Early in Maryland women’s basketball’s game against Maryland Eastern Shore on Wednesday, coach Brenda Frese ran into a problem. It seemed that no matter whom she played at point guard, they couldn’t prevent themselves from fouling a Hawks player.
By halftime, Destiny Slocum, Ieshia Small and Sarah Myers had two fouls apiece.
Those early fouls forced Frese to adjust her team’s rotations and minutes. But it also gave the Terps a chance to show off their depth in a 106-61 win.
“We were put in a lot of different scenarios, especially early,” Frese said. “We were really able to go to our bench.”
Slocum, the team’s starting point guard, reached in on a Hawks player in the backcourt less than two minutes into the game.
“The first one I got was really stupid on me,” Slocum said. “I wasn’t there on the right time and I lunged for the ball and put myself in a bad situation.”
Small replaced her about four minutes after, but she was called for a bump on defense just two possessions later. So Slocum came right back onto the floor. With 2:40 left, Hawks forward Briana Mack received a pass under the basket with nobody around her. Slocum slid over to try and help defend but made contact with Mack as she went up for the shot.
That brought Myers into the game. The Cumming, Georgia, native played the next seven minutes after playing just three first-half minutes in the team’s blowout win over UMass Lowell on Sunday.
“[Myers] came in and really brought the energy up,” Frese said.
On the first trip down the floor, Myers hit senior guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough for a corner three. Then, the freshman scored a pair of layups with under a minute to play in the first quarter.
“Coach always tells us to be ready when our number’s called,” Myers said. “You never know how long you’re going to be out there.”
Myers earned two more assists before she picked up her second foul with 6:21 left in the second period and returned to the bench. Small had entered the game about a minute earlier, and Slocum replaced her for the final 4:55 of the half.
The shuffling at point guard opened the door for another starting guard, freshman Kaila Charles, to get opportunities. She had 10 points, four rebounds and a pair of steals before halftime.
“When I saw our guards were getting early fouls,” Charles said, “I just wanted to help out in any way I could, whether that was offensively or defensively.”
In the second half, the Terps’ rotation mostly returned to normal. Slocum played the majority of the third quarter before giving way to Small and Myers for the end of the blowout win. That made it easier to forget the game’s earlier stages, when foul trouble sent the Terps into somewhat of a scramble.
Frese said she took advantage of the opportunity to learn more about her players. In the future, though, the team hopes to avoid the situation altogether.
“Being disciplined,” Slocum said of how to stay away from fouls. “Being smarter and being more proactive about knowing how many fouls I have and what to do and what not to do.”
