Malina Howard struggled to make an impact last season when the Terrapins women’s basketball team reached the NCAA tournament. The center, who made the 2013 All-ACC freshman team, scored two points in the Terps’ three tournament games, and eventual national champion Connecticut bounced the Terps in the Sweet 16.

This year, though, Howard’s postseason is off to a more encouraging start.

Howard ended Texas’ 12-0 run with a layup while getting fouled with 1:23 left to play in the first half of Tuesday’s matchup with the No. 5-seed Longhorns in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Her and-one started a pivotal run that helped the Terps erase a six-point deficit and enter halftime with the score tied, and she finished with nine points and three rebounds in the 69-64 win.

Entering the No. 4-seed Terps’ Sweet 16 matchup against No. 1-seed Tennessee on Sunday at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky., Howard hopes to continue her solid play after moving to a bench role after beginning the season as a starter.

“Seeing it all coming together for her at a really special time, it’s been fun to be able to see all of her hard work start to pay off for her,” coach Brenda Frese said.

In her freshman year, Howard averaged 6.7 points and 4.1 rebounds off the bench while playing behind starting center Alicia DeVaughn and former forward Tianna Hawkins. But when the NCAA tournament began, Howard’s production dropped off.

She scored two points and shot 1-of-14 from the field in last season’s tournament, and she finished 0-of-6 with one rebound in the Terps’ Sweet 16 loss in Bridgeport, Conn.

This time, with a season of experience, Howard already has 15 points and five rebounds in two tournament games.

“I think that after having one year of experience in it, you have an advantage,” Howard said. “Being a freshman is always a little bit more difficult. But I think that throughout this year my teammates have helped me get ready, and we’ve helped the freshmen get ready and it’s just all about being prepared.”

Howard had six points and two rebounds while helping to hold No. 13-seed Army to six points in the paint during the first round Sunday. Against a long Texas frontcourt two days later, she scored seven points in the first half, keeping the Terps in the game while their starters struggled.

Frese moved Howard to a bench role after the center started the first 11 games of the season to play a starting lineup with three guards. After center Brionna Jones emerged as a starter late in the season, Howard remained as a substitute, but she continued contributing.

“I don’t think there’s really any difference, no matter if you’re starting, no matter if you’re coming off the bench,” Howard said. “You have to go out there and play hard and play smart and give all of our effort and play as hard as you can. All you can do is control the things you can control.”

Howard played 30 minutes against the Longhorns on Tuesday, her most minutes since playing a season-high 34 in a loss to Connecticut on Nov. 15.

“She never gave up,” Frese said after Tuesday’s game. “She continued to keep fighting in practice and continued to keep working.”

The Terps’ depth has played a significant part in their two postseason wins, but Sunday, they face a Tennessee team with nine players who average 15 minutes or more. Against another deep team, the Terps will look to Howard to continue the steady play she’s displayed in this year’s NCAA tournament while avoiding the struggles she experienced on the big stage a season ago.

“It makes us a more dominant team,” Frese said. “When you have someone like Alicia and Brionna that are in the starting lineup, but then you have that tremendous spark off the bench. It just makes you that much more dangerous.”