Following Maryland women’s basketball’s third Big Ten tournament title in as many years, guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough acknowledged her team’s season wasn’t finished. The Terps are poised to make an NCAA tournament run.

“Pressure!” Walker-Kimbrough joked to freshman guard Destiny Slocum.

Slocum, somewhat shocked, turned and asked, “Why’d you put it on me?” as the players stood up from the podium.

The sequence represented two teammates playing around, jovial after raising the conference trophy and cutting down the nets at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. But perhaps Walker-Kimbrough placed the weight on Slocum’s shoulders because throughout the season, the freshman has proved she can perform in crucial moments.

“She’s the engine that makes us go,” coach Brenda Frese said. “She’s the point guard we’ve been missing.”

[Read more: Maryland women’s basketball received diverse bench production for the Big Ten title]

Frese didn’t expect Slocum to have jitters during her first conference tournament. The Meridian, Idaho, native had already proved herself on big stages throughout her career, Frese said, including in high school and on the U.S. Under-19 team that played in Russia in 2015.

In Maryland’s loss to No. 1 Connecticut this December, Slocum hit five 3-pointers in a 23-point performance. And over the weekend, she earned a spot on the All-Tournament team by averaging 15 points and six assists.

“She’s a heck of a player,” Michigan State coach Suzy Merchant said after Slocum scored 18 points in Maryland’s semifinal win. “She gives them a head to a monster that they really haven’t had.”

The rookie also shot 40 percent from distance and totaled 10 triples in the Big Ten tournament.

Slocum even drilled one of her trademark buzzer beaters, pulling up from what Merchant estimated was “like 28 feet,” at the end of the third quarter.

“It was big for our team,” Slocum said of her late 3-pointers in Maryland’s 100-89 win. “But I wouldn’t be able to get those shots without my teammates and them giving me confidence to keep shooting.”

After the championship, Slocum was especially grateful for Walker-Kimbrough and center Brionna Jones, who sat on either side of her with the slashed nets draped over their necks.

“To have these two to pass to, it’s crazy,” Slocum said. “They make me look better than I am.”

Walker-Kimbrough provides the team with an accurate shooter and a efficent slasher, while Jones offers a dominant low-post presence. They’ve helped Slocum earn 186 assists, the most ever by a Maryland freshman and sixth-most by any Terp.

But Frese said the relationship also goes the other way.

“She makes everybody else around her better,” the veteran coach said. “She starts everything for us.”

In about two weeks, Slocum will make her first NCAA tournament start. She already knows there will be added pressure.

But based on her past experiences, Slocum likely won’t shy away from the moment.

“This journey started in the summer,” Slocum said, “and we’re still not finished.

“This is one step on a long journey.”