11 points, on 3-for-11 shooting and just one three pointer.

“Yeah, we just got to soak this in,” said Miller. “It hurts, but I think the better team won today and they played us really hard.”

Benzan, who led the nation in three-point shooting last season, was held scoreless. She missed her only three-point attempt as the Cardinal perimeter defense, led by guard Anna Wilson, bottled her up.

“You look at their size from two through five, that length gave us fits,” said Maryland coach Brenda Frese. “And then you put Anna Wilson as that pest defensively. She gave Katie no open looks. Her defensive pressure and intensity was unbelievable. For us, we knew we were going to have to kind of score on that mid-range pull-up game but, again, that length bothered us on the offensive end.

Said Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer: “For Katie Benzan not to score a point, that's lock down defense. We didn't play against her last time. Anna did a fabulous job.”

Stanford (31-3) thoroughly dominated Maryland on the glass, outrebounding the Terps 50-32.

And they blocked 10 Maryland shots, five by center Cameron Brink, who had 15 points and eight rebounds. Brink did a fine job on Maryland’s Angel Reese (St. Frances) before fouling out. The Maryland forward had a game-high 25 points, but had to maneuver around the taller Brink.

“I played them in November and I’ve been playing Cameron Brink since high school so I knew about her athleticism coming out at the beginning, so I had the shot faking, try to move her on that, and do as best I cold to help my team,” said Reese.

The Cardinal got out to a quick start, with Hayley Jones, the Pac-12 Player of the Year, hitting a pair of threes early. And, as she sat, Brink hit four of her first five shots along the interior and generally bedeviled Reese, who missed her first three shots.

Meanwhile, the Terps looked flustered on both ends, as Stanford hit 71 percent of their shots in the quarter, while missing eight of their first nine shots.

“I think they punched us first,” said graduate forward Chloe Bibby, who had 10 points in her final Maryland game. “I thought we were ready, but obviously they came out and they punched us first definitely toward the end of that quarter. We just couldn't put the ball in the hole, and at the end of the day that's what matters.”

Things didn’t get much better for Maryland in the second quarter as their offense continued to sputter.

Owusu, who had 30 in the first meeting with Stanford, struggled, as well, going just 2-for-5 in the half. She didn’t play most of the fourth quarter and Frese said after the game that Owusu had been suffering with a stomach bug throughout the evening.

The Stanford barrage continued into the third quarter as the Cardinal took a 59-33 lead with less than two minutes to go.

The Terps did muster an impressive fourth quarter charge, keeping Stanford from scoring a basket over the final seven minutes.

“I love our fourth quarter,” said Frese. “The fact that we didn't quit fighting. We laid it all out there.

Reese scored 13 points in the period, including a three-pointer, only her second of the season.

[BaltBird 24]

Typical Maryland season, except they weren't quite as dominant as normal in the regular season.

Big talent, big expectations, mediocre end of season results.

[BSLMiltonKent]

As the Maryland women’s basketball team and coaches arrive back in College Park from Friday’s NCAA tournament loss to Stanford, they’ll be excused if they’re interested in putting the season in the rearview mirror as quickly as possible.

The Terps’ 72-66 setback to the Cardinal in the Spokane regional semifinal ends one of the more maddening seasons in the 20 years that Brenda Frese has been coach.

The furious fourth quarter comeback where they sliced a 26-point second half deficit notwithstanding, the Terps’ loss was a microcosm of the 2021-22 campaign with a slow start, an uneven middle and a frustrating finish.

“Yeah, you know, just really proud of their resiliency,” said Frese Friday. “This team could have given up many times just through all of the adversity that they faced. To be able to get back to a Sweet 16 with a season that was really kind of unlike any season we have ever experienced.”

 

Between injuries, inconsistency and the emotional challenge of overcoming the passing of Frese’s father, Bill, the Terps (23-9) labored from start to finish, ending the year at the same spot they had the previous season: the Sweet 16.

 

For only the second time since they joined the Big Ten in the 2014-15 season, the Terps ended a season without a conference regular season or tournament title.

 

With all five starters returning from a 20-21 season that ended in heartbreak in the regional semifinal, Maryland opened the season as a dark horse national title contender, ranked No.4 in the Associated Press Top 25. The Terps emerged from a 79-76 win over No.6 Baylor the Sunday before Thanksgiving with a head of steam.

 

However, a pair of drubbings in a showcase in the Bahamas laid serious doubt to Maryland’s title hopes. The Terps were without guards Katie Benzan and Diamond Miller, and were humiliated by North Carolina State and Stanford, who each received top regional seeds.

 

Miller, who missed 10 games with a knee injury, slowly returned to the form that landed her first team All-Big Ten the previous year, but Benzan and fellow backcourt mate Ashley Owusu each battled illness and injuries and were a tick off their 20-21 results.

 

Still, there were bright spots. Forward Angel Reese (St. Frances), who missed most of the first half of last year with a fractured foot, emerged as one of the nation’s best players.

 

Reese, a 6-foot-3 sophomore, led Maryland in scoring and rebounding and landed on the AP All-America third team. During the season, Reese, one of the nation’s best offensive rebounders, worked on facets of her game, particularly her free throw shooting.

 

While Reese started the season as a liability at the line, she finished the year shooting 83% (43-for-52) in her final seven games. She hit a three-pointer – only the second of her career – at the horn Friday, perhaps a harbinger of things to come.

 

“I need to work on my game and work on things that I suffered from this

season,” said Reese of her postseason improvement plans. “They backed up on me a lot and I should have taken a jump shot and I wasn't as confident in it, and I know coming into next season I will be confident with that.”

 

Freshman Shyanne Sellers, a six-foot perimeter player, was named the Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year. Along with Miller and Reese, Sellers, the daughter of former NBA player Brad Sellers, will form the core of one of the nation’s best defenses.

 

Frese will welcome Florida transfer Lavender Briggs, a 6-foot-1 guard who averaged nearly 17 points and six rebounds per game before leaving Gainesville in January. She may compete with Sellers for Benzan’s spot in the starting lineup.

 

Maryland’s two incoming freshmen, Ava Sciolla and Mila Reynolds, should provide Frese with some badly needed depth, as the Terps slogged through the early part of the season with only seven healthy players at times.

 

Assuming Miller and Owusu return to form and forward Faith Masonius returns from a torn ACL, Maryland may come to see this season as suffering through necessary growing pains on the way back to their customary place among the NCAA’s elite.

 

“Like I said, the adversity part, being resilient through -- when things aren't going your way,” said Frese. (Friday) we battled through a lot of foul trouble, and there's going to be different things that go on next season that we can take from this season to be able to learn from.”

[BSLChrisStoner]

Maryland women’s basketball guard Ashley Owusu enters the transfer portal

[BSLChrisStoner]

Angel Reese now in the portal.

[BaltBird 24]

Wow. That's shocking. I didn't think the women moved around quite as often as the men. Be interesting to see what happens with her brother.

[BaltBird 24]

To be honest, the transfer portal has made me even less interested in college basketball. It was bad enough with all the one and done's, but then you throw in the transfer portal...

Maybe the game just seemed better back when we had guys like Dixon, Baxter, Blake, Nicholas, Caner Medley, Strawberry, Vasquez, Hayes, etc stick around for 4 years. Made the team more likeable to follow and root for.

[BSLMiltonKent]

BSL: Maryland Women’s Basketball Suffers Multiple Departures

https://baltimorespo...ple-departures/

[Mike B]

The transfer portal can be exciting when the Terps (or any team) add talented players, but it is a gut punch when 80% or you starting lineup leave.Free agency has certainly hit college sports.  Much like Willard, Brenda has to due her due diligence and figure out how to build their program back up. The portal taketh, but hopefully in the next month we will se what it gives to both programs..

 

I think in a lot of cases, the transfers are about thinking the grass is always greener elsewhere. 

[Old Man]

Typical Maryland season, except they weren't quite as dominant as normal in the regular season.

Big talent, big expectations, mediocre end of season results.

And yet, just another season, when the women out-performed the men's team.

[BSLZackKiesel]

I believe this is now seven Top 50 recruits that have transferred out of Maryland since 2017. It’s become a consistent trend for Frese’s program. The off-court issues that Owusu alluded to are particularly worrying from a culture standpoint.

[BaltBird 24]

What were the off-court issues? Or did she not go into detail.

[Mike B]

And yet, just another season, when the women out-performed the men's team.

iI am not sure that is important, especially when the men's coach has changed.

[BSLRoseKatz]

To be honest, the transfer portal has made me even less interested in college basketball. It was bad enough with all the one and done's, but then you throw in the transfer portal...

Maybe the game just seemed better back when we had guys like Dixon, Baxter, Blake, Nicholas, Caner Medley, Strawberry, Vasquez, Hayes, etc stick around for 4 years. Made the team more likeable to follow and root for.

They just had Cowan, Ayala and Morsell stay for four years and Layman was a 4-year guy if you go back a couple further years back

[BSLRoseKatz]

Also I have no idea where Donta Scott is leaning but he's already done three years. The most noteworthy player to only spend one year at Maryland for the men in the past ten years was Diamond Stone.  

[BSLMikeLowe]

Add Mimi Collins to the portal.

[BSLZackKiesel]

Lots of speculation that Reese is likely headed to South Carolina. I’d assume their new men’s coach will have her brother at the top of his call sheet.

[Mike B]

Also I have no idea where Donta Scott is leaning but he's already done three years. The most noteworthy player to only spend one year at Maryland for the men in the past ten years was Diamond Stone.  

Also Hakim has 3 years in.  Kansas just won a National Championship, and two of the key players were seniors.  There are a lot of transfers and guys who leave early for the NBA, but there are still plenty of guys who stay their full 4.