Before the Terrapins women’s basketball team’s sharpshooters took over during their first-round win over No. 13-seed Army in the NCAA tournament first round on Sunday, the team’s scoring started on the inside.
The Terps scored their first eight points in the paint, while their initial jump shots weren’t falling. Their reliable frontcourt, however, hasn’t faced a team with size like No. 5-seed Texas. During the No. 4-seed Terps’ matchup against the Longhorns in the round of 32 tonight, they’ll look to contain Texas’ size to take control of the matchup.
“They are a big, huge team compared to us,” center Alicia DeVaughn said. “We just can’t fall mentally for that.”
The Longhorns have three players in their rotation who are 6-feet-4 or taller, with 6-foot-7 center Imani McGee-Stafford leading the frontcourt. Averaging 10.9 points and 7.4 rebounds this season, McGee-Stafford had 20 points and 12 rebounds in the Longhorns’ first-round win over Penn.
With Texas’ size a significant part of its offense, coach Brenda Frese expects DeVaughn and center Brionna Jones — who are 6-feet-4 and 6-feet-3, respectively — to have more defensive responsibility than usual. Center Malina Howard, also listed at 6-feet-4, and 6-foot-2 forward Tierney Pfirman will be additional options for the Terps’ frontcourt rotation.
“They are extremely up-tempo and obviously they rebound extremely hard,” Frese said. “So it’s going to take a tremendous team effort. Obviously, our bigs are going to be key as far as defending their bigs and the depth they have.”
In addition to containing the Longhorns’ inside presence, the Terps will look to continue their accurate shooting performance from their first-round matchup, in which they shot better than 53 percent from three-point range. With Texas clogging the paint, successful three-point shooting could help spread the Longhorns defense.
With the Longhorns stretched, the Terps could have an easier time driving to the hoop.
“They are big, but their big girl doesn’t really leave the paint. Our outside shooting isn’t going to have her come out,” guard Lexie Brown said. “Our goal is pretty much to get Imani in foul trouble. But our three-ball is going to be so important because if they are worried about us, then we can get the ball inside and pound it in there and get her out of the game.”
For the Terps, it will be the last game at Comcast Center this year, which has motivated the upperclassmen to finish their home slate on a positive note.
“You just don’t want to get those emotions mixed up,” DeVaughn said. “You want to stay focused, and you want to win this game. You just can’t worry about that right now.”
But the main focus will be finding ways around the Longhorns’ size, so tonight’s matchup won’t be like past games this season. Even if the Terps can’t start their offense with early layups, finding ways to wear down Texas’ inside presence will be key.
“They are big,” Frese said. “They are really big. They have tremendous size inside. We have to be able to do some things to combat that.”
