Throughout all of Thursday’s game, No. 12 Maryland women’s basketball searched for a shot to gain a slight edge over USC.
It was a grind. The Terps played into USC’s gameplan, and the contest was extremely
low scoring. Until the final minute, Maryland’s largest lead was five points.
The game was tied at 54 with under three minutes remaining, and Maryland hadn’t made a field goal in the fourth quarter. But Yarden Garzon broke the tie with a deep 3-point heave, which was enough for the Terps to ultimately hold on for the victory, 62-55.
Maryland came in averaging 87 points per game. But Thursday was unlike any other game it had played this season. The Terps had to work for every shot, and free throws got them over the edge.
“I was happy that we could rely on our defense in this game, because this was a game that wasn’t probably the prettiest from an offensive end,” head coach Brenda Frese said. “Defensively, we did some good things to be able to hang in there.”
The Terps shot 20-of-24 from the charity stripe in the second half despite only making seven field goals. But instead of forcing shots, Maryland adjusted. It had two free throw attempts in the first half and played sloppy throughout.
USC’s physicality and defensive prowess was deafening, forcing the Terps to a flat-footed start.
Before Thursday’s matchup, Frese emphasized that USC was physical and defensive-oriented. The Terps didn’t take advantage of that physicality in the first half, but anticipated that its guards would have trouble getting open looks.
In the first half, USC was physical without fouling. That changed in the second half, as Maryland forced its way to the line.
Maryland committed 13 first-half turnovers, emphasizing its difficult start; it was too reckless. But despite these shortcomings, it only trailed by one heading into halftime.
Both teams came into Thursday needing a bounce-back victory. Early on, it appeared as though the Trojans wanted it more. They were more physical, but shot the ball poorly. USC had 15 more shot attempts than Maryland in the first half.
Those Trojan shooting struggles were what ultimately gave Maryland just enough leeway to win the game in the second half.
Both teams tried to find momentum from deep, but shot poorly. USC shot 5-of-32 (15.6%) from deep and Maryland shot 4-of-16 (25%).
The talented freshman Jazzy Davidson took advantage of her matchups early on, but she later tailed off. She notched 12 first-quarter points, then didn’t score for the rest of the game, missing 16 consecutive shots to finish the game.
“Being able to hold Jazzy was really important,” Frese said. “To be able to hold her 0-for-14 out of that first quarter was really impressive from this group.”
Kara Dunn led USC with 21 points. Meanwhile, the Terps’ distribution was more evenly spread. Addi Mack led the Terps with 12 points, and five Terps scored nine or more points. Maryland needed a collective effort to propel its offense after being top-heavy on Sunday.
The Terps have been consistently shorthanded this season, undergoing a plethora of season-ending injuries. But since conference play began, they have been relatively healthy.
That changed in the first half Thursday.
Rainey Welson went down after a collision with Davidson, where she was elbowed and went straight to the locker room. Welson had scored 12 points in back-to-back games, but did not return on Thursday.
Foul trouble also hurt the Terps. Oluchi Okananwa got into foul trouble on Sunday against Ohio State, and her absence fueled the Buckeyes to come back in the first half. It happened again. Okananwa was a non-factor in the first half, only playing eight minutes and scoring two points.
Okananwa finished with seven points, but the Terps didn’t need one of her signature high-scoring performances. Instead, they needed a run to gain a slight advantage.
And after a lull of slow back-and-forth, the Terps embarked on a 6-0 run on back-to-back and-one conversions. Davidson went to the bench late in the third quarter with knee pains and the Terps capitalized from the free throw line. Meanwhile, the Trojans went without a field goal for four minutes.
The Trojans fought back with a 7-0 run in the fourth to take a slight lead, but the Terps never relented for a signature Big Ten road victory.
“I like where we’re trending. I love where our bench is at,” Frese said. “You see, the confidence that they’re playing with.”
Three things to know
1. A game like March. The Terps have won close Big Ten games this season, but hadn’t played in a game like Thursday’s. It was a defensively-focused game — the Terps played into USC’s style and grinded out a back-and-forth win. There were no double-digit leads and no comebacks needed.
“A big thing for us has been stressing the communication piece and staying together,” Mack said. “Throughout the game, we did a really good job of, regardless of what adversity we face, we all came together.”
2. Second half free throw success. The Terps had one trip to the free throw line in the first half, but used their ability to get to the charity stripe to win the game in the second half. The Terps shot 20-of-24 (83.3%) from the free-throw line in the second half, accounting for 57% of their points.
3. Turnovers an issue. Despite grinding out the win, the Terps committed 19 turnovers on Thursday, which allowed the Trojans to take 21 more shots. Maryland’s strong shot contests allowed it to overcome that deficit despite having 10 more turnovers.
“We were all locked in on defense communication, that’s been a big thing in practice,” Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu said. “If I’m not communicating, no one else is going to communicate.”
