Guard Lexie Brown looks disappointed from the bench during the No.1-seed Terps’ win over No. 4-seed Duke in the Sweet 16 on March 28, 2015 at Spokane Arena.
SPOKANE, Wash. — Before the start of the NCAA tournament, Terrapins women’s basketball assistant coach Shay Robinson sat behind the desk in his office and recalled memories of preteen Lexie Brown, an emotional player. He commented on her improved maturity as a sophomore with the Terps, but he alluded to times when her younger mannerisms shine through.
“I can see it creeping in at times during games when she misses one or misses two in a row,” Robinson said.
In a Sweet 16 matchup with Duke on Saturday, Brown missed all seven of her attempts from the field. And her body language matched her statline. When Brown took a seat on the bench with 11:28 left, she remained there with her shoulders hunched for the next 11 minutes.
But even with their floor general — one of 10 semifinalist’s for the Naismith Trophy Women’s College Player of the Year — scoring one point, the No. 1-seed Terps advanced to the Elite Eight with a 65-55 win over No. 4-seed Duke.
“I’m able to get the pulse of our players and I felt Lexie struggling through most of the game,” Terps coach Brenda Frese said. “I kept trying to get her back and get her energy and get her confidence. I just felt like in the second half, I had to make a decision, a tough decision obviously. Just didn’t feel the energy was there.”
Frese turned to redshirt junior guard Brene Moseley, who has plenty of postseason experience, to run the offense while Brown sat. Moseley checked in with the Terps clinging to a 44-41 lead over a surging Blue Devils squad.
The Burtonsville native lined up a 3-pointer from the top of the arc on her first possession of the second half and watched her high-arcing shot rip through the netting at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. It came in the midst of a 7-0 Terps run that pushed the lead to eight points after Duke threatened to pull ahead.
“We are so fortunate to have the depth that we have,” Frese said. “Brene is a player that you talk about three years ago against Texas A&M in the Sweet 16 came in and had big play after big play just like today.”
Moseley, who entered Saturday averaging 5.1 points in 11.1 minutes per game, was one of two Terps players who had beaten Duke in her career before this weekend. She finished the night with eight points and logged 16 crucial minutes at point guard.
After Moseley replaced Brown at the under-12 media timeout, she remained on the floor until the final buzzer.
“Brene’s a big-time player, and she likes the big moment,” said guard Laurin Mincy, who scored all of her 15 points in the first half. “So she came in, and she was really ready.”
Throughout the season, Moseley has stepped up in different moments. She knocked down four free throws in the final 2.8 seconds against Minnesota to help the Terps secure a 77-73 win. In the regular-season finale against then-No. 25 Northwestern, Moseley scored a game-high 18 points to help the Terps secure a perfect regular-season conference record.
The Terps leaned on Moseley’s contributions when Brown was unable to find her stroke at the offensive end. And Moseley will continue to provide a veteran presence during the tournament run.
“I just let my confidence falter a little bit during that game,” Brown said. “I commend Brene to come in and pick up the slack.”
