Throughout Maryland women’s basketball’s Wednesday night domination of Delaware State, the story on the bench was more interesting than the story on the court.
At the furthest end of Maryland’s bench sat Ava McKennie, Bri McDaniel, Kaylene Smikle, Addi Mack and Saylor Poffenbarger. Lea Bartelme sat in the first row of the luxury seats nearby. Four are recovering from season-ending knee injuries (McDaniel’s was last season), but Mack and Poffenbarger resting was a surprise, as they are dealing with
lingering ankle injuries, according to a team spokesperson.
There were only nine Terps available, but it didn’t matter. Maryland won 91-21 behind 18-point efforts from Yarden Garzon and Oluchi Okananwa. It was the Terps’ 12th straight win to open the season as they set an all-time program low in points allowed.
Garzon was one of two regular Maryland starters – alongside Oluchi Okananwa – that were in uniform for the contest. She got straight to work with a point-blank layup and two threes. Her shooting from beyond the arc has continued to trend in a positive direction as Maryland heads toward the heart of conference play.
Maryland’s biggest advantage over smaller conference and mid-major opponents is its ability to completely smother any offensive gameplan its opponent might have had. The Hornets entered the game with just decent offensive efficiency numbers, and they left with worse.
In the first quarter, the Hornets managed just six points. Three came from a difficult and-one finish, and the other three came from a deep, contested 3-pointer. Maryland’s length and athleticism prevented Delaware State from creating any open looks in one-on-one scenarios out of its half-court offense.
The timing of the game was fortunate for Maryland, which is currently down to just four healthy guards. Two of them, Rainey Welson and Kyndal Walker, didn’t look poised to play a lot of minutes prior to the team’s injury trouble.
Similarly to her only other start, which came against Bethune-Cookman, Walker put together a solid evening orchestrating the offense. Her contributions helped Maryland win the first half by 40 — it allowed just 11 points and put up 51.
Contrary to Walker, Welson played sparingly. She was only on the court for 10 minutes, and didn’t log any statistics besides a single assist. Every other Terp scored at least three points, and five managed double digits. Maryland also managed to limit its own turnovers to a season-low nine.
The Terps cruised past a Delaware State team that clearly never had a real chance. It was an uncompetitive affair, but maybe that’s exactly what the doctor ordered fresh off a heart-attack-inducing double overtime victory against Minnesota.
Three things to know
1. Isi’s double-double. Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu notched her first double-double in a Maryland uniform finishing with 11 points and 11 rebounds. She also contributed to Maryland’s suffocating defense, picking up three steals and protecting the rim.
2. Historic defensive effort. On top of allowing an all-time low in points, Maryland forced Delaware State into 30 turnovers, including multiple 10-second and shot clock violations. The Hornets made just seven field goals all night.
3. Terps get a break. Between the end of this blowout and Maryland’s next game, the banged-up Terps will have a nine-day break, their longest this season. Maryland will host Central Connecticut in its final nonconference contest.
