With less than two minutes left Sunday, Maryland women’s basketball guard Kaila Charles finally finished at the rim over Iowa forward Megan Gustafson, for her first points of the night.

Charles’ layup brought the Terps within four, but for the squad’s leading scorer — who had hit double-digits in her previous six games — the basket was bittersweet, her first make in 12 attempts during a perpetually frustrating night on offense.

With 21 seconds left, Charles fouled out, putting a close to the two-point slog — the lowest single-game total of her career. Without the aid of its primary leader on the offensive end, No. 8 Maryland fell, 86-73, for its first loss to the Hawkeyes since 1992.

“She attracted a lot of the attention defensively,” coach Brenda Frese said. “It was an uncharacteristic game from her. When was the last time you [saw] her not hitting open jumpers?”

[Read more: With Maryland basketball in foul trouble, Iowa star Megan Gustafson took over]

From the onset, something didn’t seem to be right about Charles.

The junior attempted only one shot in the opening 10 minutes, a missed layup after a drive on the Terps’ second possession of the game. When Charles attempted to turn up the intensity at the start of the second quarter, she turned the ball over twice in the opening minute.

After a rough start to the season for Charles’ ball handling — averaging 4.3 giveaways through her first seven games — she’s been tidy lately. By slowing down and better analyzing the defense, the Glenn Dale native improved her ball security.

And following three first-half turnovers against Iowa, Charles settled down for zero after the break.

“In the beginning of the season, one of my biggest flaws was passing and turnovers, and now it’s starting to get a little better,” said Charles, who’s sixth in the Big Ten with 15.7 points per contest. “Now I’m just trying to lock in and do the little things and be as good as my team needs me to be.”

[Read more: No. 7 Maryland women’s basketball’s 8-game win streak snapped in 86-73 loss to No. 14 Iowa]

Still, Charles couldn’t hit from the field. An 0-for-4 first half rapidly snowballed into nine consecutive misses entering the fourth quarter. When the Terps started the final frame with a 9-0 blitz to pull ahead, 59-58, it came while the usual architect of those runs sat on the bench with three fouls.

By the time Charles fouled out, she had converted just one of her 13 attempts. But if recent history is any indication, Charles could be primed for a rebound Thursday against Minnesota.

Following an uneven performance in a 77-60 road defeat to then-No. 17 Michigan State on Jan. 17, she averaged 17.1 points in the next eight contests — all Maryland wins.

“Since day one, [Charles] just came in, put her head down and worked,” forward Brianna Fraser said. “Kaila is a great player.”

So in spite of Charles’ substandard performance against Iowa, the Terps and Frese don’t expect the effects of the outing to linger.

And with another crucial conference battle against the Golden Gophers — winners of six straight games after a 2-7 start to conference play — Maryland will need Charles to be at her best to keep pace with Iowa for first place in the Big Ten title race.

“She’s back in the gym trying to get better,” Frese said. “She’s already put it behind her.”