Sophomore guard Shay Doron is the Terps’ leading scorer, but her teammates have also been scoring.
If Shay Doron had a poor shooting night last season, it was easy to envision the Terrapin women’s basketball team struggling to score.
But with Doron, a sophomore guard, hampered by a sore shoulder this season — an injury that occasionally causes several of her attempts to fall short of the rim — the No. 19-ranked Terps (16-5, 5-4 ACC) have proved they can find the basket even when their leading scorer cannot.
“My shot’s a little off, but that’s not an excuse. Defenses are definitely keying on me a little more, especially against Clemson. They were determined that I was not getting a shot off,” said Doron, who leads the Terps against Wake Forest tonight.
“We proved that I’m not the only scorer on this team. If you stop me, we have a whole lot of other weapons on this team that can score and beat you just as well. Teams can play me all game — they’re still going to lose. And they should know that.”
The Terps have ridden a balanced attack to three straight wins, keyed by ACC rookie of the week Crystal Langhorne, who averages 16.1 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. On the outside, sophomore guard Kalika France (12.1 ppg) repeatedly kills defenses centered on Doron. Against Clemson, freshman guard Ashleigh Newman (seven 3-pointers) proved the Terps have improved their outside shooting.
In addition, sophomore Aurelie Noirez (4.8 ppg) has shown to be a valuable high-post option when opponents pack it in on Langhorne.
“Everybody on this team has a role,” Doron said. “When I’m face-guarded, it’s almost like playing four-on-four, and your role changes. In game situations, you need to know how to change your role as well. We did that unbelievably well against Clemson, especially on offense.”
There are indications Doron’s injury will turn out to be a blessing in disguise, especially as postseason play draws closer.
“I think it’s making us a better team,” coach Brenda Frese said. “To be able to have so much success and to have so many players step up … it’s really helping us in terms of our depth. You can’t just key on one player on our team.”
The Terps hope their team chemistry will continue against Wake Forest. While on paper the Deacons appear not to pose a threat (7-13, 1-7), Clemson was also 1-7 in the conference before nearly pulling off an upset.
“They know every team in this conference; every game counts the same,” Frese said. “They know how important this game is.”
Even with rival Duke waiting Sunday, the Terps know they can’t look ahead.
“We haven’t even talked about Duke yet. We haven’t even thought about Duke yet. We have to take care of business against Wake Forest,” Doron said. “This game is actually more important than the Duke game since they’re in the bottom in the ACC, and Duke — they’re ranked above us anyway. We’re ‘supposed’ to lose to Duke. So we definitely need to get this win.”
