When the Maryland women’s basketball team got up to scrimmage at Maryland Madness, there were no players left on the bench.
The Terps have 10 players on their roster.
None of them are the team’s top-three scorers from last year.
So, coach Brenda Frese’s team at Maryland Madness looked a lot different than the squads that have played at Xfinity Center the last few years.
“Tonight’s just a lot of fun,” Frese said. “We put in a lot of work in the summer and the fall, this is just a fun night for them to kind of celebrate the hard work they’ve put in up to this point.”
That work, however, has been moderated even more closely than usual.
With so few players, the Terps have made sure to be as efficient as possible to avoid fatigue, said guard Kristen Confroy.
Center Aja Ellison is still touch-and-go, sitting out some practices as she recovers from a knee injury that forced her to redshirt last season. The Terps will have just nine players for the first month of the season as Florida transfer Eleanna Christinaki waits to become eligible.
[Read more: Maryland basketball expects Justin Jackson to step up after losing Melo Trimble]
Guard Ieshia Small said Maryland Madness was an exciting chance for the Terps to show fans what they’ll look like this season.
The graduation of star duo Shatori Walker-Kimbrough and Brionna Jones and transfer of National Freshman of the Year Destiny Slocum took three of the Terps’ starters and over half of their scoring from last season.
Three more transfers shredded the team’s depth, making even a five-on-five scrimmage for Maryland Madness a stretch.
“We’ve been in this situation before,” Frese said, noting how the graduation of forward Alyssa Thomas in 2014 led to the emergence of Walker-Kimbrough and Jones. “This is my favorite part, is building a team in terms of moving forward.”
But Frese and the Terps aren’t counting on the emergence of two all-time greats like Walker-Kimbrough and Jones to help the team move forward from this period of uncertainty.
“It’s less of one person being a hero,” Confroy said, “and more of us each taking a small step forward.”
Confroy started last season but averaged just over five points per game. Guard Kaila Charles, the team’s other returning starter, was viewed as a defensive stopper as a freshman rather than a significant offensive threat. Reserves like Small and forward Brianna Fraser were role players.
This year, that all changes, and Maryland Madness represented one of the first steps forward in life after Walker-Kimbrough and Jones.
“We’ve moved on,” Confroy said. “It’s good for the fans to see that and that we have a different team. We’re ready and we’re excited for it.”