In their two meetings last season, Georgetown star Sugar Rodgers was nothing but a giant thorn in the Terrapins women’s basketball team’s side.
The two-time All-America guard scored 55 points in two wins against the Hoyas’ regional rival, including a 34-point performance in an NCAA Tournament blowout that ended the Terps’ season.
But only months after transforming into an unstoppable force against the Terps, it seemed at times Sunday as if Rodgers was barely even on the court in the No. 11 Terps’ 72-53 rout of the Hoyas.
Normally the key to No. 10 Georgetown’s offensive attack, the sweet-shooting Rodgers was almost completely neutralized by the Terps’ defense, scoring just four points on 1-for-12 shooting, including an 0-for-4 performance from beyond the arc. Rodgers’ frustration in Comcast Center was palpable as she left the floor before the game’s waning seconds ticked off in the second half, having fouled out in the game’s final minute.
Her performance Sunday stood in stark contrast to her final stat lines against the Terps last season, when she shot better than 53 percent from the field in the two games, including a 10-for-17 mark from beyond the 3-point line.
The Terps’ defensive efforts stood as a testament to how much they’d improved in the offseason, coach Brenda Frese said. That couldn’t have been any better exemplified than in the 19-point victory Sunday.
“We’re in some of the best physical shape we could possibly be in,” Frese said. “When you talk about being in that kind of shape, that allows you defensively to do a lot of things, and this team as a whole has committed themselves [to that].”
Georgetown coach Terri Williams-Flournoy wasn’t so quick to hand credit to the Terps’ defense, however. Noting that Rodgers is “one of the best players in the country,” Williams-Flournoy said, “Sugar won’t have these types of nights [again]. It just won’t happen.”
“I think they did an OK job on Sugar; I think Sugar just had an off night,” Williams-Flournoy added. “Sugar still got up 12 shots, but she missed some free throws. Sugar Rodgers never misses free throws.”
“Like coach said, I just had a bad shooting night,” Rodgers said. “[The defense] was OK, but I know I can shoot.”
Frese noted Rodgers “showed that she was human” Sunday, but she still couldn’t understate her pleasure with her team’s defense. Georgetown may have been quick to downplay the Terps’ defensive prowess, but Frese said that even without double-teaming Rodgers, the Terps’ individual defenders were able to corral her all afternoon.
“The only time we tried to double her was off of ball screens,” Frese said. “But a lot of her play was just slashing to the rim, and I thought Laurin [Mincy] and Kim [Rodgers] did a tremendous job of staying in front of her.”
Sunday’s victory over Georgetown was just one win in a long season, but a stifling defensive effort against one of the game’s brightest stars showcased the Terps’ realistic expectations of grabbing many more.
“There’s special things ahead for this team, as long as we stay hungry and humble in our pursuit,” Frese said. “With every practice and every game that we play, we get to create our new identity, and we want to build on this.”
vitale@umdbk.com
