The key contributors of the Maryland women’s basketball team know they won’t spend a lot of time on the court during early-season games against inferior opponents.
The team has shown the ability to blow out other ranked teams, let alone weaker foes.
The No. 4 Terps (9-0) have won five of their games by at least 40 points, and only two opponents have stayed within 10.
As of late, though, tight scheduling and the team’s youth have caused coach Brenda Frese to rely on her bench more often in the blowouts.
“Depth is a big factor for us this year,” Frese said. “We want to be able to extend those minutes.”
In Maryland’s 78-72 win at No. 8 Louisville on Dec. 1, perhaps the team’s toughest opponent, Frese let her starters take control of the game. Two bench players were on the court for more than 10 minutes and no others logged more than five.
Guards Kristen Confroy and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough played 39 and 40 minutes, respectively.
“That’s way too many,” Frese said. “We have to continue to use these [other] games to be able to gain confidence.”
But the Louisville matchup was the first of five matchups in a 12-day stretch, which continues Thursday night against St. Peter’s.
“It’s a tough stretch,” Confroy said. “But having our depth come in and show what they can do is big for us to grow as a team as we prepare for later down the road and March.”
Frese thought her team was still a bit fatigued from Louisville during its 92-42 win over UMBC, three days removed from defeating the Cardinals.
That’s part of why Walker-Kimbrough matched a season-low 14 minutes against the Retrievers. Entering 2016, the senior hadn’t played so few minutes since her freshman season.
“We got a lot of new players on the team, so we’re just trying to get the chemistry rolling,” Walker-Kimbrough said. “It’s more about the bigger picture.”
Frese welcomed the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class this season and has six newcomers out of 12 active players, so Walker-Kimbrough and other veterans leave blowouts.
The 15th-year coach has been happy with the performances of the reserves. She called guard Blair Watson’s play “terrific” in Tuesday’s 97-63 win over Towson. She almost picked up a highlight-reel assist on the fast break after a steal late in the fourth quarter, but forward Kiah Gillespie couldn’t finish at the rim after receiving her no-look, behind-the-back pass.
“[Watson] really gave us a tremendous addition defensively,” Frese said. “Really making a lot of plays.”
Watson had 10 points, six steals and a block against the Tigers. Meanwhile, in the previous game, Gillespie set a career-high with 13 rebounds.
Those types of contributions have helped keep the starters fresh while Frese evaluates the rotation for the closer games later in the season.
“As competitive as the starters are, I know they want to play more minutes for us. [But] for us to be as good as we want to be, I know we have to be able to extend our depth,” Frese said. “As we’re going into finals given the schedule we face … we have to continue to be sharp.”
