Forward Alyssa Thomas and guard Lexie Brown attempt to block Siena guard Emia Willinghamin the Terps’ 105-49 win over Siena on Dec. 9, 2013.
During the past week, coach Brenda Frese emphasized the importance of the Terrapin’s women’s basketball team entering games with the same focus and intensity as it does during its practices.
Though the Terps have struggled with consistency in a stretch during which they’ve lost three of their past four games, guard Lexie Brown and forward Alyssa Thomas have provided stellar performances in an effort to get the team back on track.
Brown averaged 20 points and 5 assists last week, while Thomas averaged 19.3 points and grabbed 10.7 rebounds per game. The pair’s best performances came against Syracuse, when Brown scored 31 points on 7-of-8 shooting from three-point range, and Thomas had 11 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for her third triple-double of the season.
Thomas has recorded at least a double-double in 18 of her 21 games. The national player of the year candidate also has five triple-doubles in her career, making her one of five players in NCAA history to reach that mark.
Brown’s recent string of success is the latest step in her development this season. The freshman had a career-high 20 points in the Terps’ loss to then-No. 14 N.C. State on Thursday before topping that performance one game later against Syracuse. After getting her first career start against George Washington on Nov. 19, she has remained the top choice at point guard, averaging more than 25 minutes per game, the second most on the team.
Thomas and Brown were the bright spots during a tough stretch for the Terps, and the two will be critical later in the season.
SLOWLY SLIPPING
During a week in which they had a chance to prove how they stack up against some of the nation’s top title contenders — facing No. 2 Notre Dame, then at No. 14 N.C. State three days later — the Terps struggled. As a result, their national rank dropped to a new season low Monday.
The Terps are ranked No. 10, falling in the poll for the second straight week. Ranked No. 8 at the start of the season, they rose to No. 6 after a 79-70 win at then-No.10 North Carolina on Jan. 5 in its ACC opener. But the Terps moved back down to No. 8 after a loss to Virginia on Jan. 23 broke their 14-game winning streak. They went 1-2 last week before dropping to 10th.
Though the Terps’ latest victory came in dominant fashion against a Syracuse team returning from an upset win at North Carolina, their three-game losing streak proved to be a bigger factor in their rank change.
The team shot worse than 30 percent from three-point range during its skid, and it shot a combined 2-of-25 from three in the second half during the stretch. The Terps broke out of their shooting funk against Syracuse, however, as they were successful 69.6 percent of the time from beyond the arc in the contest.
The Terps’ performance against the Orange stopped a worrying streak, but the two prior losses place the team in a less prominent position in the national title conversation. Still, the Terps can look toward the remainder of the season to move back up the poll.
WIDE OPEN ACC
Though the Terps’ latest losses in their ACC campaign have hurt their national ranking, Frese has been satisfied with the challenge their conference games have posed.
“In my 12 years, it’s the deepest it has ever been, which I love,” Frese said.
The ACC has five teams ranked in the top 15 and two in the top five. The Terps are fourth in the conference after reaching the halfway point in their conference slate.
Though the team recently finished a three-game stretch that included two ranked opponents, it still has a matchup at No. 5 Duke, the second-place team in the conference, and a trip to Georgia Tech, who the Terps beat, 92-81, in a seesaw contest on Jan. 19.
“For all of us, I think the ACC tournament is going to be wild,” Frese said. “I think teams that are deep stand a really good chance in the tournament, and then it prepares you for the final run, which is the NCAA tournament.”
