WASHINGTON, D.C. — A couple minutes into the second quarter, Maryland women’s basketball guard Taylor Mikesell dribbled upcourt and pulled up for a contested midrange jumper. The five-star freshman drained the shot over a George Washington defender, but coach Brenda Frese still didn’t seem happy with the shot selection.
Three possessions prior, Mikesell had shown a similarly quick trigger and bricked a deep three-pointer in transition. All Frese could do was shake her head as she watched one of her team’s 11 missed 3-pointers in the first half.
So even though Mikesell converted on her second hasty attempt, the coach immediately addressed the shot with Mikesell, motioning with her arm to show Mikesell she should’ve kicked the ball to the wing to an open teammate.
Mikesell didn’t see the court again for seven minutes, and the team seemed to get the message. The Terps pounded the lane against the Colonials after intermission, taking just four shots from three in the second half. A suffocating defensive effort allowed Maryland to fight through its second ice-cold shooting night in its first three games and knock off George Washington, 69-30.
“We’re still learning and growing,” Frese said. “We’re trying to teach our team that our advantage is going to be different every night. I like the response that we had after halftime of understanding that. … They’re easy to coach and understood the message of what needed to take place tonight.”
As ugly as the Terp offense was at times Wednesday, the Colonials had a far worse night.
Before halftime, George Washington shot 17.2 percent and committed nine turnovers. It got worse in the third quarter.
The Terps nearly pitched a shutout in the third quarter. Until guard Maddie Loder drained a three-pointer from the right wing with 1:29 left in the period, George Washington was held off the board in the period. Even with the make, the Colonials were held to just 6-of-43 shooting entering the final 10 minutes.
“We realized we were holding them scoreless most of the third quarter,” guard Kaila Charles said. “So it was an eye opening thing to see that. Because we see how when we lock in as a team we can play good defense.”
While Maryland’s defense painted a masterpiece, its offense couldn’t find a rhythm.
In their first two games, the Terps averaged 16 turnovers and shot 45.6 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from three-point range.
Despite the attention put into offense during practice this week, Maryland still struggled to knock down shots Wednesday, hitting 46.3 percent of their shots but going 2-for-15 from beyond the arc.
Forward Brianna Fraser led all scorers with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting, and forward Shakira Austin just missed a double-double with eight points and 12 boards. Mikesell and guard Blair Watson each made one of the Terps’ two three-point shots, but the pair combined to go 2-for-11 from deep.
The performance by Fraser was a season-best for the senior. She had just nine points in the first two games combined, but against the Colonials, Fraser was the Terps’ go-to target.
“My teammates were just pounding it inside,” Fraser said. “They saw we had an advantage in the post, and they just kept feeding us.”
In the final tuneup before heading on the road to face No. 10 South Carolina on Sunday, Maryland looked the part of a team picked to finish at the top of the Big Ten — but only on one end. For the Terps to knock off the Gamecocks, they will have to solve their offensive struggles.
“I like the steps we’re making three games in,” Frese said. “And when we go down [to South Carolina,] it’s going to be a bigger environment, another road test for us. And so we’re going to learn a lot about our team.”
