Guard Brene Moseley, who was using crutches, speaks to a reporter at media day.
The last time the Terrapins women’s basketball team took the court in game action was nearly seven months ago at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C. There, the Terps watched the final seconds of a 31-win season tick away as Notre Dame celebrated an 80-49 win that propelled the Fighting Irish to the Final Four.
After a seemingly charmed season that featured numerous late-game heroics down the stretch, it was a bitter end. But that was last season. Yesterday, at the team’s annual media day, the Terps made it clear that while they haven’t forgotten that night, they’ve moved on and are looking forward.
“The biggest compliment I can give to this team from a year ago is that they’re not satisfied,” coach Brenda Frese said. “Obviously, the humbling loss we had to Notre Dame last season really fueled the team into our postseason and our summer in terms of our training.”
Frese called this year’s squad the hardest working group she’s had in her 11 years as coach at this university. Most of the Terps spent the summer in College Park, crafting team chemistry and incorporating the newcomers into the program. The goal was to create bonds that could withstand the inevitable adversity facing the Terps this season, with a schedule including the likes of Connecticut, Nebraska and Delaware, not to mention 18 ACC games.
And even before the season’s first tipoff, the Terps have already come face to face with their first challenge.
Guard Brene Moseley, the Terps’ projected starter at point guard, was on crutches yesterday, and Frese revealed in her opening comments the sophomore had hurt her knee injury in a Sunday scrimmage.
“Yesterday, in our scrimmage, she went down with a knee injury,” Frese said. “We’re waiting for the results of the MRI she took today, but it’s a possible [torn] ACL going into this season.”
Moseley’s possible absence could have a lasting impact on the Terps’ offense this season. Last year’s starting point guard, Anjale Barrett, graduated, leaving Moseley as the team’s primary option entering the season. Now, Frese said the Terps could go with a point guard-by-committee approach led by guards Laurin Mincy, Chloe Pavlech and Sequoia Austin, with forwards Alyssa Thomas and Tierney Pfirman helping out with ball-handling duties.
“We just got to stay positive,” said Thomas, the reigning ACC Player of the Year. “We don’t really know what the outcome is going to be, but, like we said from the beginning, we’re going to be facing adversity this year, but it’s going to be how we respond. No matter what the situation is, we’re going to respond in a positive way.”
Even if Moseley is out for an extended period of time, the Terps still return a wealth of experience from last year’s squad. Four starters — Mincy, Thomas, forward Tianna Hawkins and center Alicia DeVaughn — are returning, and the team is bringing in a top-10 recruiting class that includes Pavlech, Pfirman and center Malina Howard.
Howard, the country’s top-ranked post player, is expected to make a significant impact inside alongside Hawkins, the nation’s leader in field-goal percentage last year.
The Terps also add guard Katie Rutan, a transfer from Xavier who sat out last season, to the mix as a 3-point specialist. Rutan, a redshirt junior, went to two NCAA Tournaments in her two years at Xavier, including an Elite Eight appearance in 2010, before watching the Terps’ 2011-2012 run from the bench.
Frese has built a team of players who have won at every level they’ve played. But as Terps, they haven’t won enough to be satisfied. They’ve gotten over how last season ended in Raleigh, but they won’t forget it.
“It’s a big motivation,” Mincy said. “It’s definitely going to fuel us this season. Last season, we lost in the Elite Eight, and that’s something that we never want to feel again.”
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