Terrapins women’s basketball center Brionna Jones couldn’t receive the ball in the post Monday without a host of Washington players collapsing on her.
Huskies center Chantel Osahor, a 6-foot-2 junior, was on Jones’ back for much of the game, refusing to give up ground to the first-team All-Big Ten performer. Osahor received helped from the guards, too, as they would leave their spots in the 2-3 zone to help against the Terps’ 6-foot-3 junior.
It was a defensive game plan that turned Jones (15.2 points per game) into a nonfactor in the Terps’ second-round NCAA Tournament loss to the No. 7-seed Huskies on Monday night.
Jones finished with a season-low four points on 2-of-7 shooting — it marked the third time the Havre de Grace native failed to score in double digits — and the Terps perimeter players couldn’t do enough offensively to overcome her lackluster performance.
“It was job one, two, three and four,” Huskies coach Mike Neighbors said. “We were going to make [guard] Shatori Walker-Kimbrough be the All-American that she is today. Stopping Brionna Jones was key for us. If you look at what we did in the Pac-12, whomever we play we try to take away their post player and just see how many threes they can make.”
But Walker-Kimbrough, the second half of the Terps’ All-Big Ten duo, was also quiet for the majority of the contest. Despite averaging nearly 20 points per game, the 5-foot-11 junior shot 2 of 7 for six points at intermission.
It was guards Kristen Confroy and Brene Moseley, who combined for 15 first-half points, who led to the Terps to a five-point lead after 20 minutes.
Walker-Kimbrough became more active in the fourth quarter, knocking down three 3-pointers, but by that point the Terps were frantically trying to make a comeback and save their season.
“I should’ve been that aggressive in the first half, but I can’t take that back,” Walker-Kimbrough said. “I had to start looking for my own shot. I had to be more aggressive and try to provide a spark for my team offensively.”
Frese said it was more difficult for Walker-Kimbrough and the other guards to operate with the Terps lacking an inside scoring presence.
Plus, the Huskies packed into a zone defense, daring the Terps to beat them from behind the arc. Walker-Kimbrough and Confroy obliged, combining to make 8 of 19 from 3-point range, but the Terps hit the long ball at a 35.7 percent clip on a season-high 28 attempts.
In comparison, they shot a season-low five free throws.
“Their length gave us problems, and even when we were able to penetrate, we were a little hesitant,” Frese said. “I thought we played not to lose instead of playing to win. It was a tough lesson to have to learn when you take a loss like that.”
Jones, whose two baskets came on put backs, said she was “overthinking the game too much.” She said she sometimes forced shots up shortly after receiving the ball instead of making a decision based on how the defense played her.
Frese said the Huskies put together a “terrific scout” on Jones, who gave the ball away three times and committed four fouls. The veteran coach wanted to shift the conversation about Jones, though.
“I want to focus on all of the games that Brionna Jones has helped us win throughout the course of her career,” Frese said. “It’s a tough night for her to go out like this, but we wouldn’t have won 31 games if we didn’t have the consistency of her.”
Even in games the Terps did lose, Jones played well. She scored an average of 26 points against top-ranked Connecticut on Dec. 28 and then-No. 7 Ohio State on Feb. 8, keeping the Terps within striking distance in eventual defeats.
But the Huskies made it a priority to shut down Jones, and it proved costly for the Terps in their season-ending loss.
