Even before the Terrapins women’s basketball team’s game with Minnesota on Sunday night, coach Brenda Frese knew forward Tierney Pfirman would have an impressive offensive showing.
Frese said Pfirman has been playing all season at “probably 80 to 85 percent” because of a hamstring injury, which forced her to miss the first three games. But the veteran coach noticed a change in the forward during Saturday’s practice. It reminded her of watching Pfirman play before the highly touted recruit arrived in College Park.
“She looked 100 percent,” Frese said. “She was running, jumping, exploding like I had never seen her in a practice. This is what she looked like in high school.”
Frese’s prediction held true a day later, as the 6-foot-2 Pfirman celebrated her Senior Day at Xfinity Center with an explosive offensive performance. Pfirman scored a career-high 29 points — her previous career high was 17 points her freshman year — on 12 of 19 shooting to help the Terps rout the Golden Gophers and clinch their second straight Big Ten regular-season title.
“She was a monster,” Frese said.
Pfirman has been an offensive spark off the bench this season — she entered the game averaging eight points in 15.9 minutes — but Frese started the Williamsport, Pennsylvania, native alongside the three other seniors and junior guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough on Sunday.
For the second time since her freshman year in 2012 — when she started 12 contests — Pfirman heard her name blasted over the PA system before the game and watched the opening tip from the court rather than the sidelines.
It marked the first time all year the Terps seniors began a game on the floor together. Frese said she wanted to honor the sacrifices the four have made for the program over their careers.
“They know what kind of feelings I hold towards our seniors, and why we play the season is for them,” Frese said. “It’s just special to be able to send them out the right way.”
Each senior contributed. Point guards Chloe Pavlech and Brene Moseley both tallied eight assists, while Pavlech totaled a season-high 12 points. Center Malina Howard, meanwhile, scored all eight of her points in the second half after two quick fouls limited the frontcourt starter to two minutes before the break.
But the biggest contribution came from Pfirman, who also brought down a career-high 13 rebounds and forced two steals to go along with her 29 points, all of which came in 24 minutes.
Minnesota coach Marlene Stollings called Pfirman a “very dangerous scorer, especially at the power forward position,” and said her team didn’t contest Pfirman as it should have.
“She’s more like a guard, and we just didn’t get to her quickly enough,” Stollings said. “We were very aware that she can catch and shoot from just about anywhere, and obviously including the three-point line.”
Pfirman’s scoring ability was on full display during a 53-second stretch late in the third quarter.
It started when Golden Gophers guard Carlie Wagner came out to challenge Walker-Kimbrough, leaving Pfirman wide open in the post. Pfirman immediately received a bounce pass from Walker-Kimbrough, before nailing a turnaround jumper over the outstretched arms of guard Karley Barnes, who was late rotating over. The shot drew some applause from the Terps bench.
On the Terps’ next possession, Moseley made a routine pass to Pfirman. She didn’t hesitate, canning a long ball eight seconds into the shot clock. This time, the reserves celebrated Pfirman’s conversion with a standing ovation.
Eighteen seconds later, they were euphoric.
Moseley found Pfirman again, this time for a transition three from the right side. Her third straight bucket caused guard Kiara Leslie to fall to the ground in excitement on the Terps sideline. Minnesota called a timeout as Pfirman screamed toward the rafters and celebrated her personal 8-0 run with her teammates.
“You can definitely tell that she’s rounding out in term of getting healthier and stronger, especially at the right time for us,” Frese said.
In the postgame news conference, a reporter asked Pfirman if she’d ever been as locked in as she was during that sequence. She didn’t give a straightforward response.
“I kind of just go with the flow,” Pfirman said. “I don’t really think about anything. Just go out and have fun and play.”
To her left at the podium was Howard, who nodded her head. The gesture seemed to suggest Pfirman had, in fact, experienced this feeling before.
