Catalyzed by a 47-0 first-half run, the Maryland women’s basketball team concluded the two-game exhibition portion of its schedule Sunday in dominating fashion, dispatching Mary Baldwin, 153-27.
The No. 6 Terps used a full court press at the start of the game, forcing 10 turnovers in the first four minutes. After the first quarter, the Fighting Squirrels surrendered possession 18 times, while mustering just eight shot attempts.
“These exhibitions give our kids the experience of a game day,” said coach Brenda Frese. “Putting on a jersey and playing in front of our tremendous fans, I think it’s really valuable for us.”
Maryland held an enormous size advantage over the Fighting Squirrels, which manifested itself in several easy buckets for the Terps. Mary Baldwin has a roster of just eight players, none of whom are taller than 5-foot-10. Meanwhile, 11 of Maryland’s 14 players are at least 6-feet.
Mary Baldwin is an all-girls liberal arts college in Staunton, Virginia. The Fighting Squirrels have not won a game since Feb. 11, 2012.
“We give these other kids from other teams the chance to play here at Maryland with our first-class arena in front of our first-class fans,” said Frese.
Sunday’s matchup at Xfinity Center came on the heels of a 146-17 Terp victory over Bluefield State on Nov. 2 that garnered national discussion and was dissected on ESPN’s Around the Horn because of its lopsided outcome.
The win provided another glimpse as to what Maryland might look like this season. The Terps graduated four seniors this past spring from a squad that suffered a second-round exit from the NCAA tournament at the hands of Washington. However, they did add the nation’s top recruiting class, which features three McDonald’s All-Americans. Guards Kaila Charles and Destiny Slocum, both key cogs in the class, started and saw extensive playing time.
Slocum sprinted up and down the court, no matter the score. She was consistently the first player off the bench to greet her teammates at timeouts.
“I feel like there’s not really a time to slow down,” said Slocum, who finished with 11 points and seven assists on the afternoon. “I guess it’s just my personality. I feel if I slow down in these games, then I’ll do it in other games as well.”
Center Jenna Staiti, another piece of the Terps’ highly touted recruiting class, tallied 25 points and eight boards on the day. Twenty-one of those points came in the second half.
“Once I started focusing, I totally changed in the second half,” Staiti said.
Despite the blowout win, Frese said the team missed too many layups, especially in the first half.
Slocum noted the Terps need to do a better job of defending the three-point shot in the future.
“We let up a lot of open looks,” Slocum said. “If that was a better three-point shooting team, they would have made more.”
Maryland will take on UMASS Lowell in a 1 p.m. matinee next Sunday at Xfinity Center.