The Terrapins women’s basketball team’s game plan entering its rematch with No. 7 Ohio State was to limit Buckeyes guard Kelsey Mitchell in transition. After all, Mitchell, the nation’s fourth-leading scorer at
25.1 points per game, dropped 28 in the Terps’ 80-71 loss Jan. 2 by shooting 10-for-20 from the field and making five trips to the foul line.
But after forcing Mitchell into a contested three on the Buckeyes’ first possession Monday night, the Terps’ defensive scheme faltered. The speedy point guard received an outlet pass behind halfcourt, sprinted down the floor and knifed between three defenders before converting the and-1.
“They punched first, we took the punch, and we just never threw our punch back,” guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough said.
Mitchell’s three-point play ignited Ohio State’s 7-0 run to start the game, and the No. 5 Terps never fully recovered in their 94-86 loss at Value City Area. So entering a home tilt Thursday against Purdue, the Terps hope to get off to a quick start, just as they have in nearly every other game this season.
“With great teams, you can’t afford to do that,” sophomore guard Kristen Confroy said. “I felt a lot of the game we were just trying to fight back from their runs and never kind of have our own runs to kind of give ourselves the fuel that we needed.”
With a veteran-laden starting five of two seniors and two juniors — Confroy rounds out the lineup — the Terps have rarely fallen behind early in games. They’ve trailed after the first quarter just five times this season, including against No. 1 Connecticut.
Plus, they finished the opening period tied or with the lead in 21 of their 23 games entering Monday night’s matchup.
Coach Brenda Frese, who has used the same lineup the past 14 contests, said the Terps’ experience allows them to start games well.
“Our starting five have clicked really strong,” Frese said. “They understand the mentality of kind of coming out and punching first.”
The hot start was absent against the Buckeyes, however, as the Terps were held scoreless and committed three turnovers by the time Frese called a 30-second timeout two minutes, 28 seconds into the game with her team down seven.
The Buckeyes held a 10-point advantage later in the frame, marking the Terps’ largest first-quarter deficit of the season. The Terps got within 24-19 by the end of the opening 10 minutes, but Mitchell and guard Ameryst Alston, both of whom made the Naismith Midseason List announced Wednesday, set the tone on their home court the rest of the game.
“Anytime you go on the road, tough environment, you have to come out or you see a direct result of not being prepared and ready to play,” Frese said.
Alston, the Buckeyes’ second-leading scorer at 18.6 points per game, scored 12 points on 4-for-17 shooting in the teams’ first meeting but caught fire from behind the arc early Monday night.
Confroy said Alston received open shots because the Terps focused too much on limiting Mitchell, while Frese insisted her team’s lack of defensive pressure left Alston open for long-range shots against the zone.
Either way, the two-time All-Big Ten performer got into a rhythm right away.
Each time the Terps crept closer during the first quarter, Alston drilled a long ball. She hit three 3-pointers in a span of 75 seconds and finished the game with 22 points. Mitchell, meanwhile, dropped a game-high 33 in the Buckeyes’ victory.
The Terps (21-3, 10-2 Big Ten) will not see a lethal scoring duo Thursday night against Purdue (16-7, 7-5), but they’ll face a Boilermakers squad eager to avenge their loss to the Terps just more than a week ago.
Frese’s team got out to a 13-4 lead in that contest. It’ll hope to have a similar start after failing to do so Monday night.
“Just being able to play from jump ball,” Walker-Kimbrough said. “We didn’t come out hard, and it hurt us.”
