Some athletes choose to use an off week vacationing and getting away from the game, but the Terrapin women’s lacrosse team used their bye week to prepare for the stretch run of the season.

The No. 3 Terps (9-1, 2-1 ACC) have had seven days off since their last game, an underwhelming win against Towson, to polish their game for the stretch run of the season. They took full advantage of the practice week.

“I wouldn’t call it a week off,” coach Cathy Reese said. “We are over halfway through the season, we have some tough competition coming up, and we are focusing on what we need to do to get better. We have been focusing on being more disciplined, poised and smarter on both offense and defense. At this point in the season, it’s the little things that are going to make the difference.”

The break could not have come at a better time for the Terps – they had just finished a stretch where they played five games over 15 days. While they won all five, there was room for improvement.

In each of those games, the offense exploded out of the gate, only to tail off in the second half. The Terps used the break to work on those issues.

“It’s been good and much-needed,” senior midfielder Dana Dobbie said. “We have been going and going, game after game. It allowed us to focus on things we wanted to work on. It was much-needed and definitely a positive thing.”

Aside from inconsistent play on the field, the Terps had to overcome head-coaching swaps. Reese missed half of the Terps’ ten games prior to the break. Although they went 4-1 in those games, it was a distraction to deal with.

A break from the grind also gave the Terps time to circle the wagons and work on some of their nagging issues.

“It gave us more time to fix things and work on things,” sophomore midfielder Caitlyn McFadden said. “We are used to having a game, a day off practice, and a game. It’s good to have those extra days to regroup and refocus.”

The Terps’ main focus during the practice week was on the little things. The Terps can go down to the wire with any team in the nation, evidenced by their close matches win then-top-five Duke and Virginia, which puts an added emphasis on the little things that can make the difference in tight game.

So far this season, the Terps have done enough little things to get victories. The Terps are 17th in the nation in caused turnovers and 16th in scoring defense, but rank 63rd in ground balls and commit 21.4 fouls per game. They also have a plus 20 turnover margin despite giving up 153 turnovers, indicative of the fast-paced Terps’ offense.

Conditioning and discipline were also at the top of the Terps practice-week docket.

“We have been working hard running and working hard, getting back to the basics,” senior midfielder Kelly Kasper said. “We have been going through our set offenses and set defenses, getting back to the basics – catching, throwing, and playing good solid team defenses. We have just been working on the small stuff that will help us work on the big stuff.”

So far this season, the little things have managed to cost the Terps a win, when fouling led to their demise in Durham, N.C. On the other side of the spectrum, the Terps have played just one nearly flawless game this season, the upset win over then-No. 2 Virginia.

For an outside observer, those two games stand out as the major high and low points of the season, but for the Terps, there have been no specific high or low points.

“The high point is we are continually getting better,” Dobbie said. “There hasn’t been one moment that has been the highlight, because I know that’s coming up at the end of the year. The great thing is we are continually getting better and nobody has seen our best yet because we are continually building on it.”

Once the Terps get back to game action Friday night, they face a whirlwind finish to the season, with another set of five games in 16 days before the ACC tournament. While most teams would be tentative about such a daunting task, the Terps are excited about the opportunity.

“We have had some really great games,” Reese said. “We have had moments of excellence and moments of lapses. For us it’s just consistency at this point. I am impressed with how far we have come since the start of the year. We are not done growing as a team. We are not playing the best lacrosse we can possibly play, we are shooting for that by the end of the season.”

bkapurdbk@gmail.com