Guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough steals the ball and takes it to the hoop when the Terps led Loyola 38-26 heading into halftime at Xfinity Center on Nov. 24, 2014.
Coach Brenda Frese walked onto the court Monday night with her arms folded and head shaking as she called a timeout with 8:12 remaining in the first half of the Terrapins women’s basketball game against Loyola.
After jumping out to an early 15-3 lead, the Terps’ advantage quickly had shrunk to two points before Frese gathered her players together during the stoppage of play. They would allow five points the rest of the half and extend their lead back to 12 entering the break.
Frese’s squad sustained the defensive pressure after halftime. And despite turning the ball over 20 times, the No. 10 Terps earned a 65-43 victory over the Greyhounds at Xfinity Center.
“We had a really sluggish game,” Frese said. “Especially the first half, I thought we came out really slow.”
The Terps (5-0) looked to bounce back after a sloppy first half against George Washington on Saturday. But against a winless Loyola team, they failed to demonstrate noticeable improvement in the opening 20 minutes.
Instead, the Terps turned the ball over nine times in the first half and tossed up three air balls from three-point range. Guard Lexie Brown knocked down the Terps’ first two three-point looks, but they hit just one of their next eight shots from behind the arc to finish the half.
“We had open threes,” center Malina Howard said. “When we have open shots, we take them.”
The Greyhounds (0-4) used a zone defense that caused the Terps problems for stretches of the first half. The Terps settled for long jump shots instead of driving the lane or feeding the post players, who had a significant size advantage.
“They were a lot smaller,” said Howard, who attempted two shots in the game. “We could’ve got the ball in a little more.”
On defense, the Terps gave up open looks underneath the basket and on the perimeter. Loyola’s motion offense frequently ran down the shot clock, but the Greyhounds seemingly always found an open shooter before the buzzer sounded.
Guard Lisa Mirarchi was often the one burning the Terps defense. The sophomore went 4 of 5 from the floor, including 2 of 2 from three-point range, to lead all scorers with 12 points at the break.
“She did a terrific job in terms of getting open looks,” Frese said.
The Terps used their height to dominate the glass and pulled down nine offensive rebounds in the opening period to help take a 38-26 lead into the locker room.
Still, the sloppiness carried over after halftime, and the Terps committed five turnovers in the first four minutes of the second half. But Frese turned to a defensive press that eventually put the game out of reach.
“When we went to our press, we got quick turnovers,” said guard Laurin Mincy, who picked up two steals and led the Terps with 13 points.
The increased defensive pressure helped the Terps stifle Loyola for the final 20 minutes of the game. The Terps limited the Greyhounds to 17 second-half points on 7 of 31 shooting.
While the Terps struggled shooting the ball in the second half as well, the Terps benefited from a balanced scoring attack that featured 11 of the 12 players scoring.
However, Frese acknowledged that Monday night was another uncharacteristic showing despite the 22-point victory.
And the 13th-year coach is looking for an improved performance when the Terps travel to San Juan, Puerto Rico, this weekend.
“I’m disappointed in our play,” Frese said. “We can play a lot better.”
