There were errant passes and careless drops, and they hindered the Terrapins women’s basketball team in the first half of its first-round NCAA Tournament matchup with Iona on Saturday afternoon.
In the first half alone, the Terps, who entered the game averaging 15.6 turnovers per game, gave the ball away 11 times. By the end of the game, that number ballooned to 19 against the 15th-seeded Gaels, who cut the lead down to seven early in the fourth quarter.
But the No. 2-seed Terps strung together enough baskets down the stretch to overcome their turnover issues. In the end, they held on for a 74-58 win at Xfiniter Center against Iona, which made 10 shots from downtown.
The Terps will play No. 7-seed Washington, which beat No. 10-seed Penn, on Monday.
“We looked like we hadn’t played a game in two weeks,” Frese said. “If you’ve seen us all year, there was rust on our offense. We weren’t reversing the ball. We were giving ourselves one option within the offense. So I expect that we’ll be able to clean that up.”
Guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough said many of the Terps turnovers came from trying to force the ball into First-Team All-Big Ten center Brionna Jones. Walker-Kimbrough said her team did a better job taking what the defense gave them in the second half, though. Jones, meanwhile, finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The turnovers decreased over the final 20 minutes, but the Iona offense came alive in the third quarter with 21 points. Iona guard Philecia Gilmore then hit her seventh trey of the game early in the final frame to cut the Terps’ lead to 60-53, sending the small contingent of Gaels fans into a frenzy.
That’s as close as they would get, however, as guard Brene Moseley (15 points) and center Malina Howard (10 points) scored the next five Terps’ baskets to put their team up 14.
“They’re a very dynamic team, and any one of them can step up on any given night,” Gaels coach Billi Godsey said. “I think they’re going to make a long run in this tournament.”
Walker-Kimbrough, the Terps’ leading scorer, led the team with 19 points on 4 of 9 shooting. The majority of her production came on the foul line, as the 5-foot-11 junior shot 10-for-10 from the charity stripe. The Terps shot 15-for-19 from the line to go along with 58 percent shooting from the field.
Unlike their Big Ten Tournament championship win over Michigan State, when the Terps shot 34.9 percent and scored a season-low 60 points, coach Brenda Frese’s squad came out Saturday on fire from the field.
Behind six points from forward Tierney Pfirman, the Terps tallied 26 points in the opening 10 minutes on 11-for-14 shooting. The explosive start allowed the Terps to get out to a double-digit lead despite Gilmore, who hit three first-quarter long balls from the left wing.
The Terps extended their lead before halftime, mostly thanks to improving on defense. The turnovers continued to mount, but the MAAC conference tournament champions shot 11 of 32 in the first half, allowing the Terps to enter intermission with a comfortable lead that provided a cushion down the stretch.
And when the game tightened up late, the Terps leaned on their defense again. Iona missed their final 10 shots and underwent a scoring drought of nearly four minutes to end the game.
“We have a lot of experience with four seniors, and then Bri and Shatori, so just a lot of upperclassman and leadership,” Howard said. “That really helps a lot. It helps when thing do get a little chaotic, we’ve been there and we’ve been through games like that.”
Howard emphasized the biggest area the Terps need to improve on before Monday’s game is taking care of the ball.
After their game, the Terps consumed a postgame meal and watched the Huskies and Quakers battle it out on television.
